Today, Sam Condor and Timothy Harris return home following a short tour of Toronto, New York and Miami where they held town hall meetings with Kittitians & Nevisians.
By all accounts, the meetings were lively, informative, interactive, and productive. And the two parliamentarians conducted themselves in a respectful, forthright and professional manner, in sharp contrast to how Denzil Douglas conducts himself.
A contrast which Kittitians and Nevisians overseas are recognizing with a sense of deep concern and urgency.
This contrast and the recognition of it are important because, despite the shortcomings of the politics and politicians in Canada, the USA, or the UK, and elsewhere overseas, Kittitians and Nevisians living in those places would never accept from Stephen Harper, Barack Obama or David Cameron the crudeness, boorishness and utter ineptness which they, and we who live here, have up to now accepted from Denzil Douglas.
Could Stephen Harper tell Canadians “ah bad since ah born”, or “ah incite already and ah could incite again” and survive 24 hours in office?
Would Barack Obama still be in office if he’d said that a Mitt Romney win in the last US Presidential election would cause a revolution in America? Or if he was mad enough to tell an American citizen that he’d sell him? Or if he was to tell the Monica Lewinsky story that Douglas has told the people of St. Kitts & Nevis?
Could David Cameron stand in the House of Commons, or anywhere else in the UK, and say “ah hog dey be”, or duck a No Confidence Motion for six months, or say “call me big wood Cameron” and still be in Parliament, far worse lead that country?
Now, let’s come home.
Would Robert Bradshaw, whose principles and memory Denzil Douglas continues to disrespect, have allowed beaches in St. Kitts to become prohibited areas for Kittitians and Nevisians, and on top of that while our people are being told that they cannot be on the beach, Douglas is seen eating, drinking and making merry inside establishments located on those beaches? In case you don’t know, it was as a result of the effort, led by Bradshaw, Southwell and France, and supported by a united people of St. Kitts & Nevis, that all beaches were declared public property, to which public access had to be provided.
Would Bradshaw have pushed the national debt up to $3 billion, or a 200% debt-to-GDP ratio? Would he have said “national debt, me ass”? And would he have mortgaged 4,700 acres of the sugar lands, that is to say, 12% of the entire island of St. Kitts, the same lands that he acquired on behalf of the people of this nation, to the bank as collateral for debt?
And in relation to the debt, just in case some of you still believe that the crisis in our country wasn’t Douglas’ fault, here’s a sobering excerpt from a document issued by Moody’s, the world renowned credit rating agency, on May 20, 2013 (just three days ago): “...the Caribbean debt crisis is the result of a combination of poor fiscal discipline and unproductive investment ….”.(Emphasis mine).
Would Paul Southwell have agreed to a land-for-debt swap? Would Lee Moore have encouraged and supported employers to the disadvantage of workers? And would Kennedy Simmonds have ever called himself “ten man in one”, or “the maximum leader of the entire Caribbean region”?
The answer to all of these questions is no.
But who is taking a stand against this foul, inept, illegitimate leader that we have here today?
And who’s taking a stand against men in positions of influence and favour who are sexually exploiting the little girls of St. Kitts? Who will expose these things and bring an end to the grave injustices, and cover-ups of these injustices, that have been, and continue to be, perpetrated against the people of this land?
Will the big dollars pledged to the father of a 15-year-old girl who was recently raped and impregnated by a favoured one heal her emotional scars? This deviant has robbed the child of her virtue and her childhood. Will the big dollars be used to help her father out of his legal difficulties? And if so, wouldn’t he be just as guilty as his daughter’s rapist?
Where are the mothers who proclaim the path of righteousness and altruism and who know about the egregious and rapacious behaviour that’s being perpetrated against their daughters and other daughters of this land, but who’re saying that they have full confidence? Aren’t they the worst offenders?
How much more degradation must people in this land be subjected to? How much more will we accept? How much more innocence is to be lost? When will we wake up to the evil that hovers over our land and people?
Many Kittitians and Nevisians appear to expect and demand a higher standard in Canada, the USA, the UK, etc., than we do at home.
And why? Have our standards fallen? Are we in the Federation lesser mortals, and, as a result, not entitled to a higher standard than what we’re getting? Is that how low our kith and kin overseas are willing to see us, and to see us treated, and how low we’re willing to allow ourselves to be treated?
But there’s hope, because the reports which I’ve been getting, reinforced in no small measure by this trip of Sam Condor and Timothy Harris to North America, are indicating that a critical mass of Kittitians and Nevisians overseas are now sufficiently outraged and ashamed, and are determined to raise the standard at home, to at least the same level in which they live in Canada, the USA, the UK and elsewhere.
They see, and they live, the shameful contrast, and they’ll now take a stand, in the interest of the pride and dignity of all Kittitians and Nevisians, and regardless of party preference, in order to burst the evil bubble, and to unify the people of this land. They realize that they have a pivotal role in bringing hope to St. Kitts & Nevis.
As well, a number of them who’re Labour supporters understand that if Labour’s pride and honour are to be restored, they need to get rid of the imposter who heads it up. They’ll vote for Condor and Harris, two bona fide Labour men, to play a role in this nation’s necessary journey towards a healed and restored Labour Movement, and towards better politics, better economics, and a better society. And they’ll vote against Douglas and any candidate who stands under his banner of crudeness, divisiveness, abuse, degradation and corruption.
They prefer, in this world of imperfect choices, to entrust the leadership to individuals who can in time heal the wounds and restore dignity of Labour, and the country, than to leave it in the unworthy, self-serving and destructive hands of Denzil Douglas.
And in any case, there’s a great, and justifiable, need among Kittitians and Nevisians, both overseas and at home, to find out about the secrets, the deals, the bobol, and the extent of mismanagement. And they know that the only way to find out is to get rid of Douglas and his satellites.
And many of them are saying that the Condor and Harris meetings in Toronto, New York and Miami helped to open up their eyes to the urgent need to rid the country of Douglas.
One of the heroes of the 20th century, Dr. Martin Luther King said: “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of convenience and comfort, but where he stands in times of challenge and controversy.”
And in this time of challenge and controversy, Sam Condor and Timothy Harris are standing tall, on the high ground, and on the right side of history.
Another hero, Nelson Mandela, said: “I have cherished the idea of a democratic and free society. It is an idea which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an idea for which I am prepared to die.”
By their words and actions, it’s clear to me that Condor and Harris are living for, and hope to achieve, a free and democratic society. And they’re willing to die for it.
They now need to finish the job, and, in unity with other political and other leaders who wish the country well, take the people to the streets so that this country’s critical political problem can receive the only solution left: a political one.
With that done, they’ll truly deserve to be called heroes.
Meanwhile, welcome home Sam Condor, welcome home Timothy Harris.
