Thursday, January 9, 2014

Guest commentary: The return of Manning (again) by Phillip Edward Alexander

How do you know you're in a circus?

When the clowns start showing up to perform.

Word is that Patrick Manning has tweeted that he will be back in the Parliament on Friday, but as he has developed a penchant for saying things cryptically and then taking them back over these past weeks, perhaps it is best to see what exactly 'back to work' means for the old Patos.

I mean, it could just as easily be bedroom talk that was accidentally leaked to the public, and if that is the case then at least Hazell has a good Friday to look forward to, yes?

Why do I make fun of the step-father of the nation?

Let's see.

Never a stellar performer, his stint as Prime Minister took this country down into a darkness from which we are still trying to recover and on which much that ails our society presently is owed and yet both he and his supporters have never acknowledged that or apologized to the rest of Trinidad & Tobago for it.

From the one point something billion dollar hospital in Scarborough, Tobago to the one point something billion dollar hole in the ground at Tarouba, from Mr. Bigs and exploding bins, from astronomically high crime and incandescent murder rates, history will record the ascent of Manning as the prelude to the lowest we as a nation will ever be.

What of value can we say this most arrogant of individuals has given this country, slang words and low self esteem? Who needs Benny Hinn when you have your own prophetess, and if you can put her up at a friend's house and pay him big money rent doesn't everyone win? Well, everyone but the taxpaying citizens of this country of course.

Who else believed himself so omniscient that he had the Speaker of the House imprisoned by a mini-state of emergency and 'sicked' the armed forces on the Chief Justice?

Who else?

If you can name another so omnipotent I will see that bet and raise it another two million dollar flag.

No, Friday will be just another normal day interrupted by the arrival of an ego maniac sociopath who still lays claims to a seat in the House of Representatives because our system does not yet provide for recall.

He should have been fired years ago.

Unlike the paid political revisionists, I tend to call a spade a spade, and while it may be the work of the spin doctors to try and demonize his replacement and our current Prime Minister despite what is going on four years of impressive economic performance that included cleaning up his CLICO mess, and who has overseen the reduction of all crime to historic lows save and except for the PNM institutionalized gang killing that is sadly now a fixture on our nightly news, the corpses of little boys bleeding to death in drains courtesy this PNM til ah dead nonsense, this 'would-be' father of the nation can only be remembered by thinking people for the things he did wrong, so legendary were they, so few and far between the things he did right.

Am I going to pause to pay attention to what goes on in the House on Friday?

Absolutely.

But only because I want to play a game called count the balisier ties. From there we will know who is fooling who, and perhaps that may be the best reason for all the clowns to gather ringside and let the games begin.

What remains of the People's National Movement has devolved into a fool's kingdom and perhaps it is only fitting that, as so many from among that organization's loyal ranks are heralding his re-emergence on Friday as some sort of reclaiming of his throne, on Friday we may yet get to see who is the biggest fool of all.

Don't take your eyes off this space...

Phillip Edward Alexander | Social & Political Activist

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Jai & Sero

Jai & Sero

Our family at home in Toronto 2008

Our family at home in Toronto 2008
Amit, Heather, Fuzz, Aj, Jiv, Shiva, Rampa, Sero, Jai