The malice of the snake is to bite what it will not eat. — Shona proverb, Zimbabwe

A rising star and a shooting star are quite different things. A shooting star is really a small piece of rock or dust that hits the Earth’s atmosphere from space. It moves so fast that it heats up and glows as it moves through the atmosphere. Shooting stars are actually what astronomers call meteors. Most meteors burn up in the atmosphere before they reach the ground. A rising star is a person or thing that is growing quickly in popularity or importance in a particular field; for example, a rising star in politics.

Oftentimes a politician impresses us as a rising star, but then he/she turns out to be nothing more than a shooting star. They “flatter to deceive”. Or, as we say in local parlance, they are like a bamboo fire.

When Dr Andre Haughton became a member of the Upper House I was positive about his appointment. I believed he was new and quality wine, in new and quality wineskin. I suspect that dozens of ordinary Jamaicans, in particular, shared a similar optimism. We have been savagely disappointed.

I remember seeing in our media a news item which, among other things, said Dr Andre Haughton was the recipient of an award from The University of the West Indies for the most outstanding alumni for the decade 1999 to 2008. Hurray! Such a man in the once-very venerated space of the Senate should bring added functional substance, I thought.

I was wrong. Up to now Dr Haughton, in my view, has brought the exact opposite.

‘Bad words’

Recall this? “Dr Andre Haughton, Opposition senator, intends to move a motion which seeks to allow the use of Jamaican expletives in dancehalls.

“Haughton said he was influenced to do this after police warned Japanese sound system Mighty Crown not to use profanity during the Fully Loaded show on August 2.

“ ‘This motion is important because this is our culture,’ he told the Jamaica Observer‘s Splash. ‘Too many aspects of our culture have been unnecessarily vilified. These little things, these words contribute to the uniqueness of the Jamaican culture and is what sets us apart from countries across the world.’

“Haughton believes the dancehall space should be a place where artistes can express themselves, and those who attend should be aware of what to expect.

“ ‘When I say the dancehall space, I mean anywhere, wherever you can go get a permit and keep a party. We want to make it like how you have X-rated movies; that way people already know what dem a sign up for,’ he said.

“According to Haughton, there are few people in Jamaica who are affected by the use of these ‘bad words’. Furthermore, he says, overseas these words are considered comical.

“ ‘There are a lot of people who these words don’t affect in a negative or positive way. If a man seh ‘b****cl**t eediat’ is not the b****cl**t doing the harm, is the eediat. If a man seh ‘f*****g fool’, is the fool that have the impact. It’s words like corruption and eediat that are the bad words,’ he explained.” ( Jamaica Observer, August 9, 2019”

Bob Marley said, “We don’t need no more trouble.” I agree.

It seems to me that Dr Haughton and some of our educated or, better yet, schooled individuals have got it into their heads that the best way to solve Jamaica’s long-standing social and economic problems is to monetise the worst in us. They seem to be kowtowing to some of our lowest common denominators. To what end, I ask.

The promotion of and/or export of decadence, for example, cannot be the way out of our debt to gross domestic product (GDP) and other challenges. That ‘model’ muddle, more so, has not worked anywhere in recorded history. The promotion and export of decadence, among other factors, greatly contributed to the fall of significant empires like The (First) Persian, Byzantine, and the Holy Roman Empires, etc.

I have pointed out in previous articles that countries with far, far less resources (human and natural) than Jamaica have in 35, 45, 50, 60 years, etc, transformed their economic fortunes for the better through fit-for-purpose policies and activist State approaches, underpinned by an unwavering embrace of the rule of law and zero tolerance of corruption at all levels.

We have the talents here at home and in the Diaspora to become a First-World country in all departments. What we are most short of is the political will.

Foot in mouth

In recent months, especially, I have heard some very well-schooled people talking glibly about the legalisation of Obeah, abortion, prostitution, universal ganja use, and the repeal of the buggery Act. How will these proposed actions advance Jamaica for the better?

Anyways, after Dr Haughton’s, comical lobby for the legalisation of ‘bad wud’, I said to myself, maybe he was suffering with a case of freshman jitters. Then this happened: “Opposition Senator Dr Andre Haughton took to social media Friday evening in an attempt to rebuff criticisms about his foot-in-mouth moment in Parliament earlier in the day when, during a presentation in observance of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, he declared his love for female breasts.

“ ‘As a child growing up I always love breast; my mother always say I’m a breast man. Even when I was one year and two months I was still drinking breast milk. I am a breast man. When asked, ‘which part of the female you prefer?’, I prefer the breast,’ said Dr Haughton in his address.

“After his remarks, Twitter users lambasted the senator for making a health issue a matter of his personal preference for the female body part.” ( Jamaica Observer, October 6, 2019)

What on Earth was he thinking, I initially thought. Then it dawned on me that he might not have been thinking. General David Petraeus, the US army general who headed multinational forces in Iraq (2007 –08), and who later served as director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), was asked by a CNN reporter what was his primary objective in Iraq. He pithily said, “To wake up each morning with fewer enemies.” Dr Haughton would do well to understand Petraeus’s logic and its application to politics.

A bait?

Everyone deserves a second chance. I strongly believe that. We all make mistakes. Former Prime Minister P J Patterson famously talked about “youthful exuberance”. I said to myself, maybe Dr Haughton’s is still trying to find his footing in the Senate. The butterflies are still plentiful in the pit of his stomach, I thought.

