QUESTIONS TO PONDER ON BEFORE THE ELECTIONS

A little while ago I was watching an American news program on television where a group of journalists were interviewing undecided voters  as to whom they would prefer: Joe Biden or Donald Trump. Bearing in mind that we are in a few days time going to have our own general elections I thought that it might be of some interest to some people if the same questions (with appropriate changes for local conditions) be asked down here. So, here goes:

1.   Who would you rather have as a dinner guest in your home: Kamla Persad-Bissessar or Keith
      Rowley?

2.   Who do you like as a person more: Kamla Persad-Bissessar or Keith Rowley?

3.   Which of the two (Persad-Bissessar or Rowley) do you think is a warmer person?

4.   Which one of them do you think is the more intelligent?

5.   Which one of them do you think is more compassionate, which one cares more for the people?

6.   Which of the two do you think is more genuine or sincere? Who is more honest? Who can you
      trust more?

7.   Is trust an important issue for you? Should it be?

8.   Which of the two do you think is a better manager or has better management capabilities?

9.   What do you think were the three best or biggest achievements or accomplishments of Dr,
      Rowley's 2015 - 2020 regime?

10. What do you think were the three best or biggest achievements or accomplishments of Mrs.
       Persad-Bissessar's 2010-2015 regime?

11.  Do you believe that Delcy Rodriguez came over to T&T to discuss the COVID -19 pandemic or
       do you think that she came here to discuss something else?

12.  If you think that she came to discuss something else, do you believe that what she came to
       discuss had anything to do with that mysterious shipment of 150,000 barrels of gasoline that
       ended up in Venezuela?  If so, do you believe that there is a possibility of T&T being sanctioned
       by the American Government?

13.  Do you believe that we have been told the true state of this country's finances? Put another way,
       do you believe that we are in for a major devaluation after the elections?

14.  Do you believe that we have been told the whole truth about the COVID-19 infections in T&T?

15.  Is this important?

16.  There is a lot of talk about "the One Percent Connection" inside the PNM, i.e., that it is           Syrian/Arab money propping up the PNM with their money pouring into that party's coffers.
        Do you believe this to be true? If so, is it important or unimportant? If you think that it is
        important then why do you think so? If you think that it is unimportant then why do you think
        so?

17.  Are there "money-men" behind the UNC? If so, who do you think they are? Is this important or
       unimportant and why do you think so?

18.   Are you better off today than you were in 2015 or worse off?


Every single question here is being asked openly, i.e., what do YOU honestly think? Obviously you don't have to share your answers with anyone, but speaking only for myself, I was absolutely fascinated with what I considered to be a highly original line of questioning. Certainly, this (line of questioning) made me think a lot. If it does the same to or for you then that would be great.  Because, at the end of the day, it is your opinion and your vote that ultimately matters.

     

ELECTION OBSERVERS?

The media has reported Dr. Rowley as saying that the reason that Commonwealth observers cannot come to Trinidad & Tobago to oversee the general elections due here in two short weeks from today is because there isn't enough money to pay for them to come. The problem with this story is that it doesn't seem to be true. You see, I have checked the published accounts for the Commonwealth Secretariat for the years ending in 2018 and 2019 and there seems to be more than enough money for the Secretariat to have sent an observer mission to T&T for our elections. Obviously, they can't come now (too little time), but the excuse of there being no money sounds ... how shall I say? ... very thin and not really true. You see, observer missions for elections are never paid by the particular State, but by the organization that is sending the observer mission. You have only got to look at it to understand why. I haven't seen the Caricom accounts so I don't know whether or not there are available funds there. But certainly, the Commonwealth Secretariat seems to have the funds to send a mission.

Several questions arise from this: first of all, if it is not true and there is money available to send aa observer mission, then why would Dr. Rowley lie? Very ugly and most unnecessary suspicions arise from this that are probably better left unexpressed at this time.

Secondly, if it is true then why can't we see the letter from the Commonwealth secretariat saying that they have no funds?

