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Friday, April 27, 2007
According to the Oxford Dictionary, a Jezebel is a shameless, immoral woman. Beyond that, biblical history tells us that Jezebel, the queen of ancient Israel, was a murderess, a controlling tyrant, who ultimately met her death at the hands of servants who threw her out in the street to be consumed by dogs.
In their 1960s song, Carry Go Bring Come, the late Justin Hinds and the Dominoes draw an analogy between Jezebel and a gossiping, busybody of a woman.
It is against this background that we fail to understand how Mrs Joan Gordon-Webley, the Opposition Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) candidate for South East St Andrew, could liken Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller to this infamous historical character... unless Mrs Gordon-Webley knows something we don't.
For the issue of her competence in the country's top job aside, we believe that even the prime minister's bitterest detractors would have to give her very high marks in the humanitarian department as an individual who has transcended political boundaries to extend love to all citizens of Jamaica.
We would, in the interests of professionalism and good editorial taste, refrain from any analysis which would seek to measure or compare the differential in distance between Jezebel and any member of the female gender. Suffice it to say that outbursts like the one made by Mrs Gordon-Webley really do not augur well for her personal or political image.
For those who remember, shortly after her return to local politics last year, Mrs Gordon-Webley made the headlines following claims that she was caught in the crossfire of a bitter feud between communist and moderate factions within the ruling People's National Party (PNP) for the constituency that she hopes to wrest from the education minister, Mrs Maxine Henry-Wilson, in the upcoming general elections.
The explanation for that arguably untimely outburst was that she was out of touch with the contemporary local political culture. Based on the strident defence she is now putting up for her unkind analogy, especially in the face of the disapproval expressed by her party through its general-secretary, Mr Karl Samuda, it appears that Mrs Gordon-Webley is still wrapped up in the less-enlightened paradigm of the 1970s and early 1980s politics.
Anybody familiar with contemporary politics will realise that both major political parties are, at least on the face of it, endeavouring to move away from that paradigm by conducting themselves with a level of decorum that facilitates the co-existence of heated debates and peaceful conflict resolution. That is why we have political codes of conduct which seek to define the parameters of public campaigning.
Given the recent spate of verbal spats - some of which have ended up in court - that have come to public attention, we think that maybe it's time for all politicians to refresh their memories with a copy of the code, for everyone's sake.
According to the Oxford Dictionary, a Jezebel is a shameless, immoral woman. Beyond that, biblical history tells us that Jezebel, the queen of ancient Israel, was a murderess, a controlling tyrant, who ultimately met her death at the hands of servants who threw her out in the street to be consumed by dogs.
In their 1960s song, Carry Go Bring Come, the late Justin Hinds and the Dominoes draw an analogy between Jezebel and a gossiping, busybody of a woman.
It is against this background that we fail to understand how Mrs Joan Gordon-Webley, the Opposition Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) candidate for South East St Andrew, could liken Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller to this infamous historical character... unless Mrs Gordon-Webley knows something we don't.
For the issue of her competence in the country's top job aside, we believe that even the prime minister's bitterest detractors would have to give her very high marks in the humanitarian department as an individual who has transcended political boundaries to extend love to all citizens of Jamaica.
We would, in the interests of professionalism and good editorial taste, refrain from any analysis which would seek to measure or compare the differential in distance between Jezebel and any member of the female gender. Suffice it to say that outbursts like the one made by Mrs Gordon-Webley really do not augur well for her personal or political image.
For those who remember, shortly after her return to local politics last year, Mrs Gordon-Webley made the headlines following claims that she was caught in the crossfire of a bitter feud between communist and moderate factions within the ruling People's National Party (PNP) for the constituency that she hopes to wrest from the education minister, Mrs Maxine Henry-Wilson, in the upcoming general elections.
The explanation for that arguably untimely outburst was that she was out of touch with the contemporary local political culture. Based on the strident defence she is now putting up for her unkind analogy, especially in the face of the disapproval expressed by her party through its general-secretary, Mr Karl Samuda, it appears that Mrs Gordon-Webley is still wrapped up in the less-enlightened paradigm of the 1970s and early 1980s politics.
Anybody familiar with contemporary politics will realise that both major political parties are, at least on the face of it, endeavouring to move away from that paradigm by conducting themselves with a level of decorum that facilitates the co-existence of heated debates and peaceful conflict resolution. That is why we have political codes of conduct which seek to define the parameters of public campaigning.
Given the recent spate of verbal spats - some of which have ended up in court - that have come to public attention, we think that maybe it's time for all politicians to refresh their memories with a copy of the code, for everyone's sake.