Photo: AFP/GETTY (Daily Telegraph UK)
Las May, Daily Gleaner, 15 May 2010 (our cartoonists are world class)
I feel it for Bruce Golding. Who could have predicted the woes that would befall his first two years as Crime Minister, er, oh, LOL, i mean Prime Minister. I know what his wife Lorna means when she says we must read between the lines because he isn't free to disclose everything. My first reaction when i heard that he had admitted sanctioning the Manatt, Phelps 'initiative' from the get-go was that someone or something had forced his hand. Only something far worse staring him in the face could have made owning up to having played fast and loose with the truth seem like the better alternative.
And i feel it for him because this turn of events has nothing to do with him personally, or the Jamaica Labour Party for that matter. It's just the way the cookie crumbles in countries that are well on their way to being narco-democracies. I'm amazed at the amount of moral indignation being directed at the PM by members of the media. C'mon! It's not a matter of morality is it? It's a matter of how to decriminalize a country. Not easily done. The Colombians might have a tip or two and the Haitians. Forget about decriminalizing ganja or gay-ness, this is an entire country that has been hijacked by criminality. How is a government to cope?
Granted the PM could have handled the entire matter differently from the beginning. But he was playing by the old rules like all politicians have done so far. And he's been jerked to reality by the powers-that-be. This is a power struggle. That's what we have to realize. And to win this power struggle we need the new, the young, the strong and the able...because only they know how to negotiate the new rules that are now in effect. Alas, our criminals too are world-class and internationally competitive.
In the meantime a spurious facebook page purporting to be that of Dudus Coke is making the rounds in cyberspace. It's a no holds barred version so if you're under 15 or an Ayatollah or a member of Jamaica's Moral Majority you might want to make a hasty switch to a less profane website.
Finally, take a look at National Dish by Michael 'Flyn' Elliott below. As a painted image it pretty much captures our predicament as a society. And for a variety of innovative takes or interpretations of the state we're in you must visit the National Gallery's Young Talent V which opened today. It is an exciting show that signals the resurgence of the visual art scene here. Here is a link to my photos from the opening.
National Dish by Michael 'Flyn' Elliott
7 comments:
I think you are being too kind...to all the powers that be.
While our politicians dilly dally people are being raped and murdered everyday.
A prominent national figure once said to me "we are a violent society". Things have not changed in the more than a quarter-century since he said that to me. The reality, of course, is that Jamaican society was born out of the violence of slavery, and there has never been any idyllic moment in its history, no matter what lies the people who frame the history tell us. The gun is just the latest tool in that violence, and the only difference today is that the people wielding the weapons do so at the behest of people originating at the bottom of society. The reasons for violence have not changed in over five centuries: profit and power.
I wonder what could have forced him to speak the truth?
That National Dish? Is that a painting, or a photo?
Hey Mad Bull,
It's a painting!
Its so realistic. And it says so much. I hope you don't mind if I showcase it on my blog also. (with a link back to you, and with proper accreditation to the artist watermarked into the picture)If you do mind., I will take it down. Let me know. Check it out: http://www.madbull4.net/wordpress/2010/05/the-new-jamaican-national-dish/
Mad Bull,
Flyn will be happy to see his work being quoted/showcased like this so no need to take it down, i'll send him the link.
things seem to have quieted down a bit now...
Powerful blog you have here. Enjoy your posts so far. Check mine out if you will please - I blog about my baking. [Jamaican too]
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