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Let the debates begin
MARK WIGNALL
Sunday, November 06, 2011
ONE of the curious but perennial features of party politics is that as soon as an administration is voted out of office and becomes the opposition party, without much thought or deep introspection, it immediately has all of the 'right' answers to the troubling questions.
In the debates to come, if those who believe they mean well have their way, every political party which, in the past was able to get five or less votes, will be participating. The end result will be obvious — chaos but lively comedy!
SIMPSON MILLER… is not the greatest debater
SIMPSON MILLER… is not the greatest debater
#slideshowtoggler, #slideshowtoggler a, #slideshowtoggler img {filter:none !important;zoom:normal !important}
1/1 
Never having held power, the minor parties can 'go for broke' and suggest anything and all things as policy proposals, and all will target whichever administration is in power and simply gang up against it. In this process, the one viable opposition party will get a free pass because it will have a ready-made cheering gallery or, at the very least, friends in an unholy alliance.
Never having lived in glass houses, the minor parties can hurl as many stones as they wish.
It is no secret that Opposition Leader Portia Simpson Miller is not the greatest debater. Of course, I am not for one minute suggesting that great debaters automatically make great political leaders. To strike a middle ground, all aspiring political leaders must be able to have a grip on the general affairs of the country to the extent that they can articulate them and discuss them in a spirited manner with those whose policies or policy mechanics may be somewhat different.
What is the use of having Miss Mattie's Big Bread party in a debate when we know that the chances of that party winning are less than one in a million? What sense would it make to hear the leader of Free Up Ganja party propose to have every farmer gain access to low interest loans to plant half his crop in the weed for immediate export to the USA? That is simply blowing in the wind.
So far we have not identified any other parties other than the JLP and the PNP which are capable of once again holding state power. Both of them have been there before and they have solid structures in place. For sure, based on the many mandates we have given them since Independence, they have amassed many strikes against their names. They have royally mucked up and they both know it. But for now, they are the evil we know and they are our evil, maintained by us constantly voting for them.
'Missa Mark, I woulda love fi si an election and nobady nuh vote. Wi nuh need nuh govament. Wi jus waan fi do wi ting,' said a perennially unemployed man to me last week. His views may be extreme, and it is likely that a series of political debates may be the least of his concerns.
At the same time, even if both the PNP and the JLP may be planning to hoodwink us in the next set of election promises, we need them to show up at these debates without any group singing in harmony.
Just the two of them facing off with each other while facing panels of journalists who will be asking them the most uncomfortable of questions.
Let those who aspire to viability in their political organisations prove themselves as more than just slash and burn, transitory political afterthoughts.
What is really needed is a face-off between the JLP and the PNP. Let's leave the circus for later.
Some believe Golding blew it, others say differently
A regular reader threw cold water on my column ‘Will history destroy or endorse Bruce Golding?’, published last Thursday.
“Wiggy, he could have ushered in Andrew long ago by resigning. What did the ‘senior member’ have to say about that?
“While history ideally is to accurately tell of the past, it is best written while it is happening, as we live through it. With the passage of time, people expiring, memories fading, how can there be any proof that what is regarded as history is accurate and not conclusions arrived at by ‘historians’?
“So, how does the Manatt COE fit into this? Was it part of an elaborate plan drawn up when the extradition request was received, to lobby the US Government to drop the request, Bruce apology, Dudus wearing a woman’s wig with Miller at his side, including Bruce’s resignation, agreement with the ‘grey suit’ guys that no old geezers would be acceptable as PM and leader of JLP? Wow! And all of them believed that the ‘plan’ could be successful? And not even a leak of that Hitchcockian plot?
“I believe Dudus was given time to order his business and make provisions for his family as gratitude for his services over the years and for his silence in the future.”
The reader has not bought into the side of the story which speaks to Prime Minister Golding being scared, for himself, and the nation he led.
Another suggested some agreement, in that most matters of high import in government are usually shrouded in secret.
He said: “During the height of the Iraq war an ‘old’ soldier (from Macedonia) and I were discussing same when I said, ‘guy, this thing looks bad, I don’t think it can get any worse’.
“Whereupon he said, ‘I have fought for my country and I can assure you what you see and hear in the media is a far cry from what is happening on the ground’.
“Armed with that info I am now prepared to agree with the JLP insider.”
