…by Jagdeo
Your Eyewitness just had to cringe when he looked at Granger’s presentation to the PNC’s New Amsterdam rally! He’s never seen someone so rattled in politics since Nixon sweated rivulets during his debate with JFK!! You could tell immediately from how he came on stage: awkwardly bouncing up the stairs to the beat of their campaign jingle, and then attempting to sashay to the podium!! He was so obviously trying (unsuccessfully!!) to convince the bussed-in faithful that he wasn’t quite as old and tired as the PPP had pointed out!!
Not only is Granger bereft of any rhythm, but he also doesn’t even have the energy to even stimulate energy!! He looked like exactly what he was: an old man trying desperately to turn back the clock and turn up some dynamism from days long gone by!! Then there was the delivery of the speech— again, the lack of energy in the flat, hoarse monotone that he’s been reduced to over the last year made listening so painful!
But it was the content that most portrayed how rattled he was: it was so spasmodic, it came as a surprise that he kept looking down at his notes. Isn’t a prepared speech supposed to flow? Have a structure? Build up to some point he wanted to make? But it soon became clear as to what had derailed the poise he’s cultivated so assiduously since he was thrust on the national stage: he’d start to make a point from his notes about some initiative or the other that he was supposed to promise the people of Berbice, but after a sentence or two, he’d launched into an attack on Bharrat Jagdeo!!
Jagdeo has gotten so far under Granger’s skin, the poor ex-Brigadier had to literally shed it and expose his real persona: mean, petty and spiteful!! He confessed to being an old man – 75 years old…but sought to counter that by saying that Jagdeo was appointed to office by a man – Jagan – just as old!! Really??! How does Jagan having the foresight to detect young talent, excuse Granger being unable to carry out his official duties?? But the remark typified the series of non-sequiturs that Granger made all night!
Accused of going to bed by 8 pm – clearly meant to show that he can’t handle the workload of a modern president and causing the vacuum in leadership that had caused the Guyanese ship of state to be adrift – Granger made a crude crack about only his wife knowing when he goes to bed!! Going for a laugh and ignoring his abdication of the duty he took an oath to uphold!
But relief is in sight: the end of his presidency is nigh!!
…and rolling
The EU has officially informed us that the UK has withdrawn from their Union – effective this Friday. Imagine that!! The country that had foisted a “West Indian Federation” on us, and castigated Jamaica when they pulled out after a referendum, is doing the same almost sixty years later!! But then, the EU wasn’t REALLY a federation, was it?? It was the model for Caricom!!
So does the move by our erstwhile imperial power signal it might be time to recalibrate our Caricom commitments?? The benefits of the grouping as a trade block has never been of much consequence for us – even with our rice, they always gave us a “hard card”! Foreign policy coordination to leverage the value of 15 votes in international fora? Well, with Jamaica supporting the US on their Latin American strategy and Barbados leading in the opposite direction, where does that leave us?
But we’re now an oil-producing country! Isn’t it time for us to embrace our continental destiny!?!
We have nothing to lose but our immigration benches!!
…and more land
The Sophia folks are being courted by the PNC for their votes…and their “strong bodies for the nightshift”. But unlike in 2015, they’re demanding land – which they’ve seized.
Just following the footsteps of the big ones!!
