The Rise of Little Kings... (Whoosh & Bang)

Prior to the Section 34 fiasco the Leader of the Opposition Dr. Keith Rowley was having a hard time being taken seriously in the post by even people in his own party. Such a hard time it seems that, three no confidence misfires in he was still struggling to find his way and it appeared that, with the exception of the 'PNM 'til ah dead' crew, destined to fade away, a political lightweight for perpetuity. No matter what he tried nothing seemed to be gaining traction.

Then Section 34 happened.

And everything changed.

Suddenly the same Dr. Rowley who couldn't get a seat on the bus was being measured by the population as a potential Prime Minister if the current Prime Minister was to fall, and he seemed to swell in the glow. Now they were his and he was theirs. The people who could not pick him out in a maxi stand before were marching with him, marching FOR him and hanging on his every word. And then the 'axe to grind' crew showed up with fresh axes and blew so much smoke up his arse one could excuse him for believing that his jockey shorts were air-conditioned. The new kids on the block, the Movement for Social Justice hitched their wagon to his and, together with blast from the past Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj, launched a Round Table, causing the media phalanx to camp outside their meetings anxious for the latest development from the new ground zero.

What a heady time that must have been.

And then, just like that it started to melt.

The nine day wonder people, having had more than nine days of Section 34 were moving on and the Round Table's meetings weren't getting traction anymore. Former front page press releases were now in the bottom half of the inside pages and fading. Full length pictures and glamorous crowd shots were giving way to essential column inches and something had to give; Man start to get 'tusty.' That kinda heights not easy to forget and everybody hunkered down to rescue the sinking ship and bring the audience back because, if any of them were to have a political revival Dr. Rowley was going to have to have one too.

But what could they do?

And then the skies opened up and magical email correspondence fell upon them like manna. Could this be real? Could this be true? To hell with that, could we get people to believe it so that they would come back and lime with us again? The Round Table seemed to think that they could and that was enough, wasn't it? So armed with that and little else, strategies were created to launch Section 34 – the redux.

And the people gathered around.

Only trouble was, half an hour into his sensational presentation the public started asking questions of the very redux. Was it authentic? Did they verify it? So the wagons were summoned to be circled, but there weren't that many wagons around. Didn't the people realize that this was reason for outrage? Never mind the fact that the evidence was never verified, it was plausible, wasn't it? And they were capable of this and worse, weren't they? And then more stories of conspiracies started to appear and collapse almost as quickly as they appeared, like starbursts or fireworks, they went up with a whoosh, they exploded with splendiferous awe, and then quickly faded away.

Summon the media, announce that the office of the Director of Public Prosecution was bugged, but no one could say how, no one could say when and no one could say with what. Whoosh and Bang. Try again.

Summon the media, the Attorney General needs to be removed from office so that the questionable evidence could maybe be verified. Whoosh and Bang. Why aren't the people paying attention? Didn't they hear Ramesh's interpretation of the whole thing? Whoosh and Bang. What about Comrade Abdullah, he's standing by us through thick and thin. Whoosh and Bang. The Law Association supported the call for an independent probe. Whoosh and Bang.

Something was wrong; things began to take on a sorry desperation; stories were not being checked before they were hustled out to the media. What was worse, none of the party's stalwarts and 'go to' commentators were taking the bit and championing the cause, not with any real zeal anyway.

The last straw for many had to be the press conference called to announce that, despite occupying the same office space for the past three years, the Leader of the Opposition stumbled upon a door that he never knew existed but through which agents of intrigue may be gaining access to his papers. No Whoosh this time, just Bang. The people had heard enough. This was starting to get embarrassing. And then the inevitable occurred; the Chief Whistle Blower himself became the story.

Bungling through he brushed the same high standards he was holding everyone else to aside, and with great hubris, may have set his own career on fire.

Now the audience was back, the same public he so desperately courted have gathered around him again, only this time out of curiosity, to see who he takes with him when he shoots up into the sky one last time for that final glittering explosion.