A well-known name and person had no kind words for Golding. He said, “Read your column and the first and most snarky answer would be to say time will tell. However, while there might be a smidgen of plausibility in the reason given for Bruce Golding’s actions as it had to do with the Coke extradition saga, I find it very difficult to digest.
“If his dithering and blathering with regards to Coke was just a one-off case I’d be more willing to buy into the ‘theory’ your contact floated in his conversation with you. The problem is that from the time Bruce became PM in 2007 he dithered and blathered on all the major issues he faced/inherited from the former PNP Government. Whether it was crime, the economy, the bloated government structure/ apparatus and even how to prioritise them he seemingly waited until he was pushed/pinned into a corner before he would act.
“I would imagine history might be kinder to Bruce if he was some political novice running Jamaica and he was still getting acclimatised to the ways of government and governing the place, but that was not the case. He came into this with eyes wide open, very much cognisant of all that was happening and what needed to get done, so, in the end, I don’t think history will be as kind to Bruce Golding as some folks would hope.”
Another reader, a university lecturer, took a 50 per cent philosophical and 50 per cent pragmatic look at Golding but still somewhat hedged his bet.
He said: “You pose a very interesting question at the end of your very interesting column, Mark. I suspect you’re right, and have always believed it will — necessarily, for the reasons you aver — be years before we get the full story on this. When that happens, my hunch is that Golding will come out looking good, because he will be judged not for the process as much as for the outcome.
“But that’s just a hunch for now...”
Finally, a reader and ardent political watcher was not prepared to let Golding off the hook. He said: “From a distance and not being encumbered with too much knowledge about the ability of the JCF or JDF to contain widespread civil unrest, I’m not impressed with the argument that the PM really conspired to delay Dudus’ extradition solely to prevent a conflagration.
“I mean, Dudus had how many rag tag gunmen at his disposal? The PM had how many trained men in the JCF and JDF under his command? Not to mention the JDF has helicopter gunships in addition to marine patrol boats. Whose safety was paramount, that of the PM and his family or that of the country? Did he and his Government not have contingency plans in place to confront threats of this kind?
“I like Golding. In spite of everything, I think his tenure was far more successful in making Jamaica a better place than the previous maligned administration. I don’t, however, think he should be let off the hook so easily over the Dudus affair.”
Bad policy on used tyres, Minister Tufton
TWO Fridays ago, The Gleaner carried an article titled ‘Tufton to liberate auto traders.’
The article was summed up in its opening paragraph thus: ‘The industry and commerce ministry will be recommending the lifting of the ban on used tyres and the damaged car trade, and will attempt to boost the flagging used-car sector by raising the age limit on imported vehicles.’
To me, that was both good news and bad news. Good news in that the very active minister will be reopening the damaged car trade. That is an instant employment-creating policy just as long as the cars, when repaired, are sold to end-users with the full knowledge that they are repaired vehicles. Quite obviously, the best of our mechanics and body repair men will be called on to restore these cars to road-worthy status.
The bad news is that the minister will be allowing in used tyres which will be sold at discounted prices. The problem I have with the used -trye policy is that I fear that no accurate pre-shipment condition report will be attached to these tyres. Customers, many of whom will be taxi drivers, will obviously see this as a blessing as many are now driving on semi-bald tyres simply because they cannot afford new tyres at an average starting price of $6,000 each.
I say this without fear of contradiction that Jamaican taxi drivers are easily the most undisciplined drivers on our roads. Add to that the burden of them using tyres which they may be tempted to believe are ‘almost new’, but which pose the possibility of splitting, bending and shredding, and we are creating a hazard that they will least expect.
The carnage on our roads has never really been under control, but the last numbers I saw indicated that we are doing much better (fewer accidents) than during the similar period last year. I have no easy answers to solving the rampant reckless driving on our roads, but certainly, although taxi drivers may be technically sound on driving, the indiscipline displayed by too many of them is there for us all to see, and sadly, experience.
One part of that indiscipline is running their tryes until the ribs show. As small businessmen, they do this to maximise the use, but when the cars are packed with nine people and they are speeding along Spanish Town Road or any other stretch of roadway that allows them the utilisation of excessive speed, tyres of dubious condition are the last things they need.
