The Tribune

By NICOLE BURROWS

AFTER following his contributions to Parliament, I think it’s fair to say that Andre Rollins is or can be an instigator, whether you take that to be something favourable or unfavourable.

Seeking political mileage is not beyond him, though he does at times present real problems which legitimately require the serious attention of the Bahamian electorate.

But why is he beating the Alfred Gray dead horse? Why this issue? Why again? Why now?

All the focus is on Gray and his insane response to Rollins, but maybe there is some degree of truth to Rollins’ pandering attempts to his new party affiliation.

Sadly, whatever Rollins’ motivation, Gray played nicely and smoothly into Rollins’ hands.

Now what about Gray and his versions of the truth? Why do Rollins’ comments rile Gray so? To the point where Gray is willing to duke it out with Rollins, presumably down in Rawson Square, using fists instead of words? And we question the senseless violence in our country?

All Gray did was demonstrate further the problem of violence in our society as being one that originates with unresolved or inappropriately resolved conflict, when someone feels they’ve been embarrassed or made to look like less than they (believe they) are in public eyes. They feel the need to take their upset to the next level of physically assaulting with fist, rock, bottle, knife, gun, whoever it is they think has offended them.

These are the leaders who lead you. This is the example you follow... in case you are still puzzled as to how you got to where you’re at today where even the smallest conflict is preferably resolved with a violent or aggressive reaction that causes harm to another person.

By the way, what is “go to hell in a wastebasket” supposed to mean? I believe the term is “hell in a hand basket”.

Or was this choice of words a play on the contents of a wastebasket?

By the nature of your outburst, Mr Gray, and your fist simulation, I think you’ve all but ensured that we Bahamians, your people you believe so much in, are well on our way to the inferno, on account of your – and your government’s collective – misbehavior.

But since Rollins raised it again, the question of Gray’s (alleged) judicial interference... we have a problem in The Bahamas that is far, far from resolution because there is a widespread, deep-seated, unshakable corruption when everyone is too familiar and there are no or few boundaries between people, and therefore no or little difference between what is and what should be.

The two Freds

Case in point: Fred Mitchell and Fred Smith have done a great job of blurring the lines of what really happens and what really is supposed to happen when it comes to unlawfully detained or incarcerated illegal migrants. This thing between these two (learned?) men is embarrassing to watch from an organisational social perspective, forget the executive level of embarrassment as far as political protocol is concerned.

How do the left eye, hand, and foot not have any idea what the right eye, hand, and foot are doing? I’m not even going to try to join the chorus on the issue of whether or not the men are or aren’t/ were or weren’t “a national security risk”, but what kind of mess is this to be created when we already look like we can’t control our people, our borders, or anyone else’s people through our borders?

These men have to go and make a circus act of the fact that our country sucks at its own governance?

Mr Mitchell asks where else was he supposed to defend himself but in the House of Assembly. He could do it where everyone else does it. Where he always has, no? In the media, via all avenues of it. Or is he saying now that he doesn’t trust the media’s ability to give fair news reporting and fair opportunity to express his perspective? Does he no longer trust the media to check and balance... like Donald Trump?

Yes, Trump... who on Friday past before a scarily large group of whack-thinking Republicans in Texas decided it made complete sense to say out loud that he wants to repeal or restructure the First Amendment (rights) so that public figures have the right to sue the press whenever anyone who represents the press writes anything about the public figure which the public figure does not like. Not to mention a hundred steps forward and these ten thousand back, but why do people keep giving this man a microphone to talk off the top of his soapbox head? Has he ever had a prepared speech? Or an unprepared speech that made any kind of sense in its entirety?

Trump wants to be able to sue the same media he relies on to get his version of reality pumped into the public domain? This man is clearly off his rocker.

PowerSecure

Who isn’t off their rocker is PowerSecure. They’ve been acquired by Southern Company, a formidable energy giant of America. And the biggest questions being asked in these parts are: did the government of The Bahamas know about the impending acquisition, and, will this acquisition be good for the new Bahamas Power and Light, aka the new BEC?

Seeing as companies, particularly those of the stature of Southern Company, only acquire other companies when they think it will help them increase opportunity, access to opportunity, and revenue, I think maybe we can look at this as a good thing purely in terms of numbers... on the surface anyway, and assuming it all unfolds in a fairly normal way.

As to whether or not The Bahamas government knew, who will admit even a suspicion?

In my estimation, though, PowerSecure surely knew they wanted to be acquired, and, to be rosier for the plucking, they plumped up their attractiveness to a potential new owner, Southern Company, by acquiring this potentially lucrative gateway into The Bahamas power generation, transmission, distribution gold mine.

Take note: Southern Company has big plans for renewable energy production through solar, wind, hydro, landfill waste gas and biomass energy production. What better place or way to execute their plans than in, or via, The Bahamas? Especially when it’s still better here for non-Bahamians?

What’s actually better for Bahamians is a whole other matter.

DNA

A recent editorial suggested, as I have seen and heard written and said before, that the Democratic National Alliance (DNA) is on the decline because a few of its election candidates (namely Humes, Munroe, and Moncur) jumped ship. It seems more than just a few people are of this mindset.

I can’t claim to be a spokesperson for the DNA, but, really, what sensible person would, even for a moment in hallucinatory time, think some of these characters left the DNA solely because they no longer wanted to be a part of it?

Munroe and Moncur are loose cannons with no lip zips. They have not demonstrated themselves to be forward-thinking people of substance and as such do not make good candidates for leadership in an organisation that promises to oppose nonsense, old tired methods, and business as usual.

I submit: particularly the latter two, they were asked or encouraged to leave and or be even more unceremoniously removed from the DNA roster because the DNA knows if the organisation they claim they are has a hope in hell of winning the votes of Bahamians it won’t be with such empty vessels on the ballot.

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