When one hears or sees that the circus has come to town, images of awe and disbelief are conjured up in one’s mind, so when the travelling circus, which is Brother Hughes’ AUM Travellin’ Medicine Show, visited town the other night, it was with bated breath that everyone waited. No sooner had the dog and pony show – complete with barkers that would have made Barnum and Bailey proud – opened the show, they forgot why they had come to town. They came to town under the guise of a political rally, but it turned out to be anything but that.
There is an old saying which says that a leopard can’t change its spots and so what did we expect from this travelling show. The way that these guys carried on one would think that there was no need to have the election because they’ve already anointed themselves as the saviors of Anguilla. Talk about the height of arrogance. The bible says that the meek shall inherit the earth. I sincerely believe that these folks missed Sunday School.
It is understandable that, because of all that is riding on this election, everyone contesting it wants to make sure that he or she gets every advantage even it means tearing down his or her opponent. It became excruciatingly painful to sit and listen to candidate after candidate deride their opposition the other night, which tells us quite a bit about them: that they have no clue what to do to get Anguilla back into positive territory. All I heard was a lot of personal attacks on other people’s character. I must say that the men of the AUM found their balls when they started the name calling. I just hope that Niel was listening and that he treats their accusations with extreme vengeance.
I believe that the people of East End, whom I hold in high regard, took what they heard with a grain of salt, for I’m yet to hear what the AUM will do for the district. I was also taken aback by Haydn’s constant attacks on Pam Webster, but then that’s all he can do. Why is it that everyone is so concerned about what Pam will do? Haydn you have shown your ignorance by the stupid comments that you’ve made all night. Pam is not even in Government, so why are you guys ganging up on her? Could it be that it’s because she actually has a vision for Anguilla, that she will get constitutional as well as electoral reform done, that she will institute the checks and balances that need to be in place if we’re to get out of this bog that we find ourselves mired in? What is it Haydn, that bothers you about her? Haydn we know that you don’t respect women, or anyone for that matter, and I’ve seen you do that in person. It is a damn shame, then, that someone like you fail to live up to the standards commensurate with the office that you hold. You are not up to the task and I hope the wonderful people in the district where you are running send you packing.
Given the non-stop attacks on the opposing candidates the other night, one is left to ponder, what will these jokers do if and when they get elected? Here we are five years later, and we still don’t know what they were going to do the first time out, and it appears that nothing has changed. Oh, they talk a good talk. The incumbent candidate from district two went off on a tangent checking off their accomplishments, with a tag line of “judge us on that.” Well, Mr. Incumbent, if you have got to check off all of your government’s accomplishments such as they were, you’re in trouble. I know that our people have very short memories. They probably don’t remember that you saw greener grass on the other side, and in no time jumped the fence. The circumstances under which you jumped ship don’t make any sense. Mr. Hughes, whose government was barely hanging by a thread, would not have dismissed Mr. Baird, for he knew that if he did, his government would have collapsed, something that Mr. Hughes is very familiar with given the fact that he caused Mr. Webster’s government to fall twice. It would have been nice to see Mr. Hughes get a taste of his own medicine, but no thanks to you, he survived. Do you really expect us to believe that you crossed over for the benefit of the country?
I have said many times before that elections have consequences – consequences that we are now suffering because of our actions in the last election. We are treated by this government as a people who lack the sophistication and the intellectual gravitas to fully grasp what is happening to us. If that were not the case why then would the Chief Minister continue to keep us in the dark over what’s happening with the ECCB? Why then does he not hold a press conference and let some daylight in so that we, as shareholders, of the banks can rest a bit easier about what has transpired?
A recent story appeared in the Wall Street Journal entitled “Bad-Debt Sales Lifts Servicers” in which a London servicing firm, called Mount Street Loan Solutions, is reported to be doing brisk business from the bad real estate loans that brought Europe’s banking sector to its knees. Because of the pressure from banking regulators and investors, the banks are being forced to clean up their balance sheets. European banks have unloaded their toxic loans at a record pace. What should be of particular interest to us is the manner in which private equity firms snapped up the debt portfolios. These are the guys who pay collection firms to collect money from borrowers and also perform the less savory chores such as hounding the borrowers night and day.
So having seen what they’re doing in London, and other parts of Europe, is this the harbinger with regard to our toxic loans? While these bad debt loans have been snapped up in record numbers, the EU has in place the checks and balances to deal with the significant risks involved. Can we say the same?
