PAGE 4, Wednesday, March 8, 2017
THE TRIBUNE
The Tribune Limited NULLIUS ADDICTUS JURARE IN VERBA MAGISTRI “Being Bound to Swear to The Dogmas of No Master”
LEON E. H. DUPUCH,
SIR ETIENNE DUPUCH,
jrolle@tribunemedia.net
Publisher/Editor 1903-1914 Kt., O.B.E., K.M., K.C.S.G., (Hon.) LL.D., D.Litt .
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EILEEN DUPUCH CARRON,
C.M.G., M.S., B.A., LL.B. Publisher/Editor 1972-
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What have Trump’s advisers got to hide? WASHINGTON’S most durable and most often ignored truism of the past 50 years is probably the admonition that “the cover up is worse than the crime”. The phrase that is now part of American political legend still draws its greatest inspiration from the infamous Watergate break-in nearly half a century ago. The bungled burglary of Democratic Party offices in the Washington waterfront apartment and office complex by Republican operatives in 1972 ignited a chain of events that eventually brought down the Nixon administration in 1974. Now comes the latest evidence that American politicians cannot learn from past mistakes. In his January confirmation hearings before a panel of his longtime colleagues in the US Senate, Attorney General Jeff Sessions denied that he had contact with Russian officials during the 2016 Presidential campaign. That was soon revealed as false. Some Democratic party politicians called for Sessions to resign. Pundits accused the nation’s top law enforcement officer of perjury. Even a few Republican Senators appeared uncomfortable with Sessions’ casual mistreatment of the truth under oath. Nevertheless, many of the Attorney General’s harshest critics acknowledged that his conversations with ubiquitous Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak and perhaps other Russian officials - during the campaign did not break the law. Sessions was, after all, still a member of the US Senate in 2016 and although he played an increasingly prominent role in the presidential campaign, his Russian contacts could be regarded as normal business practice for a sitting US Senator. But Sessions certainly seems to have lied in his confirmation testimony. So once again, the cover up was worse than the crime. Sessions’ penalty is that he has agreed to recuse himself from the Justice Department’s ongoing investigation of Russian efforts to destabilise the 2016 American presidential election. The FBI, under the Attorney General’s supervision as part of the Justice Department, is leading the investigation. Many politicians and public figures inside Washington and beyond the Beltway have called for a special prosecutor to fully investigate Russian efforts to delegitimise the American presidential election and perhaps influence the outcome to favour Donald Trump. Sessions and
former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn have both been caught lying about their Russian contacts before and after the election, which makes it look like the Trump administration may have something significant to hide. Whatever form the Russian interference investigation takes will resemble a Commission of Inquiry. And whatever findings emerge, the Trump administration is likely to be sullied at the very least. It is the nature of contemporary American national politics that the Russian influence issue will continue to dominate Washington news. So long as the Trump administration continues its missteps and political misjudgments in trying to manage this controversy, the trail of leaks and revelations will dribble out. Trump seems so careless with his tweets and some public comments that it is easy to imagine that he will persist in damaging his still brand-new administration. Perhaps turnabout is fair play. After the Republican opposition resolutely hammered President Obama about his birth certificate and belaboured Hillary Clinton over her email practices, Trump’s opponents could feel justified in their relentless pursuit of the Russian issue. At some point, this matter could imperil Trump’s presidency. Almost from the moment of his inauguration, impeachment has been discussed as a reasonable, even inevitable, means of reversing what many feel was an election mistake. In theory, public pressure could force the president’s decision to leave office, or mounting evidence of lying, disinformation or other misdeeds could persuade some members of the Republican majorities in Congress to break ranks and join in possible Democratic calls for Trump’s impeachment. None of this looks especially likely now. But historians and journalists often describe the Watergate break-in as a third-rate burglary, and it festered for many months before the Nixon administration’s duplicity and deception were fully revealed. In that effort, the New York Times and the Washington Post enjoyed some of the finest moments in their respective distinguished histories. Now, the New York Times and the Washington Post are again in the front ranks of critics of the current administration. Dedication, skill and financial support won’t be lacking in either newsroom. It’s anyone’s guess where it all will lead.
