The apology to Mr. Alberto August in the Belize Times, page six of the November 18 issue, is absolutely damnable. Take a deep breath, please, so you don’t fall off your stool. Ouch, “Please accept our apology as a means of a public retraction for an article that appeared in the Belize Times (about re-registration controversy)…in which Mr. Alberto August was erroneously named as Chairman of Elections and Boundaries Commission. We are sorry for any distress and anguish…”

Yes, the newspaper apologized, was made to apologize to August for naming him as the head of the Election and Boundaries Commission, which naming brought incredible distress and anguish into the life of the poor brother.

I think Mr. August is the chairman of the UDP. I say “think,” because that’s what he was the last time I heard. He could have vacated that post last night. If he still is UDP chair, then he’ll have to grin and bear some more anguish and distress. The Lord knows that there isn’t anything saintly about the post of UDP chairman.

Mr. August once published a newspaper, and it had some saving grace. Some of the things he published were in defense of democracy, which he is now about destroying, and some of his offerings were just plain disrespectful.

Mr. August once worked for the SIS (Security Intelligence Services). There, he might have come across certain sensitive or damning information which he believed to be the truth. He wasn’t shy about his insinuations and accusations in his publications. He was in the business of supporting his party, hell bent onremoving the PUP from government; no holds barred.

The head of elections department, Chairman of Elections and Boundaries Commission, is a proud one which comes with a lot of dignity, salary, and other perks. I believe if Mr. August didn’t hold the big position in that department at some time, that he had a senior post there. I am pretty certain that he was at one time, connected.

The Belize Times might have suggested that there had been certain hanky panky in the department. A rather dark story emerged at the Senate hearings that the UDP government facilitated the citizenship papers of people who didn’t qualify, and this helped that party to get over in elections.

Mr. August might be completely innocent. But no sir, he is no Mr. Lily White. A proper course for him would have been to ask for a space in the paper to simply explain where he’s at now. I am no cynic, but in the Belize that our leaders made, local politicians have been so relentless in pursuing party interests over those of the country that all their wings are withered and their halo is an overturned bowl of soup. They just are in no position to cry foul about anything anyone has to say about their doings.

Really, really, really, does anybody in Belize remember this “defamatory” article? My fellow Belizeans, Belize’s democracy has nowhere to go but down if we don’t put an end to this ridiculous protection of people in political life.

There’s a tale from Africa about a monkey who invited a turtle to a party and when it came time for the turkey dinner, turtle got his in a tall basket. Later, tit for tat, turtle invited monkey to a party and when the time came to partake of the feast, turtle announced that no one could come to the dining table with dirty hands. That monkey washed his hands and washed his hands, but it didn’t work out. He just couldn’t get clean hands to partake of the feast.

Ahem, our brother must fantasize that he is a pastor. His hands are so clean he can suffer distress and anguish because of an article published in Belize about his political life.

The parliament where everyone is a Minister is a joke, a caricature of the Queen’s design. Too many government structures in our country have been corrupted or watered down for the gains of narrow political parties.

The UDP is playing serious games with our country. The PUP gave open field to a bunch of scamps, and the UDP is dragging us into a Gestapo state. People with unclean hands are literally littering the political landscape.

Brother August cannot legitimately claim injury to his “saintly name,” because he is a major operative in a corrupted system. Brother August’s demand for an apology, and getting one, is a loud example of what’s wrong with Belize. In a healthy democracy, one exercising a sincere parliamentary system, he would have been laughed off the street for such request.

Mr. August, properly, should have asked for a correction, for the record, not an apology. I don’t recall exactly what was written in the article and I don’t care to go to the archives to look for it. What I know is that there can be nothing in such an article about a major political operative that could raise a sincere eyebrow.

Driven to drink by PM’s “no apology”

He might have been misquoted, or cherry picked. Maybe he was about to correct his disappointing statement when some aggressive reporter turned his attention elsewhere. I am writing about PM Barrow’s comment about unequal Krismos Cheer, as reported in the Reporter of November 25.

On giving a half share to constituencies that fall under Opposition leaders, the Reporter reported that the Leader said: “Man, but we are the government. There must be a prize for being winners of the political contest, and there must be some recognition of the fact that as Ministers, you have to work, not politically, but in terms of the duties of office and government. You have to work harder than members of the Opposition do. I think that is equity and I have no apologies to make.”

You know that is some incredible, dilly of a statement. If I wasn’t afraid of being disrespectful, I would say he needs to visit Dr. Claudia. Former PM, Dr. M Esquivel, infamously quoted Tina Turner’s “What’s love got to do with it.” Mr. Defiance Barrow prefers his own coinage, “It is equity and I have no apologies to make.”

It is natural to think that this cheer is for children across this land who are “watching for Rudolph”, but Santa doesn’t have any gifts for them this year. It is just absolutely unnatural that this cheer is really about government Ministers scoring with the children in their constituencies. Lest we forget, there is serious justification for government Ministers and the expanded coffers – they work more. Lest they forget, government Ministers are excellently remunerated for the extra work.

To the little kids in areas where a UDP is not representative, the blame falls on your stupid parents, the majority of whom sided with the other crowd. What a beautiful democracy we live in. It’s not so easy, but you can always take a bad thing too far. Too much P, PPP, petty party politics in our little country.

UDP party operatives argue that the other party gave out no such Krismos treats. This should have been a point for the UDP. But every virtue of this party they find a way to corrupt for sick party political gain.

My, even for the Krismos cheer the UDP manages to twist things. It is his/their concoction, yes, and very laudable, but how do you arrive at this warped distribution, as it translates on the ground. Every day, for five years, some constituencies have a Minister in government. Corrected, the people in constituencies who don’t have a government Minister should be getting MORE!

Wow, there’s”equity” in Belize. I keep saying that St. Michael’s College did a woeful job with the basic math. Flat out, the explanation for this Krismos cheer distribution leaves me shocked, shocked out of my shoes, and socks.

I give respect to this gentleman at the Reporter, Mr. Rudon, for his fight to discourage rum drinking. The church people have some worthy arguments against drinking too.They try so hard to stop us from making fools of ourselves with rum. But they can never win. What do you do when your PM plays bully and refuses to apologize for warping such a good program? Some people burn tires and plot necessary bloody revolution. I don’t know about you, I can only speak for me. I find the nearest bottle pan di table and I draw the kaak.