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published: Saturday | January 5, 2008
Hartley Neita, Contributor
I have had the opportunity of being a close observer of politics and politicians for more than 50 years. During that time, I have seen the good and the bad, the love and the hate, the beautiful and the ugly, and all the opposite sides of human interaction involved in the political competition for power and glory.
So I am not always amused, and I am never surprised at the behaviour of some of our politicians. You can always expect them to do or say something unusual. The strange thing is that they never think they have misbehaved as, in their opinion, they can do nothing wrong. And if they are persuaded to apologise, it is worded in sentences that go round and round and round and do not seem to get anywhere.
Getting used to new company
I find it very interesting to see the new company kept by politicians when they win elections and are appointed to ministerial and other high office. One of the things I admire about them, of course, is that they behave as if the company has been with them from birth. I recall a comment made by Wills O. Isaacs when he became a minister in 1955. He said that since his appointment, his desk was piled high with invitations from all and sundry, and he wondered where these people were in all his previous life.
I will also never forget the advice given to me by Sir Egerton Richardson, one of our former ambassadors to Washington, exactly 40 years ago. He said that now that I was appointed Press Secretary to Prime Minister Shearer, I would be receiving invitations to Long Lane for drinks and Trafalgar House for tea (the former being the residence of the American ambassador and the latter the residence of the British High Commissioner). One day, he said, I would begin to feel very important and I would find myself floating sky high in the clouds.
"Remember," he said, "the air up there is rarefied and it is hard to breathe."
Political floaters
Truer words were never spoken. Since then, I have seen it happen to many in my lifetime and I can only shake my head and feel sorry for them.
There are also the political floaters. With every change of Government, they make themselves visible to the new powers that be, from Bustamante to Norman Manley, Sangster, Shearer, Michael Manley, Edward Seaga, P.J. Patterson, Portia Simpson Miller and now to Bruce Golding. They flit from pillar to pillar with flawless ease, making sure they are photographed for television and the press.
I saw one of the new ministers last week. He was looking refreshed and bubbly.
"You look relaxed," I said.
"I should be," he replied. "I just had a massage."
I knew he had been getting massages since last September, as my masseur told me so. It was his first experience of this treatment. I hope he will continue long after he is no longer Mr. Minister.
published: Saturday | January 5, 2008
Hartley Neita, Contributor
I have had the opportunity of being a close observer of politics and politicians for more than 50 years. During that time, I have seen the good and the bad, the love and the hate, the beautiful and the ugly, and all the opposite sides of human interaction involved in the political competition for power and glory.
So I am not always amused, and I am never surprised at the behaviour of some of our politicians. You can always expect them to do or say something unusual. The strange thing is that they never think they have misbehaved as, in their opinion, they can do nothing wrong. And if they are persuaded to apologise, it is worded in sentences that go round and round and round and do not seem to get anywhere.
Getting used to new company
I find it very interesting to see the new company kept by politicians when they win elections and are appointed to ministerial and other high office. One of the things I admire about them, of course, is that they behave as if the company has been with them from birth. I recall a comment made by Wills O. Isaacs when he became a minister in 1955. He said that since his appointment, his desk was piled high with invitations from all and sundry, and he wondered where these people were in all his previous life.
I will also never forget the advice given to me by Sir Egerton Richardson, one of our former ambassadors to Washington, exactly 40 years ago. He said that now that I was appointed Press Secretary to Prime Minister Shearer, I would be receiving invitations to Long Lane for drinks and Trafalgar House for tea (the former being the residence of the American ambassador and the latter the residence of the British High Commissioner). One day, he said, I would begin to feel very important and I would find myself floating sky high in the clouds.
"Remember," he said, "the air up there is rarefied and it is hard to breathe."
Political floaters
Truer words were never spoken. Since then, I have seen it happen to many in my lifetime and I can only shake my head and feel sorry for them.
There are also the political floaters. With every change of Government, they make themselves visible to the new powers that be, from Bustamante to Norman Manley, Sangster, Shearer, Michael Manley, Edward Seaga, P.J. Patterson, Portia Simpson Miller and now to Bruce Golding. They flit from pillar to pillar with flawless ease, making sure they are photographed for television and the press.
I saw one of the new ministers last week. He was looking refreshed and bubbly.
"You look relaxed," I said.
"I should be," he replied. "I just had a massage."
I knew he had been getting massages since last September, as my masseur told me so. It was his first experience of this treatment. I hope he will continue long after he is no longer Mr. Minister.
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