Dear Editor,

Gordon Robinson used my guest column in the Jamaica Observer of September 3, 2014 to award the newspaper his local “Domino Dunce Award for Journalism”. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.

To begin with, the domino is such a popular pastime for countless Jamaicans that I can’t for the life of me comprehend how Robinson could reduce it to the lowest common denominator and cass-cass.

He is also suggesting that a newspaper is deserving of his kind of diatribe just for publishing a column. On that basis, one would have to conclude that the views published in his column in The Gleaner represent those of that newspaper.

Robinson equates a column with editorial policy. Don’t remind me that he is an attorney! Once again, The Gleaner needs to be more discriminatory in its choice of columns.

It also strikes me that, in seeking sympathy for himself, Robinson deliberately interprets my statement that “The Old Ball and Chain must be writhing in her sexless old age…” to mean it is about “an innocent old woman”. He knows better, but he can’t face the truth. It is far more a comment about him than her.

By the way, he should not compare Dionne Jackson-Miller with a racehorse. It’s not very flattering.

I need not say much about Robinson’s attack on the Observer. The folks there can defend themselves very well. After all, they have evolved into one heck of a newspaper in only 21 years. It’s the reason Robinson has to refer to the newspaper in order to draw attention to himself and his hapless column. And, yes, methinks he is abysmally jealous of that achievement.

Finally, Robinson gives the clear impression that he does not want to be criticised. No columnist should be so thin-skinned. Criticism of a column is par for the course. If he can’t stand the heat, he needs to get out of the kitchen pronto!

Olivier Gordon

Riffraph54@gmail.com