You should use your vote EDITOR, The Tribune. THROUGHOUT the world, the political class is held in contempt today. They seem unable to come to grips with the problems in their home countries, it is all talk and no acton. The result is extreme groups are winning elections. We have seen this happen in the US with the election of Donald Trump and there are some frightening elections coming up this year in France, Holland and Germany. The parties we are familiar with are all in trouble to some degree and in many countries being challenged by more radical political groups. But what about The Bahamas where we have a game changing election coming up in no more than two months. Who to vote for must be a nightmare. The two main parties spend more time slinging mud at each other than suggesting solutions to the huge problems we have in
this small country. What we also get is all talk and no action. So as a Bahamian voter, vote but read the various parties manifestos carefully and listen to their speeches. There will be many promises of what they are going to do but most likely very little about how they propose to do it. Mud slinging and promises will not solve our problems. In my opinion, you should ask yourself a number of questions such as :1. Has your life improved over the past five years and do you feel happier with life now moreso than you did five years ago? 2. Are there more or less opportunities to get satisfying work now than there were? 3. Do you see a brighter future for you and your children ahead with things as they are now? 4. Is the education of your children satisfactory so you feel they are able to obtain good jobs when they gradu-
ate? 5. Is crime a serious issue in your life and could the high level of criminal activity be halted? There are so many questions that need answering not least, is this country becoming a gamblers paradise with web shops on every corner. If you cannot answer these questions positively then perhaps it is time for some new group to get a chance to govern the country. Personally I think you should look at each individual candidate in your constituency regardless of party. If you are satisfied your choice is honest and has integrity and more important going to do the best job they can for you, and will put their best efforts into improving life in the Bahamas then vote for them, forget the party. PATRICK H THOMSON Nassau, March 7, 2017.
Christie loses his cool EDITOR, The Tribune. ONE of the many tasks of the US Central Intelligence Agency is to keep an updated psychological profile of political leaders from around the world. The desk analyst responsible for the Bahamas must have fallen off her chair this week when shown the picture of Perry Christie giving the digitus impudicus to the Bahamian people. We all knew for some time that Christie is a narcissistic blowhard in love with his own voice. But now we can add to that words like vulgar, crude and unhinged. The CIA, like the Bahamian people don’t need to dig deep to compile a dossier on the Prime Minister. Study his speeches (braggadocios, whiny and without discernible meaning); or observe his behaviour in public (easily riled, thin skinned, self absorbed). Now add to that the neurotic behaviour of giving a one-fingered salute from a public platform. Christie can thank his lucky stars that he had the good fortune to “flip the bird” in Fox Hill where the good church-going people there are likely to drop to their knees and pray for him, rather than return the insult. We can all agree that while the gesture was beyond the pale of decent conduct, it was not illegal and therefore would not earn Christie a stay at that walled “resort” at the other end of Fox Hill. So serious do some people around the world take this offence that there are laws on their books that deem it disorderly conduct and gets you hauled before a magistrate on indecency charges. Just ask the American Airlines pilot who, on landing at a Brazilian airport on a flight from Miami, opened the cockpit window and flew a different bird at his hosts. He was arrested, taken to federal court and fined. The pilot was truly upset that Brazil dared to
LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net require that all Americans entering their country be fingerprinted and photographed, forgetting, of course, that Brazil was giving the US a taste of their own medicine. Christie’s behaviour was vile, vulgar and gross and is certainly unbecoming of the man who is completing his 43rd year of public service, 10 of which have been as Prime Minister and occupier of the office our American friends would call “the bully pulpit”. Letting the bird fly is an ancient gesture that falls under the category of free speech in our free society and so the Prime Minister had every right to use hand jive to speak his dirty mind. He has demonstrated his contempt for Bahamians in so many other more tangible and hurtful ways that this one finger salute should not be regarded as the worst he has done. We must hold him accountable for it. Thanks to the Internet, the world saw it. What is more disturbing though is that our children and young people saw it. The teenagers know it well. It is a part of the everyday lexicon of the common thug. Ergo, is the Prime Minister now in solidarity with these thugs? Is he a hood brother whose example need no longer be followed? This particular Valley Boy won’t be dissed by anyone. Look at me, the Prime Minister’s finger screamed. “I is man”. Except, he is the leader of this country and he ought to show us some respect. He owes us all the decency to comport with the norms of polite society. Thou must keep thy vulgar finger away from public scrutiny. Christie has made a habit of becoming unhinged when people tick him off. Only God knows how many fingers he must have shown the musician who recorded
a nasty song about Christie’s family, when his wife summoned him round to the homestead for what must have been tea and potato bread. Alfred Sear’s ears must still be ringing from the wild finger rhythms that must have been on private display when Christie heard he was being challenged for the leadership of the PLP. One big finger raised high must be how he celebrated when he crushed Sears in the final vote. And woe be unto the next Cabinet minister who goes to see Christie to “bitch and complain” about anything. Through tightly pursed lips he is going to give them a non-verbal dressing down the likes of which they would never have witnessed before. I have no doubt Christie is now getting reports from the ground that foretell of trouble ahead for the PLP in general and him in particular. And so he is lashing out at all the ungrateful Bahamians who don’t appreciate him and who can’t see that he has a divine right to the Prime Ministry. A Facebook post set Christie off this time. What’s it going to be next time? Is he going to take it out on poor Jerome Fitzgerald for not grovelling hard enough when excusing the boss’ crude sign language? Or maybe B. J. Nottage will get the “what for” when he bothers Christie with more reports of murder and mayhem? Christie is now in the illustrious company of the aptly named disgraced US politician Anthony Weiner who after being caught exposing himself on social media, rode off into political oblivion with his middle finger raised high in defiance. As Christie unravels, Hubert Minnis could do well to learn from Michelle Obama. When they go low, go high Doc. THE GRADUATE Nassau, May 7, 2017.