Thirdly, why has the Guardian newspaper simply reported what the Prime Minister has said and not checked for itself whether or not this (i.e., there are no available funds to send a mission) is true? You see, it is either that this newspaper is completely incompetent, has incompetent reporters and incompetent editors who don't have a clue, or it has another reason (bias?) for not reporting properly.  If there is a third possibility then it completely eludes me.

And if I appear to be on that newspaper's case it is because I consider it the height of dishonesty for a newspaper to pretend to be neutral when it really has a bias. I've said it once and I'll say it a thousand times: the newspaper has every right to be biased, BUT it must declare it's bias.

ARE ILLEGAL VENEZUELANS BRINGING THE VIRUS TO T&T?

The Trinidad Guardian has taken up the story about the possibility of the COVID-19 virus being spread by one or more illegal Venezuelan immigrants. The problem with this story is that while it is (of course) very possible that illegal Venezuelans are bringing the virus to our shores, there is no report of any type of tracing being done by either the relevant authorities or even by the erstwhile newspaper, who seems very happy to report this speculation as if it were fact.  When you add to that the unsubstantiated rumour that is going around that Dr. Rowley, fearing that he will lose the impending election, is looking to use the COVID-19 pandemic as an excuse to delay the election  ... on the ground of 'national emergency' ... you have a mix that is potentially explosive and one capable of causing tremendous damage to the mental health of the country.

Speaking only for myself, I can't believe that there is any truth in that rumour about delaying the election. It would take a huge degree of cynicism and dishonesty that frankly, I don't believe that Messrs. Rowley & Co. are capable of. Don't get me wrong: I am not saying that I do not believe that they are capable of being dishonest, I just don't believe that they would go down what can euphemistically be called 'the Guyanese path'.

So we are back once more to this story about illegal Venezuelans possibly bringing the deadly virus to our shores. Well, if there is any (and I mean 'any') truth to this, it ought to be able to be cleared up fairly quickly by competent and professional tracing. This means (of course) tracing everybody that the known victims have been in contact with over the two weeks prior to them contracting the virus.
This would also have the added benefit of identifying and finding the illegals in our country ... if they are indeed the source of the infection.

But we ought to be very careful about going down the 'rabbit holes' of unsubstantiated rumours and allegations that distract from the real issues that confront us. And this does not mean that we shouldn't be fixing our porous borders. We should! And  pronto (if you will forgive the irony of using Spanish to end this post)!

BIAS IN THE NEWSPAPERS

I have complained about this before. But, quite frankly it is now on the verge of becoming a little offensive. Look, I honestly and truly don't mind what political party you support or even what religion you follow, so long as you are honest and straight forward in your beliefs. I really don't care if a newspaper ... any newspaper ... wants to support a particular political party. Heck! Newspapers have rights just as ordinary citizens do. But a man called C.P. Scott published the following letter in the Manchester Guardian on 6th May, 1926 and it is important that we read it and understand exactly what it says:
             
"The newspaper is of necessity something of a monopoly, and its first duty is to shun the temptations of monopoly. Its primary office is the gathering of news. At the peril of its soul it must see that the supply of news is not tainted. Neither in what it gives, nor in what it does not give, nor in the mode of presentation, must the unclouded face of truth suffer wrong. Comment is free but facts are sacred."

Our own Trinidad Guardian clearly wants the PNM to win the August general election and is hell bent on trying as subtly (and not so subtly) to do everything in its power to achieve that result. Now, there is nothing wrong with that! Indeed, as a (corporate) citizen of this country the Guardian has every right to prefer one side over the other.

