In the 1954 Elia Kazan film, “On the Waterfront,” writer Budd Schulberg dealt with union violence and corruption among the longshoremen on the New Jersey docks. Terry an up and coming young boxer is asked by his brother Charley to take a dive, throw the fight as a favor to his mob bosses, for which Terry will be paid off with a mere pittance. Schulberg dramatizes the moment when Terry, who is washed up as a fighter, finally confronts Charley when it all comes home to him.
Charley: You should have been another Billy Conn. That skunk I got to manage you brought you along too fast. Terry: It wasn’t him; it was you, Charley, you and Johnny. Like the night the two of youse came in the dressing room and says “Kid, this ain’t your night-we’re going for the price on Wilson.” It ain’t my night. I was ready. So what happens? This bum Wilson gets the title fight outdoor in the ballpark and what do I get a couple of bucks and a one way ticket to Palooka Ville. It was you Charley, my own brother. You should have looked out for me, instead of making me take them dives for short end money. Charley: I always had a bet in on you. Terry: You don’t understand! I could’ve been a contender. I could’ve had class and been somebody, real class. Instead of being a bum, let’s face it, which is what I am. It was you Charley.
We’ve seen just about everything when it comes to fielding a successful political team with the hopes of being victorious come election night. The horse trading will be of little consequence to the victors, but just think of those who were sacrificed in the process, and all for the good of the party, or so they thought. It is never pleasant to fall on one’s sword, even for the good of the party. I think the term given to such an act by the Japanese is Hari Kari, the practice used by disgraced officers of the army. Well, be that as it may, the fact of the matter is that it happens no matter what the acquiescing party says, it’s usually something entirely different.
Last week I asked the question: “Party Politics: Good or Bad?” Well, I’m about to follow up my assertion with the proof that party politics, specifically Anguillian politics, is not good and never was. This was most evident than last Saturday night when Brother Hughes took his AUM travelling circus to the small seaside village of Island Harbour, where district one originates, and it just happens to be the home of one Ms. Pam Webster, contestant for the same district. What I found amazing was the crowd that these folks brought with them. Mr. Hughes even commented once that he thought he was in West End, which sort of tells you that in order to make an impression these guys had to bring in their own. What a way to impress the people of Island Harbour. What, you weren’t sure if anyone would show up? After all, the ungodly worship of Mr. Bradshaw by your father should not be lost on the folks in Island Harbour. After all, those were the very same fellows who went to St. Kitts to try and overthrow Mr. Bradshaw’s regime. Haydn, do you think that perhaps some of those very same young men were in the audience?
As I asserted last week in this paper. politics, contrary to what everyone thinks, is a contact sport and it was never more evident than when the circus came to town. If this was to impress the folks, I don’t think it happened. While I was really not impressed by the launch, I question the motives for the launching in Pam Webster’s backyard, if for no other reason than to bully and intimidate her. You failed on both counts and you made a mockery of the political process.
While the presentation of all seven candidates was slow in materializing, it definitely took too long. Speaker after speaker came to the podium extolling all that the AUM supposedly had done or was responsible for getting done. Never once did I hear them talk about what they are going to do right now for all of those Anguillians who can’t pay their bills, feed their hungry children. Or about having a running water supply that they don’t have to pay an arm and a leg for, among other things. It was downright embarrassing to listen to this tripe all night, especially that dished out by the candidate from Valley North. He made a comment with regard to flight 370 and I thought it was insensitive, and in very poor taste, to compare Anguilla in anyone else’s hands but the AUM. It showed a lack of compassion to say the least. I heard no new ideas. Instead, all I got was a lot of hot air. There were no aha moments to speak of until Hughes, the younger, dropped what might be considered a bombshell if we did not know Hughes the elder. Hughes the younger seems to think that dear old dad will retire at the end of his term but, as Mr. Petty in his piece last week, “In His Coffin,” speculates, if he’s not there, then he’s running.
To my earlier assertion of party politics being bad for Anguilla, the AUM would be the poster boys for bad behavior. While it is alright to agree to disagree, it is never really good sportsmanship to taunt your opponent. This was shamelessly done to Eddie Baird and Victor Banks in such a manner that was par for the course, to use a golf metaphor. To anyone listening to the broadcast, or being there in person, this below the belt attack was uncalled for. It showed a lack of class, and I felt badly for the AUM candidate – also contesting district one – that his foray into politics had to suffer such an inauspicious maiden voyage. As I’ve said many times before, the truth always becomes the first casualty of a political campaign. I was also under the impression that this would be a clean campaign, based on ideas and facts, not innuendo and lies but, unfortunately, the apple does not fall far from the tree.
