Tweet
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=1 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD><SPAN class=TopStory>Why did the PM lose her cool?</SPAN>
<SPAN class=Subheadline></SPAN></TD></TR><TR><TD>Barbara Gloudon
Friday, February 02, 2007
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width=80 align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD><SPAN class=Description>Barbara Gloudon</SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><P class=StoryText align=justify>PRIME MINISTER SIMPSON MILLER was hopping mad. She was not amused at a newspaper article which alleged that in the seven months of her still young tenure in office, she had led trips overseas, resulting in some $10 million being abstracted from taxpayers' wallets.<P class=StoryText align=justify>From a politician's perspective, that kind of notice is bad anytime. In an election year, it could be catastrophic. Any inference of waste and profligacy, in the light of the many allegations of scandal and lack of probity which have swirled around the heads of the incumbent government, is bound to create a shock on the Richter scale of voter confidence.<P class=StoryText align=justify>The voter - housewife, contemplating how to make less chicken feed more mouths, in the light of recent price rises, or the subsistence wage-earning voter challenging his employers to accept that minimum (as in minimum wage) is where you start, not end, certainly do not want to hear or get the impression that leaders are having nice time while they suck salt through a wooden spoon.<P class=StoryText align=justify>One can understand therefore, Mrs Simpson Miller's less than happy reaction to the story and why she seemed to lose her cool when her response was sought. RJR 94-FM's Gary Spauldings was privileged to get the scoop as the prime minister let down her guard and cleared her chest not only of what was bothering her about the report but what she seemed to have perceived as unfair treatment at the hands of the media.<P class=StoryText align=justify>For those who still believe in "Sister P", despite her falling grades in vox pop polls, there is nothing wrong with her telling it like it is.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Uptown, however, seems unimpressed with her in-your-face retort that she's a woman with a man who looks after her, outfitting her with a credit card to take care of her own expenses while she is away from home on the nation's business.<P class=StoryText align=justify>She shouldn't have said that, someone commented to me on Tuesday. She should have risen above it, be more statesmanlike (statespersonlike). It was said also that she has set herself up for more hard time from the media which is now sure that she has a thin skin about criticism and will not hesitate to jook her.<P class=StoryText align=justify>In the interview as I heard it, the PM didn't sound as if she was afraid of anybody. She was clearly upset and she was responding without reservation. True, her presentation could have been more structured. A formal response, countering the various points raised, would have at least appeased those who want to see more structure and substance in leadership pronouncements. But Sister P was not in no mood for double-speak. That is why some people still back her all the way. and she knows it. Uptown can think what they want. To the Street, she's still speaking with their voice.<P class=StoryText align=justify>MRS SIMPSON MILLER is not the first prime minister and is not likely to be the last to be challenged by criticism. Mr Patterson could give graduate-level lessons. Look up the records of what the late Michael Manley was subjected to or Edward Seaga in his last lap at the national helm. Current experience of some global leaders (for example, Bush and Blair) is likewise instructive. It goes with the leadership territory.<P class=StoryText align=justify>An old-timer in trade u
<SPAN class=Subheadline></SPAN></TD></TR><TR><TD>Barbara Gloudon
Friday, February 02, 2007
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width=80 align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD><SPAN class=Description>Barbara Gloudon</SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><P class=StoryText align=justify>PRIME MINISTER SIMPSON MILLER was hopping mad. She was not amused at a newspaper article which alleged that in the seven months of her still young tenure in office, she had led trips overseas, resulting in some $10 million being abstracted from taxpayers' wallets.<P class=StoryText align=justify>From a politician's perspective, that kind of notice is bad anytime. In an election year, it could be catastrophic. Any inference of waste and profligacy, in the light of the many allegations of scandal and lack of probity which have swirled around the heads of the incumbent government, is bound to create a shock on the Richter scale of voter confidence.<P class=StoryText align=justify>The voter - housewife, contemplating how to make less chicken feed more mouths, in the light of recent price rises, or the subsistence wage-earning voter challenging his employers to accept that minimum (as in minimum wage) is where you start, not end, certainly do not want to hear or get the impression that leaders are having nice time while they suck salt through a wooden spoon.<P class=StoryText align=justify>One can understand therefore, Mrs Simpson Miller's less than happy reaction to the story and why she seemed to lose her cool when her response was sought. RJR 94-FM's Gary Spauldings was privileged to get the scoop as the prime minister let down her guard and cleared her chest not only of what was bothering her about the report but what she seemed to have perceived as unfair treatment at the hands of the media.<P class=StoryText align=justify>For those who still believe in "Sister P", despite her falling grades in vox pop polls, there is nothing wrong with her telling it like it is.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Uptown, however, seems unimpressed with her in-your-face retort that she's a woman with a man who looks after her, outfitting her with a credit card to take care of her own expenses while she is away from home on the nation's business.<P class=StoryText align=justify>She shouldn't have said that, someone commented to me on Tuesday. She should have risen above it, be more statesmanlike (statespersonlike). It was said also that she has set herself up for more hard time from the media which is now sure that she has a thin skin about criticism and will not hesitate to jook her.<P class=StoryText align=justify>In the interview as I heard it, the PM didn't sound as if she was afraid of anybody. She was clearly upset and she was responding without reservation. True, her presentation could have been more structured. A formal response, countering the various points raised, would have at least appeased those who want to see more structure and substance in leadership pronouncements. But Sister P was not in no mood for double-speak. That is why some people still back her all the way. and she knows it. Uptown can think what they want. To the Street, she's still speaking with their voice.<P class=StoryText align=justify>MRS SIMPSON MILLER is not the first prime minister and is not likely to be the last to be challenged by criticism. Mr Patterson could give graduate-level lessons. Look up the records of what the late Michael Manley was subjected to or Edward Seaga in his last lap at the national helm. Current experience of some global leaders (for example, Bush and Blair) is likewise instructive. It goes with the leadership territory.<P class=StoryText align=justify>An old-timer in trade u