THE EDITOR, Sir:
I WRITE in response to an article which appeared on November 25, 2002 and was attributed to Lynford Simpson, Parliamentary Reporter.
The article was titled "O.T. Williams and his comedy of errors" and in it the writer excoriated O.T. Williams for the dastardly and unforgivable act of butchering the English Language.
The Hon. O.T. Williams' sin was that he used the word 'humiliation' instead of 'humility.' Mr. Simpson found more than a little schadenfreude (malicious enjoyment of another's misfortunes) in The Hon. O.T. Williams' mistake, even though the castigating article contained several errors of logic:
1) In paragraph 6, I assume the writer means that the Prime Minister held his head down while O.T. Williams spoke, not while the Prime Minister spoke, that was not clear from the article.
2) In paragraph 8, the writer, in reference to the Hon. O.T. Williams, says, "It would be best if he avoided speaking in public at all. But, alas, the Prime Minister has made sure of that by appointing him Deputy Speaker of the House." Does the writer mean, as is logically inferred from his writing, that the PM has made sure that the "offender" avoids speaking in public?
3) In paragraph 9, the writer says, "Men like Mr. Williams just don't know how to deal with that kind of boost to their egos and are likely to make a fool of themselves." Correctly written, that should state, "Men....... make fools of themselves....."
4) In paragraph 13, the writer says "Does the Prime Minister have a preference for popularity over quality? I think it's the former." The writer thinks the former what? Properly, the writer should either replace " I think the former" with "I think so" or some variant thereof, or say" Does the Prime Minister prefer popularity or quality?"
The writer should remember the story about taking the beam out of one's own eye!
I am a former resident of Seaview Gardens, an area represented by the Hon. O.T. Williams in Parliament. While I have met the Hon. O.T. Williams, I do not know him personally.
I am etc.,
CHULLEY BOGLE
chulleybogle@yahoo.com
Houston, Texas
Via Go-Jamaica