When will we the people hold you guys accountable for the way in which you’ve all behaved? It’s time to stop playing the blame game. Get on with it. You’ve come out with the same stale ideas, and the same old songs of the past. Instead of throwing tantrums, like spoiled brats, get out there and do something instead of constantly blaming Bunton and Victor. That ploy will only play for so long. Sooner or later, you are going to have to stand on your own two feet and everyone will see the lot of you for who you really are, impostors, and you have the gall to come out asking for five more years Tell me why? Tell me your plans to take Anguilla into the 21st century. Tell me about your out of the box thinkers. Instead, you continue to say what you found when you took office which, by the way, has grown stale and has lost its novelty. You cannot continue to coast on your laurels. What are you doing ?
Party politics, as I’ve said earlier, is all about self. The party is concerned with one thing and one thing only – and that is winning. In the United States, you know what each party stands for. The Democrats stand for the little guy while the Republicans represent big business, but in Anguilla you don’t have a clue where one party ends and the other begins. They are like grafted mango trees – you never know what you are going to get. Parties have an agenda and anyone who signs on has to toe the party line. You’ll have to give Ms Webster credit for not aligning herself with any party this time out. You’ll recall she ran as a member of the APP last election and was unsuccessful, but nevertheless continued to be a force in her village working tirelessly for her people. She never left. You have to have some skin in the game. In Job 38:4, God enumerates his mighty works. He challenges Job: “Where was’t thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me if you have understanding. Who set its measurements, since you know, or who stretched the line on it?” Just as God questions Job, so too should we question ourselves. Where was’t thou when I was out there all along! Tell me.
All through the region, Caribbean governments are struggling to survive. Haydn mentioned that St. Lucia is cutting by 5% their civil service employees. Trinidad is struggling with a vision of how things ought to be. In St. Kitts and Nevis, as I alluded to in last week’s Anguillian has a parliamentary crisis that has yet to be resolved with a no confidence vote against Prime Minister Dr. Denzil Douglas. We have a situation with our two indigenous banks which shows no end in sight for being returned to the rightful owners. We’re not being told what’s going on and God knows what we’ve adopted: wait and see, or whatever. We have all sorts of situations in the Caribbean that need addressing and it leaves one to wonder what the devil is going on. Is it that we don’t know, or it is that we just don’t care? We spend exorbitant sums of money on things that we really shouldn’t, and it was almost laughable to hear the Parliamentary Secretary talk about washing and gassing their own cars without looking for a reimbursement, when this is the same fellow who goes to New York and allegedly runs up a limo tab and thought nothing of it. And what about the $40,000 phone bill involving a minister? I mean come on guys. You are not really seriously thinking about contesting any of the seats, are you? Seriously?
The Parliamentary Secretary talks a good talk, but he’s no Hubert. He was flippant and downright vindictive, almost like honey laced with arsenic. Eddie and Victor, I’m sure, can defend themselves in due time, but whether not what was said is true, the truth becomes the first casualty. There is no place for this sort of thing. Let us know how you plan to move Anguilla forward. Let us know what you plan to do for our young people. Let us know how you propose to put people back to work. Let’s fix the education system so that our kids can hit the bricks running and get a job when they come out of school. Let us fix our crumbling infrastructure. Let us not overlook the downtrodden. Let us go back to being a Christian nation once again. Let us not remember God only in the bad times but in the good times, as well. The late Bob Marley sang: “Each One Teach One.”
We’ve become a nation of selfish individuals and somewhere along the way we’ve got to reconnect to our past and get back to what made us proud and great. We can’t go around passing out awards to people who really did nothing to warrant them, while those who are deserved, continue to remain largely ignored. Party politics will become a thing of the past because it serves no purpose other than to aggrandize party personalities. Let’s be respectful of each other, this election, and do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Remember four things that cometh not back: The spoken word; the sped arrow; the past life; the neglected opportunity. Let’s respect one another and agree to disagree if we must and, until then, may God bless us all and may God bless Anguilla.
