THE EDITOR, Sir:
RECENTLY ON "Beyond the Headlines" I heard the word. Then soon after I listened to a motley group of grown men, masquerading as commentators, falling all over themselves in defence of Bruce Golding's latest action. I thank God it was radio; I wasn't forced to watch the sorry spectacle of the mental and verbal contortions of Messrs. Lloyd B. Smith, D.K. Duncan, Russell Hammond, Michael Williams and I believe one other.
Here were men of independent means, prostrating themselves in homage to a man, whose latest tawdry act was to acknowledge that his vaunted grip on principles of iron, had slipped; victim to political agoraphobia.
But perhaps this, my first take on the event is perchance too harsh. Perhaps I should wait and see the Seven Solemn Principles of which Mr. Golding and Mr. Seaga speak. Perhaps encapsulated in these Sacred Seven are potent gems. Though I rather doubt they will add up to anything more than the sum of the desperate expediency of the morally bankrupt.
No doubt it is I who will be excoriated for suggesting that the actions of a politician, any politician, especially one without electoral power and no apparent viable hope of gaining it, should be viewed under a moral microscope. I would suggest, it is he, not I who placed the specimen on the moral slide.
To switch metaphors for a moment, to be fair to him, he had telegraphed his punch for some time. How else might it have been viewed, when one saw and heard reports of the very honourable gentleman, being keynote speaker for a fund-raiser for the JLP, still then a rival to his party, the NDM, itself starved of funds. As his erstwhile mentor would no doubt say, "You walk like a duck and you quack like a duck, I can't call you a chicken." Or then again, can we?
Walk good y'hear Mr. Golding, even if you have difficulty holding up you head to quack or not.
I am etc.,
FRANKLYN SMITH
Fdaze79@ hotmail.com
Spanish Town
St. Catherine.
