In My Own Defense... (In Response to a Mediocre Mind)

Those who know me (or my name at least) know that I have been a very outspoken and active social & political activist for quite some time. I have written over a million words on a variety of issues, I have a widely subscribed blog that is read all over the world, I have been published locally, regionally and internationally, I have marched for and against all manner of things, I have been to sit ins, sit downs, sick outs, shut ups, hunger strikes, candle light vigils, you name it, if I thought it would better this country I attended it. All along the road I have encountered adversity and push back, I have learnt to understand the indecency that is the flip-side of good character and recognize those who are devoid of real substance from a mile away. I have also made many, many new friends. I know people in places that I did not know existed until I arrived there yet they already knew me and warmly received me. I have stood arms locked with citizens standing against abuses and face to face with power, but not once in all these years over all these hills and through all these valleys have I once ever encountered a situation that has so angered and galvanized people from the very young to the very old and all walks of life as the Minister of Sport and Member of Parliament for D'Abadie O'Meara's disrespectful treatment of me in the Parliament and now underscored on a morning talk show Tuesday this week. My father was livid with anger, my mother upset. Little old ladies well past their dancing days asked for assistance just to get next to him and to be held upright so that they could cuff him in his disrespectful mouth. I have had emails, text messages and phone calls describing this man in the worst way from people who do not know me well enough to be this outraged but who are human enough to see and recognize someone taking advantage just because they could.

And I must say I was surprised. I never intended to answer him despite having access to multiples of media, I think most people see him clearly for who he is and it was my opinion that to add to that would be me taking advantage because I could. My eight followers (Anil's words, not mine) are not happy with that. They want a response and have demanded one, so here goes:

Anil Roberts is at best a mediocre mind with a big mouth and I still believe that to attack him in kind would be akin to cruelty to a dumb animal. A perfect example of all hat and no cowboy, he has built a reputation on noise, is a political bully and while he may have started off as entertaining to watch in his early days the way a trainwreck captures the attention, he now comes across as boorish and a thug. To anyone watching his performance that fateful Tuesday, had he stripped off his clothes, jumped on the desk and started flinging feces around the room no one would have been really surprised. Someone in a conversation said to me that man is an insult to the human race, someone else chimed in he's an insult to mammal, vertebrates and all other air breathers too. I don't know about all that.

Am I angry? Not in the least. I know who I am, what I stand for and against, and I have almost come to expect if not accept this behavior from the less equipped among us. I remain forever guided by a quotation by Nelson Mandela, “Rather than raise your voice, improve your argument.”

Anil Roberts is one of those aberrations that trots across the public stage from time to time as a distraction and a respite from serious business. Like the clowns in a circus he is not meant to do anything of substance, just make a big show and be done with it.

By my calculation that means 2015. I am sure we will survive his waning antics between now and then. I think I can put up with a little more of his nonsense until then, can you?