Then, last week, the Old Lady of North Street had this screaming headline: ‘Haughton slams Phillips’s GCT rate cut proposal — says call was ploy to ‘bait’ Gov’t’.

This headline reminded me of a rotten formula employed by Damion Crawford, former Member of Parliament St for Andrew East Rural. Crawford’s last stint as a Member of Parliament earned him numerous political enemies. He was booted from St Andrew East Rural as their standard-bearer because the delegates argued that Crawford was too autocratic in his leadership style. He was vilified by many in his own party, and the public at large, because he told the constituency that he was not interested in running again, but at the eleventh hour he made a 180-degree turn.

Recall, also, his now infamous “trick you” insult on the political hustings. This bait ploy that Dr Haughton admitted was engineered by the PNP is antithetical to the Westminster traditions of collective responsibility. This principle, as I understand it, applies to the Administration, and the Opposition shadow Cabinet. Why, simply, the Opposition is auditioning to replace the incumbent. The Opposition is also part of the Government.

Some eight weeks ago, Dr Phillips announced his shadow Cabinet. This newspaper noted that Phillips was “leader of the Opposition, and had responsibility for planning and development, and defence”. The published shadow Cabinet hierarchy made it clear that Dr Andre Haughton would work hand in glove with Phillips on the crafting of policies and programmes designed to enhance planning and development.

The fact that Haughton can come to the public and declare that his president’s call for a two per cent reduction in the General Consumption Tax (GCT) was mere baiting is not an indication, to me, that Haughton is demonstrating bravery and independence. Based on the People’s National Party’s (PNP) delineation of shadow responsibilities, Haughton should have given guidance to Phillips before, not after the fact. The blatant disconnect between Dr Phillips’s call for a two per cent reduction in GCT and Haughton’s public repudiation of same is further evidence that the PNP is not only on its knees, but on its political face.

Abraham Lincoln, American statesman, lawyer and 16th president of the United States, had a famous rule of conduct for his Cabinet. He told his colleagues that they could violently disagree with him during Cabinet meetings, if they wanted, but, never publicly. I anticipate some will say that was a different time, and information technology makes it near impossible to abide by Lincoln’s principle. I disagree. For that very fact Lincoln’s approach is even more relevant today.

I think it is a warning that the Opposition can treat with issues of planning and development in such a cavalier manner. The livelihood of our citizens cannot be centred on baiting, ‘trick you’, and ‘gotcha’ politics. Dr Andre Haughton needs to “straighten up and fly right”. Here I am borrowing the words of the great crooner Nat King Cole.

Haughton on his present political trajectory runs the risk of being a shooting star and not a rising star. It is full time he starts churning out some functional ideas that will help to uplift all Jamaica.

Bunting from the benches

Peter Bunting, Member of Parliament for Manchester Central and the man who came very close to dethroning Dr Peter Phillips from his presidential perch, is a wounded lion. Bunting’s ‘Rise United’ faction has been very quiet in Parliament since mid-September. They woke up at last Tuesday’s sitting of the Lower House, maybe to test the potency of their political scent marks.

Bunting, some political pundits argue, has been demoted to shadow spokesperson on education and training. This was done, they say, to take him out of the political video lights. Bunting is no political neophyte. His near-photo finish in the recently held leadership battle has given him a certain political bioluminescence. He will be visible, whichever portfolio he is given.

His toe-to-toe with the Karl Samuda, the minister with responsibility for education, youth and information, regarding the appointment of a new college board of directors for the Edna Manley College for the Visual and Performing Arts, and allegations that centre on one board member, triggered a walkout by the Opposition. This is a prelude.

Evo Morales, no coup d’état

Another reader sent a remonstrance last Sunday in which he argued that I should not trust my sources because they are “centres of Western control”. Recall that last Sunday I presented facts from the British Broadcasting Corporation ( BBC), The Economist, and The Washington Post to, among other things, substantiate my position that there was no coup d’état in Bolivia after their general election in October and simultaneously point out that Evo Morales had started to adopt dictatorial tendencies, notwithstanding his considerable contribution to the advancement of the social and economic situations of the indigenous Western Bolivians who suffered discrimination for many decades.

I noted last Sunday, also, that “Morales’ decision to scrap presidential term limits in 2016 was the beginning of bad times for him. He took the matter to court. A court packed with his loyalists ruled that it would be against his human rights if he were not allowed to stand in a future election.” ( Jamaica Observer, December 7, 2019)

Falsehoods, misinformation and disinformation cannot undo the overwhelming evidence of fraud in Bolivia’s election. The Organization of American States (OAS) sent monitors to observe Bolivia’s most recent poll. Their independent audit chronicled “deliberate” and “malicious” efforts to rig the vote in favour of then-President Evo Morales. The OAS said the fraudulent “measures included hidden servers and falsified signatures”.

Recall that last Sunday I referred to a BBC programme that noted that by the time 80 per cent of the votes had been first counted in the most recent general election in Bolivia the results indicated that Morales was losing heavily. Then all counting suddenly stopped. When the full count was tallied, Morales won an outright victory. That was when widespread unrest started. Morales fled to Mexico.

The evidence is abundant. There was no coup d’état in Bolivia.

Garfield Higgins is an educator and journalist. Send comments to the Jamaica Observer or higgins160@yahoo.com.