I thought it was a serious discussion, the one that proposed allowing born Belizeans who became American citizens (or other nationalities) and lived in America (or other countries), to vote in our elections. To run in our elections for a seat, or to be given a seat in the House is another story.
If the Prime Minister had tapped Mr. Compton Fairweather on his shoulder, called on him to fill a big post in his government, nobody in Belize would have complained. Mr. Compton qualifies as an exceptional Belizean. But are we to open the door for everybody because we have an exceptional Belizean or two?
Hey, I had almost forgotten how disappointed I was (I believe many other Belizeans were too) when new PM Barrow announced the SIZE of his Cabinet a few days after taking office in February 2008. It was his first move and from this corner it was a bad move. He needed a Cabinet of 8 or so; he gave us a blown up thing with 13 or so, plus 4 or so junior ministers.
The famous Senator Godwin Hulse is one who apparently believes that all area representatives are equal. Maybe by the letter of the law, they are. But clearly the person who rides at the head of the ticket, the one on whose desk the buck stops, is MORE equal. The real is that everyone who votes in a general election considers the person at the head of the ticket when they go to cast their vote for their area representative. Everyone knows that PUP vs UDP in 2008, was H. Said Musa vs H. Dean Barrow.
The letter of the law might make Tom, Dick, and Harry equal to the leader, but that is not how it is translated on the ground.
After all the tremendous work done by the Reforms Commission, PM Barrow should have presented us with a lean Cabinet. After all the tremendous work done by the social partners (the NTUCB, the Chamber of Commerce, and other key members of Civil Society) PM Barrow should have strengthened the compact with them. For prime example, the leaders of the social partners should have been involved in the sixth amendment to the Constitution.
These Prime Ministers come into office fretting about 5 years down the road. But after five years of hard work a PM should be so spent, all he should be thinking about is naming his successor, and riding off into the sunset. No, we want impossible 3-term careers. That’s why we have to be cutting deals with area representatives who, without the PARTY, can’t cut it.
Some respect is due H. Barrow, for he seems a lot tougher than H. Said Musa. But he has too many landlubbers as crew, on seas that are getting stormier by the day. You can apologize for a man who rises to his level of incompetence (is Peter Principled). In our case a number of men got portfolios they had shown nowhere in past lives that they could handle. Winning an election does not qualify everyone to be a MINISTER.
Please, no one should feel disrespected. How many of us are qualified to carry a doctor’s forceps? Braa, every time we fail, poor people take the lick.
As for the GG, it’s a great reach for the PM to cite some clause that allows him (the GG) to beef up on citizenships, to bolster this new plan of his (the PM) sprung upon us like a thief in the night.
It is well understood by all of us (except Mr. Henry Gordon and Co.) that he, the GG, is head of this nation…on paper. It is so because we choose to be a member of that wonderful group called the Commonwealth. The GG’s job is to protect our citizenship in that great GLOBAL nation.
Give that man space so he can continue his excellent work representing us in the Commonwealth, and continue his efforts to acquire more instruments so every school in the nation can have a brass band.
Thriller Jackson
Don’t ask me where I was, okay, but I didn’t see Michael Jackson perform on stage (television show) until late last year (or was it early this year). Not a very big fan of his music, I found the whole MJ trip amusing…as amusing as a bunch of Elvis Presleys jumping out of a plane, or a dozen Chinese Elvises crashing a party.
Hey, I was missing half the MJ show. After a few minutes watching his performance I realized I was watching something special. I put aside my sports show and watched almost the whole damn Thriller experience. Dancing crazy videos will never be my kettle of fish, but I for sure could see his art was awesome.
Ha, I must have seen clips of the MJ moonwalk thing before, but seeing it at the concert was a whole new experience. He nailed it, all right, just like Neil Armstrong and his bunch nailed that fake walk on the moon to the great satisfaction of JFK, and the great consternation of Kruschev.
By the way, didn’t one of them astronauts try to parlay that moonwalk thing into the big seat in the US White House?
Proud of USA football on Sunday
When asked by an ESPN reporter what could the USA national football team have done to protect their surprise first half 2-0 lead over Brazil in the Confederation Cup Final, US Hall of Famer Alexi Lalas said that the US team needed to learn how to delay the game, you know, things like go down and roll over and over on the grass like it is the end of your world. What a shmuck!
The USA, while not as skilful as Brazil, gained respect all over the world for playing the game from whistle to whistle. Big congratulations to Donovan, Dempsey, Howard and company for performing valiantly. You played hard; you got whipped by a better team. Rolling over and other distasteful delay tactics chase fans from the game. It is okay to hang on for dear life in boxing because a beaten boxer IS hanging on for dear life. Delay tactics have no place in the beautiful game.