The minister may have responded to a lobby group and it certainly will earn him solid points for opening up the market for cheaper tyres. But at what price? Impending loss of lives?
observemark@gmail.com
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/colum...#ixzz1cwz69QlM
MARK WIGNALL
Sunday, November 06, 2011
ONE of the curious but perennial features of party politics is that as soon as an administration is voted out of office and becomes the opposition party, without much thought or deep introspection, it immediately has all of the 'right' answers to the troubling questions.
In the debates to come, if those who believe they mean well have their way, every political party which, in the past was able to get five or less votes, will be participating. The end result will be obvious — chaos but lively comedy!
SIMPSON MILLER… is not the greatest debater
SIMPSON MILLER… is not the greatest debater#slideshowtoggler, #slideshowtoggler a, #slideshowtoggler img {filter:none !important;zoom:normal !important}
1/1 Never having held power, the minor parties can 'go for broke' and suggest anything and all things as policy proposals, and all will target whichever administration is in power and simply gang up against it. In this process, the one viable opposition party will get a free pass because it will have a ready-made cheering gallery or, at the very least, friends in an unholy alliance.
Never having lived in glass houses, the minor parties can hurl as many stones as they wish.
It is no secret that Opposition Leader Portia Simpson Miller is not the greatest debater. Of course, I am not for one minute suggesting that great debaters automatically make great political leaders. To strike a middle ground, all aspiring political leaders must be able to have a grip on the general affairs of the country to the extent that they can articulate them and discuss them in a spirited manner with those whose policies or policy mechanics may be somewhat different.
What is the use of having Miss Mattie's Big Bread party in a debate when we know that the chances of that party winning are less than one in a million? What sense would it make to hear the leader of Free Up Ganja party propose to have every farmer gain access to low interest loans to plant half his crop in the weed for immediate export to the USA? That is simply blowing in the wind.
So far we have not identified any other parties other than the JLP and the PNP which are capable of once again holding state power. Both of them have been there before and they have solid structures in place. For sure, based on the many mandates we have given them since Independence, they have amassed many strikes against their names. They have royally mucked up and they both know it. But for now, they are the evil we know and they are our evil, maintained by us constantly voting for them.
'Missa Mark, I woulda love fi si an election and nobady nuh vote. Wi nuh need nuh govament. Wi jus waan fi do wi ting,' said a perennially unemployed man to me last week. His views may be extreme, and it is likely that a series of political debates may be the least of his concerns.
At the same time, even if both the PNP and the JLP may be planning to hoodwink us in the next set of election promises, we need them to show up at these debates without any group singing in harmony.
Just the two of them facing off with each other while facing panels of journalists who will be asking them the most uncomfortable of questions.
Let those who aspire to viability in their political organisations prove themselves as more than just slash and burn, transitory political afterthoughts.
What is really needed is a face-off between the JLP and the PNP. Let's leave the circus for later.
Some believe Golding blew it, others say differently
A regular reader threw cold water on my column ‘Will history destroy or endorse Bruce Golding?’, published last Thursday.
“Wiggy, he could have ushered in Andrew long ago by resigning. What did the ‘senior member’ have to say about that?
“While history ideally is to accurately tell of the past, it is best written while it is happening, as we live through it. With the passage of time, people expiring, memories fading, how can there be any proof that what is regarded as history is accurate and not conclusions arrived at by ‘historians’?
“So, how does the Manatt COE fit into this? Was it part of an elaborate plan drawn up when the extradition request was received, to lobby the US Government to drop the request, Bruce apology, Dudus wearing a woman’s wig with Miller at his side, including Bruce’s resignation, agreement with the ‘grey suit’ guys that no old geezers would be acceptable as PM and leader of JLP? Wow! And all of them believed that the ‘plan’ could be successful? And not even a leak of that Hitchcockian plot?
“I believe Dudus was given time to order his business and make provisions for his family as gratitude for his services over the years and for his silence in the future.”
The reader has not bought into the side of the story which speaks to Prime Minister Golding being scared, for himself, and the nation he led.
Another suggested some agreement, in that most matters of high import in government are usually shrouded in secret.
He said: “During the height of the Iraq war an ‘old’ soldier (from Macedonia) and I were discussing same when I said, ‘guy, this thing looks bad, I don’t think it can get any worse’.
“Whereupon he said, ‘I have fought for my country and I can assure you what you see and hear in the media is a far cry from what is happening on the ground’.
“Armed with that info I am now prepared to agree with the JLP insider.”