My quarrel with 'the old lady of St. Vincent Street' is that it pretends to be neutral when it so clearly is not. Don't believe me? Then can you explain why the erstwhile newspaper chose as its front page headline on Saturday the very silly argument about whether the Leader of the Opposition said 'black' instead of 'blank' when the nation's highest court, the Privy Council, had delivered a judgement concerning the Malcolm Jones matter where the present Government had discontinued a case designed to show that the deceased Mr. Jones together with his other colleagues on the board of Petrotrin had made some disastrous decisions that cost the company (and the country) several billion US dollars? There has been an absolute silence on this Privy Council (PC) decision and it is almost as if it simply either doesn't exist or is most unimportant. But, today's editorial in the Guardian is happy to repeat an old story about allegations of serious fraud in the EMBD involving (now) opposition politicians.

"...Neither in what it gives, nor in what it does not give ..." And so, is it not a reasonable question to ask: why is that newspaper not giving this PC judgement the prominence that it ought? Or is the newspaper right, this ain't very important.

I'm sorry.  But for me, at least, the evidence is clear: the Guardian wants the PNM to win and it is not neutral. Again, let me stress that there is nothing wrong with that! What is wrong is the PRETENSE that it is neutral. And that is my objection.

BIAS IN THE NEWSPAPERS

In this election season it is sometimes best to take a step back and look at what you are being told, by whom you are being told and why you are being told something; that way you will be better placed to make an informed decision as to who you should vote for. Although there are a lot of questions that you should ask yourself before coming to a decision as important as in whose favour you should cast your ballot, the first questions ought to be those just mentioned.

I thought about this when I read the headline on the front page of today's Trinidad Guardian newspaper which in bold red headlines coupled with a large photograph of Prime Minister Rowley being shown a pineapple plant by the Moruga/Tableland Pineapple Farmer's Association $90M GIFT FOR MORUGA , and then in smaller bullet point headlines "-PM opens agro-processing facility", "-Thousands of jobs to be created" and finally "-Says plant will boost food security".

So? What's wrong with this, you might well ask? Well, first of all, the timing of this so-called "gift" is more than a little suspicious. As of yesterday morning the PNM candidate, Winston "Gypsy" Peters was losing the election in Moruga/Tableland. And if this "gift" was not something designed to try and "bribe" voters to vote for the PNM then there is definitely no such thing as trying to bribe voters anywhere.

Next, was it really a "gift"? Was it something that had been needed for the longest while? If so, then why was it not done before? When was this so-called "gift" ordered by the Government? And if it was ordered only recently then why? And if it was so important then why was it not ordered five years ago? Three years ago?  How long did it take to come here?

Where was the erstwhile Minister of Agriculture in all this? Surely this falls within his Ministry? And even if the Prime Minister wanted to have some of the limelight in this election season then why wasn't he there? The newspapers have not reported him as being present. And if he was present then has he become a non-entity? A not important enough person? If so, why is he the Minister?

I could go on, but hopefully you get the point.

So? What exactly was/is the Guardian's agenda if not to try and subtly influence you, the voter, into thinking 'jees, look how Rowley is really doing something great. He really is a good guy and I should vote for him and his party because he is such a generous guy'.

Now, look at the front page of today's Daily Express. There is a large photograph of T&T's Prime Minister receiving a cup of fresh sugar cane juice over a headline $90M SWEETNER accompanied by a bullet point in red which says "-PM opens agro plant in Moruga; says it's a gift for the southland".

Aaahh! There you have it! The Guardian can quite legitimately say that it's use of the word "gift" was simply taken from what the Prime Minister said and that it didn't intend to mislead anybody but was simply reporting what had transpired. Now, if you accept that then I am pleased to offer you a piece of real estate on the moon with wonderful views of earth. I'll sell it to you cheap.

No. Clearly the Guardian is trying as best it can to influence you to vote for the PNM. Again, there is nothing wrong with that EXCEPT that don't you think that if a newspaper has a bias then it should declare that bias so that everybody will know that it's reports are being deliberately slanted in favour of whatever side it prefers? Of course, this does not answer the question as to why the Guardian might want to prefer the PNM over the UNC. Ugly and most unnecessary suspicions arise that are probably better left unexpressed at this time.

But it is important that you should be aware of these subtle and not so subtle machinations. August 10th is not so far away!