Great-granny of all

by Daniel Thwaites

The government Manatt conspiracy against the Jamaican public seems to have claimed a prime minister. So if it is the mother of all scandals, JDIP would have to be the granny. So what to make of the revelation that a US spy plane was filming over Tivoli during the assault and massacre? We have to climb further up the genealogical table to assist with the description.

This then must be great-granny of all scandals, where the last shred of justification for stalling the extradition of the mobster Dudus is falling to pieces. A massive cover-up is being laid bare.

Just last week, me an' mi neighbour seem to have reacted to the coincidental fire at the NSWMA by both deciding to erect signs outside our houses saying 'No Government Documents Inside'. We're both afraid of fire.

In the ensuing conversation, he wanted to know what I thought about Mr Holness' Christmas-spoiling election speech. Knowing my neighbour to be a wealthy man who is also crazy enough to drink eucalyptus oil when him head tek him, I thought it wise not to respond. Things are getting dangerous nowadays!

So the conversation turned to other things, like his strange view that the best high-grade scrap metal is found in Clarendon, not Westmoreland. I disagreed: Clarendon is now apparently an independent state where Laurie Broderick's office has passed a law called 'The People's Act' so that cheques for constituents can bear his admittedly handsome grin.

Eventually, we could agree on only one thing: Dwight Nelson has to go.

Mr Holness needs, right away, to relieve Mr Nelson of his portfolio, and while he's at it, I suggest also his firearm. Does this really require argument?

The Best Aid Package

The Gleaner called the US provision of a spy plane "the best aid package by a foreign government to Jamaica in recent times". Agreed. So what can we make of a responsible minister not knowing, not recalling, or intentionally misleading the country about so important a matter?

Only one day after strenuous denials by his minister, Mr Holness reversed the story. Notably, this was AFTER the New Yorker article, and the evidence in it, was in the hands of the press. The gig was already up! Same thing with JDIP after the auditor general's report. I'm guessing that when the evidence of who paid Manatt bubbles to the surface from the hellish depths, we'll have a swift press release.

I'm reminded of an old schoolmate of mine who walked into his house to find his wife sitting at the table with his secret sweetheart, both looking battle-ready. He immediately said, "Oh, good! Honey, I gave my life to the Lord today and there's something I need to talk to you about!" As he explained to me, "The 'Shaggy' doesn't work all the time!" My ex-schoolmate has a speciality in public relations, you see!

'That is For Sure'

Bruce Golding had denied US involvement. Daryl Vaz had said: "From a government standpoint, I can indicate clearly that there was no outside assistance in this operation. That is for sure."

I believed him. People complained about Daryl's approach to the information portfolio. Not me. He was so emphatic that I found myself believing anything he said for at least 10 minutes afterwards before reason and experience resurfaced.

And so it was that we accepted as settled fact that there was no US involvement in the Tivoli massacre. And it stood to reason. After all, the very foundation of the Government's smokescreen that the extradition of Christopher Coke was improperly sought was this argument about 'sovereignty' and supposed constitutional concerns with operational agreements in otherwise unremarkable and standard MOUs.

Admitting US involvement brings the whole enormous edifice of jerry-built lies and ketchy-shubby denials crashing down. And now it has.

Remember Orwell's reflection on political language, that it "is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind." The P-3 Orion is further and physical proof that the concocted rationale for delaying the extradition and attempting the political assassination of Dr Peter Phillips was "pure wind". Dr Phillips is due an apology. As Daryl would say, "That is for sure."

Now we must demand the US's images be used as evidence for the criminal prosecution of the planners and executioners of the (utterly avoidable) largest civilian bloodbath in the history of the country since the 1865 rebellion.

Daniel Thwaites is a partner of Thwaites, Lundgren & D'Arcy in New York, and currently qualifying for the Jamaican Bar. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com.