Tony DeyalON THURSDAY this week the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Patrick Manning, in attempting to put his foot down instead inserted it into a mouth that has, fortunately, become inured to such feats and has learnt to accommodate such frequent insertions without ever once exclaiming that Bata is not better, or even in these times of luxury for the Mannings, "I can't believe it's not Bata."
The Prime Minister, in a post-Cabinet news conference, bitterly condemned a report of a terrorist threat, declaring vehemently that his government was opposed to "improper plots" against the State.
It is a classic and deserves to be ranked among other such classics as, "Outside of the killings, (Washington) has one of the lowest crime rates in the country." This was the informed view presented by former Mayor of Washington, Marion Berry. He, at least, had the excuse that he indulged in drugs. Mr. Manning, a born-again Christian, can offer no such justification. Mr. Frank Rizzo, ex-police Chief of Philadelphia, said, "The streets are safe in Philadelphia, it's only the people who make them unsafe." We have heard versions of these two statements by both Mr. Manning and our Commissioner of Police. The examples from Berry and Rizzo are contained in a book published by Doubleday and edited by Ross and Kathryn Petras entitled, "The 776 Stupidest Things Ever Said." Daily the Government and Opposition in Trinidad and Tobago provide material that could take the book into several sequels and new volumes.
Another quote from the book is also relevant in the context of Mr. Manning's behaviour since the report of the threat was published last Sunday. It is one from the Police Chief of Los Angeles in 1973, Edward Davis. He recommended, "[Hijackers should be given] a rapid trial with due process of law at the airport and then hanged." Mr. Manning's behaviour is consistent with the advice provided by Mr. Davis. Without providing any evidence on which to base his claim, Mr. Manning continues to insist that the report is part of a political plot concocted by his opponents to destabilise the Government of Trinidad and Tobago. He has threatened to use the full force of the law to punish anyone, including the newspaper's editor, if the report is untrue.
It is a sad time in a nation's history when the politics of tribalism is the lens through which all events are viewed and interpreted. At the news conference, the Prime Minister refused to answer the questions of the young reporter. Instead he mentioned that the young man was being questioned by the Police about the report.
The only other politician who has ever done this is Arizona Governor Evan Mecham who was impeached in 1988. Mr. Mecham decided that a particularly troublesome reporter did not exist. When the reporter, John Kolbe of the Phoenix Gazette, asked questions at the Governor's news conference, Mecham behaved as if no one had spoken and waited for the next question. On one occasion, another reporter repeated Kolbe's question. Mecham abruptly ended the news conference and walked out. Mr. Manning chose not to walk out, perhaps because his feet were otherwise engaged.
The problem facing Mr. Manning is one that has faced all democracies since the media became institutionalised as the Fourth Estate. It is the relationship between the politicians and the media, particularly those in the Government. In November 2001 a conference was held in Prague in the Czech Republic on the relationship between politicians and the media. The choice of venue was interesting since the Czech Prime Minister, Milos Zeeman, had described journalists as "a pack of idiots." Czech Deputy Prime Minister, Pavel Rychetsky, in a speech that was met with disbelief and condemnation, argued that since politicians in power were democratically elected by the majority of the population, their unadulterated views should dominate the coverage by public media. Most participants at the conference agreed that a far greater problem than unregulated criticism of politicians from the media is when journalists get too cosy with politicians. Politicians constantly attempt to manipulate how journalists cover the news and sometimes, in return for continued access to information and other rewards, journalists agree to that manipulation.
Thomas Jefferson, one of the writers of the American Declaration of Independence, once said that if he had to choose between living in a country with newspapers and no government, or one with a government and no newspapers, he would choose the former. Unfortunately, we in Trinidad and Tobago, and in the Caribbean as a whole, are denied the luxury of such a choice. We have to live with the fact that politics and media are inseparable. However, as journalist Walter Cronkite pointed out, "It is only the politicians and the media that are incompatible."
In spite of comments like "The press is the enemy" (Richard Nixon) or "Sons of bitches" (Ronald Reagan), or even "They're just a bunch of goodamn animals" (John Lindsay), the one that I remember best, and the one that will always prevail, Patrick Manning notwithstanding, is what respected columnist, James Reston of the New York Times told President Kennedy's adviser, Theodore Sorenson, "We were here before you got here, Ted, and we will be here when you are gone."
Tony Deyal was last seen repeating something that Ronald Reagan said, "I used to say that politics was the second oldest profession, and I have come to know that it bears a gross similarity to the first."
