“Good name in man and woman, dear, My Lord, is the immediate jewel of their souls. Who steals my purse steals trash; tis something, nothing. T’was mine, ‘tis his, and has been slave to thousands. But he that filches from me my good name robs me of that which not enriches him. And makes me poor indeed.” — Othello

The most qualified person to ever contest the presidential election in the United States is Hillary Rodham Clinton.

After earning a Juris Doctor degree from Yale University, she married future President Bill Clinton and became the first lady of Arkansas, twice. During that time she was twice named among the top 100 most outstanding lawyers in the US by National Law Journal. She then became a very active US first lady for eight years during her husband’s successful two terms as president.

On leaving the White House, Clinton became the only first lady to become a senator before becoming secretary of state.

Her opponent in the 2016 presidential election was the least qualified person to seek the presidency — Donald Trump. He first vanquished his Republican opponents in the primaries by besmirching their characters. When he gained the nomination, he turned on Clinton with a vengeance, launching withering, untruthful but sustained personal attacks on her. He never missed an opportunity to humiliate her publicly about her husband’s affairs. These attacks were repeated 30 million times before election day. With the help of Russia — America’s nemesis — pollsters claimed that these attacks were working.

Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by almost 3 million, almost as many as Barack Obama garnered to win in 2012. But that cockeyed arrangement known as the US Electoral College handed the presidency to Trump.

The election results stunned the political world. Nobody was more surprised than Trump himself. With no government or military experience, many aspects of American life went downhill. One of Trump’s lesser-known but profoundly damaging legacies is the explosive rise in the national debt, which increased $7.8 trillion. The financial burden inflicted on the American people will wreak havoc for generations. He was impeached twice. The second time for fomenting an insurrection at the US capitol. He and his henchmen are now awaiting the outcome of a slew of lawsuits.

The Washington Post has reported that during his presidency he made 30,573 false or misleading claims to the American people.

Since he became prime minister, I have been receiving a number of postings painting Andrew Holness in an unfavourable light. I know nothing about his personal life, but simple logic would suggest that most of what I received was totally lacking in foundation. Over the past year these postings increased in number and viciousness. I sought professional advice about some of them and was told that they were created by professionals. This was not surprising as the “senders” and “forwarders” are intelligent, educated people.

Last Wednesday my phone was bombarded with corruption claims levelled at the prime minister. My first thought was, “Not again!” But the videos claimed that these charges were coming from the very institutions we are relying on to ferret out the corrupt among us. I found this troubling. Then I became more troubled by what was unfolding before me. I got the distinct impression that the programmes, interviews, and other events surrounding this issue were coordinated and choreographed. And I questioned how all of this could have come together so quickly after this announcement.

There are those who will suggest that some document was inadvertently left somewhere, and some other unfortunate “mix-up” took place. Tell that to the simpletons among us.

I may have mentioned this in a previous article, but it bears repetition. I was a university student when an unpleasant rumour broke about the prime minister of another country. Several attempts were made to get a response from the students of that country, but not one of those students would accommodate any derogatory discussion about their prime minister.

These students were here because the opportunity for tertiary training was not available in their country. But while they may have lacked opportunities, they did not lack self-respect.

What is wrong with us? What great evil has the Holnesses done to this country?

For years the chattering classes in this country have done incalculable harm to the lives of honest, upright citizens. It is time for laws, with teeth, to be introduced to protect those who serve us as well as the rest of the population.

When you write or say something that causes someone harm, your words can be considered defamatory by the court, especially when those words have been read or heard by many right-thinking people. Defamation can be defined as causing a person to lose his or her credibility, resulting in the individual being shunned or exposed to potential ridicule.

In Singapore, whether your words are explicit or implied or you merely repeated what someone else has written, you can be liable for defamation. Singapore’s penal code, section 499 states that, if a person intends to defame another person or knows that what he or she says will harm that person, then that person has committed a crime that can be punished by a fine plus up to two years in jail.

As far as civil defamation is concerned, if the person did not intend to defame, he or she still might be liable under the country’s civil defamation law. This law is not tied to intention. As long as the effect of your written or spoken speech harms someone it does not matter whether you intended to harm. If found liable for civil defamation, you can owe monetary damages and may be required to publicly apologise.

I frequently hear people dismiss Singapore’s laws, claiming that they can’t work here. May I remind them, as a former British colony, Singaporean law closely follows the British common law. Its definition of defamation tracks how defamation is defined in Britain and the United States.

Defamation or slander laws in South Korea are very different from those in other countries. Any words, even if it’s the truth, harming another can be considered illegal and may be punishable with fines or even imprisonment.

Too many people in this country are suffering in silence, their future in tatters because of the carelessness of others. This has been so widespread for so long it is affecting our ability to engage in reasoned deliberations. May I suggest that the prime minister refrain from doing the politically correct thing by generously forgiving.

The Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) was quick to urge him to “do the right thing and remove himself”, forgetting to add that this would hand it a huge political advantage, as was the case with former prime ministers Edward Seaga and Bruce Golding. I would urge him to call in the guilty parties and assist them in doing the right thing.

I need not remind him that this is not an Andrew Holness thing, it is the effect it can have on the Office of the Prime Minister of Jamaica. I saw this matter on US news and Reuters. The focus was on recommendations for investigation into corruption, nothing useful about the resolution of the matter was mentioned.

It would also be a good idea to establish a Media Literacy Council to work with the business community, the public, and other government agencies to create an educated and responsible participatory culture.

So the matter was “cleared up”. Is that enough? I think not! What about the suspicion that has been skilfully and subliminally placed in the minds of people all over the world? The stain remains, because suspicion never dies.

Glenn Tucker is an educator and a sociologist. Send comments to the Jamaica Observer or glenntucker2011@gmail.com.