Thursday, November 30, 2006

The Finagling Pirate

By Marcus M. Mottley, Ph.D.

I have waited thirty days before responding to the recent award that was bought and sold to one of Caribbean’s most dangerous pirates.

I had to wait to respond reasonably... (not that my tone here is reasonable). I was in shock that our leaders... our leaders - some of them trusted, some of them even beloved... some of them to whom we now look for a new direction... That those leaders could make a decision like that. Or that they would keep something like that secret. Or that they would allow such a decision to fog forward... fully well knowing how most Antiguans and Barbudan's would react.

They demonstrated no less than contempt for the people... knowing that the deed when done... would be done... their hands soiled... and some of their pocket books well oiled... or with a promise of at least - a little pirate grease.

The unforgivable and damning sin of it all is that the reward was transacted by Antigua and Barbuda. It would have been bad enough if the pirate had finagled it from some other bribery responsive, small island Caribbean nation. But, no... it came from Antigua and Barbuda. Our weak knee’d, beggie-beggie, kow-towing leaders, felt that they had to place a copper sword across that pirate’s shoulders. Remember this... pirates don't want copper... they want gold. And when you see them accept copper... there is gold hidden somewhere, not far off... hidden in the mangrove or buried in our beautiful white sands!

No wonder one of the other really deserving award recipient of international acclaim is purported to have felt that his/her moment ‘in the sun’ was cheapened by this disgraceful demonstration of brown-nosing by the hat-in-hand, under-the-table, submissive ‘decision-makers’.

And can you imagine the nerve of this pirate that he would say that those of us who objected to his brazen finagling of the award... that we objected because of ‘envy or jealousy.’ All that remains is for us to find out in the next few months, who gets grease, how much grease they will get, and what they will use the grease to do.

Of this I am certain… whatever they thought they would get from this… they won’t. That grease will never turn to butter. Mark my words: Nothing good will come of it! Not for them!

What really bothers me is not so much that the pirate is after our birthright… Thieves and pirates are always out to pilfer, filch or ‘finagle’ your property away from you. What bothers me is that our week-knee’d leaders have thrown their arms wide-open to allow the pilfering and filching of what is not theirs to give.

And yes… it is from Antigua & Barbuda that he wheedled and wangled the award. But, it seems as though, this pirate has ‘captured’ the minds of much of the rest of the Caribbean.

He certainly has wheedled his way and inextricably entwined himself into West Indies Cricket… And our Cricketing greats… just like our week-knee’d politicians… have opened their arms – and their pockets – to his wheeling, dealing and manipulating!

Let me emphasize this prediction of the wheedling, wangling and finagling… “Nothing good will come of it!”

And forever more... that award has been tainted.