A well-known name and person had no kind words for Golding. He said, “Read your column and the first and most snarky answer would be to say time will tell. However, while there might be a smidgen of plausibility in the reason given for Bruce Golding’s actions as it had to do with the Coke extradition saga, I find it very difficult to digest.
“If his dithering and blathering with regards to Coke was just a one-off case I’d be more willing to buy into the ‘theory’ your contact floated in his conversation with you. The problem is that from the time Bruce became PM in 2007 he dithered and blathered on all the major issues he faced/inherited from the former PNP Government. Whether it was crime, the economy, the bloated government structure/ apparatus and even how to prioritise them he seemingly waited until he was pushed/pinned into a corner before he would act.
“I would imagine history might be kinder to Bruce if he was some political novice running Jamaica and he was still getting acclimatised to the ways of government and governing the place, but that was not the case. He came into this with eyes wide open, very much cognisant of all that was happening and what needed to get done, so, in the end, I don’t think history will be as kind to Bruce Golding as some folks would hope.”
Another reader, a university lecturer, took a 50 per cent philosophical and 50 per cent pragmatic look at Golding but still somewhat hedged his bet.
He said: “You pose a very interesting question at the end of your very interesting column, Mark. I suspect you’re right, and have always believed it will — necessarily, for the reasons you aver — be years before we get the full story on this. When that happens, my hunch is that Golding will come out looking good, because he will be judged not for the process as much as for the outcome.
“But that’s just a hunch for now...”
Finally, a reader and ardent political watcher was not prepared to let Golding off the hook. He said: “From a distance and not being encumbered with too much knowledge about the ability of the JCF or JDF to contain widespread civil unrest, I’m not impressed with the argument that the PM really conspired to delay Dudus’ extradition solely to prevent a conflagration.
“I mean, Dudus had how many rag tag gunmen at his disposal? The PM had how many trained men in the JCF and JDF under his command? Not to mention the JDF has helicopter gunships in addition to marine patrol boats. Whose safety was paramount, that of the PM and his family or that of the country? Did he and his Government not have contingency plans in place to confront threats of this kind?
“I like Golding. In spite of everything, I think his tenure was far more successful in making Jamaica a better place than the previous maligned administration. I don’t, however, think he should be let off the hook so easily over the Dudus affair.”
Bad policy on used tyres, Minister Tufton
TWO Fridays ago, The Gleaner carried an article titled ‘Tufton to liberate auto traders.’
The article was summed up in its opening paragraph thus: ‘The industry and commerce ministry will be recommending the lifting of the ban on used tyres and the damaged car trade, and will attempt to boost the flagging used-car sector by raising the age limit on imported vehicles.’
To me, that was both good news and bad news. Good news in that the very active minister will be reopening the damaged car trade. That is an instant employment-creating policy just as long as the cars, when repaired, are sold to end-users with the full knowledge that they are repaired vehicles. Quite obviously, the best of our mechanics and body repair men will be called on to restore these cars to road-worthy status.
The bad news is that the minister will be allowing in used tyres which will be sold at discounted prices. The problem I have with the used -trye policy is that I fear that no accurate pre-shipment condition report will be attached to these tyres. Customers, many of whom will be taxi drivers, will obviously see this as a blessing as many are now driving on semi-bald tyres simply because they cannot afford new tyres at an average starting price of $6,000 each.
I say this without fear of contradiction that Jamaican taxi drivers are easily the most undisciplined drivers on our roads. Add to that the burden of them using tyres which they may be tempted to believe are ‘almost new’, but which pose the possibility of splitting, bending and shredding, and we are creating a hazard that they will least expect.
The carnage on our roads has never really been under control, but the last numbers I saw indicated that we are doing much better (fewer accidents) than during the similar period last year. I have no easy answers to solving the rampant reckless driving on our roads, but certainly, although taxi drivers may be technically sound on driving, the indiscipline displayed by too many of them is there for us all to see, and sadly, experience.
One part of that indiscipline is running their tryes until the ribs show. As small businessmen, they do this to maximise the use, but when the cars are packed with nine people and they are speeding along Spanish Town Road or any other stretch of roadway that allows them the utilisation of excessive speed, tyres of dubious condition are the last things they need.
The minister may have responded to a lobby group and it certainly will earn him solid points for opening up the market for cheaper tyres. But at what price? Impending loss of lives?
observemark@gmail.com
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/colum...#ixzz1cwz69QlM