"I jess want to say dey have all de black pee-pull... black pee-pull... lock dong, unda pressha but look fass dem indyan in central undawatta! Gord doh sleeeeep yuh hear!" "Ok caller, thank you for your contribution." The brain-dead host of that call-in radio programme politely thanked the caller for that contribution of racist vitriol and happily moved on to the next in the phone queue. "We want to give as many callers an opportunity..." I suppose with radio programmes where the host is more receptionist than journalist and intelligent debate is off the agenda, the best thing on offer is some sort of catharsis. Many people just need some hollow receptacle into which they can empty their anxieties.
"You could eemagine what dem pee-pull in Amorica sayin' 'bout we hyar!" In the US they are grappling with persistent lethargy in the economy, children raped and murdered, one devastating natural disaster after another, Rick Perry and Michelle Bachmann. In the UK they have the aftermath of the riots, a burgeoning wave of anti-immigrant sentiment, immeasurable fallout from the News of the World scandal and Coronation Street in perpetual syndication. I humbly submit that none of these so-called developed countries out there can offer even a modest squeak of flatulence about our crisis.
Yet the people do need to vent their frustrations. I read in the "people's rant" section of the newspaper, "No I fine dis curfew thing is ah wase ah time and it only interfering with my social life." Knowing the ingenuity of Trinis, I did not expect that this would have any effect in their usual pursuit of mirth, merriment and eventual regrettable pregnancy. From the reports that I've been reading and hearing, the contrary would appear to be true. It is my understanding that there was a television report quite recently in which a man was held in a roadblock during the curfew period. He was said to have been so drunk that the police and soldiers on the scene could not even stand him up straight to pat him down. He kept slipping out of their arms like a greased pig. They eventually had to pat him "sideways."
This week there was also rigorous jawing about what people anticipate as the impending demise of freedom of speech as the Attorney General hinted at state monitoring of social sites like Facebook. That the security apparatus of the State could eavesdrop on our online conversations about "who have de baddess corstume for nex year" and our sharing of videos of the most recent violent beat down in frunt de school parlour or in some chicken joint, this we will not accept. This furor was generated by a video blog posted by a 14-year-old girl with the mouth of a 44-year-old striking dock worker. She has since posted another video, this one dripping with contrition, in the wake of widespread reaction to the content of her first post.
Rushing to the defence of the "victim" was Opposition MP Amery Browne who shielded her from the shutterbugs as she ex-ited a police station. Both seemed to have forgotten that her face is already very well known to the entire country and the wider world. After news of the videoblog was efficiently circulated, there was a maelstrom of condemnation with some even demanding prosecution of the teenager. The Prime Minister effectively calmed tensions around the issue by suggesting that the girl ought not to be punished and that she wanted to sit down and have a chat with little miss.
Amery Browne quickly offered his commendation to the Prime Minister for her reasoned approach to the matter and fired a parting shot for the Attorney General, "And she should let the Attorney General know that he is not the Director of Public Prosecutions..." Well, Mr Browne, neither is the Prime Minister and she ought not to interfere in any investigation being conducted by the police or plot to intercept any recommendations forwarded to the Director of Public Prosecutions for action to be taken.
While I appreciate the Prime Minister's compassion, do you think in any foreign country, any person, irrespective of age, could issue a threat of death against that country's leader and get a "there there" back-rubbing? Now don't get me wrong, I am in no way suggesting that this child has attained the sniper skills necessary to effect the suggestion that she put forward (she probably isn't collecting a pension either). Obviously, however, everything said by that child has to have come from somewhere and at the very least I would think the police have a right to investigate her circle of influence.
While she should not be prosecuted she should face severe sanctions from her parents. For starters she should be grounded for so long that laptop and cellphone technology will have changed so much she would have to revert to actual mail. This adolescent should be made to face such severe restrictions from her parents so as to catapult her into an elite group of 21-year-old virgins. Young woman, do not despair, we all make mistakes, that is what being young is for. You have time to redeem yourself and in future if you are bored why not go visit a friend and experience the wonder and mystery of having a face-to- face conversation. It will be a little wobbly at first but you will eventually get the hang of it.
Everyone seems to be preoccupied with the stripping of their freedoms "outta dis co-few." The problem is Trinis have always confused freedom with freeness. We are always keen to reference the United States of America as a model of liberty. "Look how dey doz talk dey mine on de TV. When de po-leece hole yuh yuh could sue dem an tun millionaire after." We conveniently ignore the commitment that Americans have to preserve those freedoms. It is almost a rite of passage for young people to go jail in the US. When I was in school in Canada, I would go out for a night on the town and collect my friends in the drunk tank the next morning. If you go and holler at the top of your voice in the town square you go to jail.
If you get caught driving with alcohol (unopened) in your vehicle you get a fine. If you are standing at the side of the road and you are carrying alcohol (unopened) outside of a brown paper bag you get a fine. I got a ticket for riding a bloody bicycle up a one-way street. In these countries the police are in your tail at every turn preserving your precious civil liberties. That will be the true test of this state of emergency:?Can we sustain this level of police presence and intolerance for criminal activity big or small. History unfortunately tell us no.
THOUGHTS
• None of those so-called developed countries can offer even a modest squeak of flatulence about our crisis.
• There was also rigorous jawing about what people anticipate as the impending demise of freedom of speech.
• While she should not be prosecuted, she should face severe sanctions from her parents.