Lloyd B a Sister P groupie?
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Dear Editor,
Based on Lloyd B Smith's latest column, "Portia and the new Jamaica", it seems that he has either fallen victim to marauding brain-eating termites, or he has shamelessly become a Portia groupie.
For Lloyd B, Sister P should not be dispatched to a political museum, but be recycled as president of a future republic of Jamaica. Lloyd B proclaims that in this capacity, Sister P could exercise her messianic qualities to represent "the hopes and aspirations of the poor and oppressed" in a grand mission to "unite this divided nation" and stave off "what could well become an all-out class war in the years to come".
Lloyd B's panegyric to Sister P is undeterred by minor blemishes on her résumé, such as her 30-year reign over one of Jamaica's most notorious garrison constituencies.
Never mind that garrison politics is inherently divisive and oppressive, and tends to trap people in poverty. Of course, let's happily ignore Sister P's 'statesmanlike' diatribe on the night of September 3, 2007, or indeed her failure to honour her prime ministerial promise on the question of human rights.
If Sister P's legacy qualifies her to be Jamaica's president, then the legacies of genuine statesmen/politicians like Carl Rattray and the late Ronald Irvine should qualify them for sainthood.
Whenever Lloyd B recovers from his malady or the high of being a groupie, I hope that critique will again take centre stage in his columns, rather than cheerleading.
O Hilaire Sobers
ohilaire@yahoo.com
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Dear Editor,
Based on Lloyd B Smith's latest column, "Portia and the new Jamaica", it seems that he has either fallen victim to marauding brain-eating termites, or he has shamelessly become a Portia groupie.
For Lloyd B, Sister P should not be dispatched to a political museum, but be recycled as president of a future republic of Jamaica. Lloyd B proclaims that in this capacity, Sister P could exercise her messianic qualities to represent "the hopes and aspirations of the poor and oppressed" in a grand mission to "unite this divided nation" and stave off "what could well become an all-out class war in the years to come".
Lloyd B's panegyric to Sister P is undeterred by minor blemishes on her résumé, such as her 30-year reign over one of Jamaica's most notorious garrison constituencies.
Never mind that garrison politics is inherently divisive and oppressive, and tends to trap people in poverty. Of course, let's happily ignore Sister P's 'statesmanlike' diatribe on the night of September 3, 2007, or indeed her failure to honour her prime ministerial promise on the question of human rights.
If Sister P's legacy qualifies her to be Jamaica's president, then the legacies of genuine statesmen/politicians like Carl Rattray and the late Ronald Irvine should qualify them for sainthood.
Whenever Lloyd B recovers from his malady or the high of being a groupie, I hope that critique will again take centre stage in his columns, rather than cheerleading.
O Hilaire Sobers
ohilaire@yahoo.com
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