What do we do in our situation where we don’t know what’s going on? Our Minister of Finance, whose job it is to act in such instances, has failed to enlighten us as to what is going on. It is probably fair to assume that since the European Union has made a move to unload and clean up its toxic assets that our ECCB will probably follow suit.
If I were a betting man, I would bet the farm that something is about to go down, and when it does we won’t like it one bit. I want us all to remember on whose watch this whole mess happened. I want us all, when we see foreigners gobbling up our properties for pennies on the dollar, to remember who sold us out. I want you all to remember that it’s not just the loss of one or both banks but, with them, the independence that once made us great. Thank Hubert Hughes and the AUM for the gift that keeps on giving. Someone ought to ask the CM in which of the local banks his money is kept. Of course he will say that’s privileged information and it’s nobody’s business, and he would be correct in making that assertion – but it would do a lot to let us know that he’s in the same boat with the rest of us! What has happened to us, were we not taught how to think for ourselves? The folks who taught us in school ought to be feeling really bad, about now, that somehow they did not do an adequate enough job. And all of us know that is not the case, so then the problem has to lie squarely on our shoulders. Should we continue to wait?
The Reverend Martin Luther King’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” was in response to his fellow clergy who admonished him to wait. He was moving too fast in his attempts to use non-violent resistance to racism, arguing that people have a moral responsibility to break unjust laws. He defied them and proceeded with his actions and concluded with “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” So do we continue to wait for our leaders to do what they think is right or do we, in the vein of MLK, demand change now? We cannot continue to sit around and wait for someone else to do the heavy lifting. It is obvious that those tasked with looking out for our welfare are overmatched and woefully ill-equipped to do the job.
This makes an election that is just a few weeks away, which seems like an eternity, that much more important. One would think that the waning days of this campaign would be better spent laying out a vision and the strategies for executing that vision, and the standards by which we’ll know whether or not those goals are being met. But, instead, we are being lambasted by half-truths and innuendo. When does it stop?
The Anguillian electorate right now is being treated as illiterates and I’ll tell you my reasons for making that assertion. In just about every democracy, with the exception of some third world countries, elections are conducted in a fair an equitable manner. I resent the fact that I will probably have to dip my thumb into indelible ink so that the other districts know that I have already voted somewhere should I choose to exercise that right again. Why do we not have a voting register for each district? You show up to vote, a line is drawn through your name and you have signed that you’ve voted. There is also an alphabetized master list which contains all registered voters so that anyone at the polling station can verify that yes, you are in fact registered. Have we not progressed beyond making a mark? Do you folks understand the negative connotations that this unearths? This is condescension to the nth degree. We are an educated people and you’re telling me that we have not progressed past this archaic system. At a time when technology is constantly changing, when cars can drive themselves, we can’t come up with a system to guarantee fair elections? Seriously?
In last week’s Anguillian, someone wrote somewhat tongue in cheek, that the 40,000 pounds that the British Government will spend to monitor the elections could be better spent on the schools, which is commendable, but given the importance of this bellwether of an election, I’d rather see them monitor the proceedings to make sure that the process is fair, despite the fact that it makes us look like a bunch of backwater hacks who can’t be trusted to get it right and, given what happened in the last election, it’s a good thing.
My fellow Anguillians, when it looked like things couldn’t get any worse, I suspect that we have reason to be alarmed at the prospect of being hit with a double whammy. It is a damn shame that at a time when we should be focusing on electing a new government, these other things are coming into play and, as usual, the CM is being tight lipped about them because it’s an election year and the last thing he wants to do is call attention to his shoddy handling of the banking situation. And if in fact the resolution trust, to which I earlier referred, does start selling off Anguillian assets, that will be the end of the Anguilla that we knew and loved, the land that made us proud, the land that allowed us to live in the manner to which we’ve become accustomed. It would appear that those in power have a problem with that given their actions or lack thereof. I hope that is not the case, but in the event that is what comes down the pike, what then?
Let us not lose focus here. Our backs have been against the wall countless times. We have been left for dead. We have been asked to leave our homeland. We have fought battles and we have always triumphed. It will take more than Sir Dwight Venner and the ECCB, and the Honorable Hubert Hughes and his cronies, to sink us. In the words of Sir Winston Churchill: “We’ll fight them in the air, we’ll fight them on the sea, and we’ll fight them on land.” If Hughes and company want a fight, he ought to know better. If he thought the last one was a skirmish, well then, I wouldn’t bet against us this time either. So until next time, may god continue to bless and protect us and may God bless Anguilla.
