A Letter to John
Hi, I wanted to share with you a comment I received today on my post “Indecent Proposal“. It’s from John. And by the way, all spelling, grammatical, logical, punctuation, number/letter confusion, factual and glaring errors are his. My response to John follows.
John said…How cuould anyone sensible enough could actually vote for COP. This party has no vision and direction.That party has a set of political rejects and persons older than Panday eg. Alloy Lequay, Humphery just to name a few. Why don’t all the top ranking members of COP resigned there seats because they are there because of the UNC. When Dookeran was in the UNC , just imagine he was forming his own party,isn’t that betrayal to its highest level?They have absolutely no shame. What have Panday done to these people? Or I see, he is the bad one because he started all of them with political life after taking them from the gutter.Everyone knows that he is the best Prime Minister Trinidad ever had during 1995-2001. Just imagine with $9.oo dollars a barrel, he done so much for this country.What have this man done to deseve this sort of hate and malice by most people who are supporting COP. I will tell eveyone who is voting for COP count your vote as a waste of time because they are not going to win a single seat. I am so sorry for them.I wish them and who are supporting them GOOD LUCK in the General Elections.
John, I consider myself very sensible which is why I choose to vote for the Congress of the People, I’m sorry if you have concluded that the two are mutually exclusive. No vision and no direction - that’s a sentiment I’ve heard being bandied about before. What do you consider to be a vision? Because I have listened extensively to the COP’s Tuesday night meetings and I can say that I have heard lots of vision coming from them. And not only visions, but plans and tactics in everything from National Security to Agriculture. Seriously, did you check on that before you wrote it?
Dookeran forming his own party while he was being kicked in the teeth was betrayal? Are you trying to say that a man planning his political survival when he was he was being kicked to the ground over and over again is betrayal? Then I must have a little traitor in me also because I would have done the exact same thing.
People older than Panday are bad? OK. I agree, lets take them all on a train somewhere and exterminate them.
Dookeran was in a gutter when Panday called him? Was he really? In any case, why is it that you feel like people owe their souls to Mr. Panday despite what he does or says?
John I am sorry to say that you have been misled. Oil averaged $9 a barrel for only three months. From December 1998 - February 1999 the price of oil progressed from $8.64 to $9.86 to $9.30. In March of that year the price of oil rose to $12.05 and the yearly average for that year was $16.55. While these are not the great prices we enjoy today (thanks to the war in Iraq), it would be misleading for you to keep saying that oil was $9.00 a barrel. I wouldn’t expect you to know this however as people who tend to utter slogans, rarely check on their validity.
Why don’t all the top ranking members of COP resigned there seats because they are there because of the UNC.[sic] Well John, you see, to get to the top echelons of the UNC, you have to accomplish a certain amount of butt kissing - butt kissing isn’t easy and after you’ve done it for so many years you really don’t want to throw it all away because of conscience. So you stay and grit your teeth. And when Panday says jump, you ask “how high?”.
Ed agreed with you when you said that Panday was the best Prime Minister Trinidad ever had during 1995-2001. Let me say that I agree with you too. No other Trinidadian Prime Minister at that time could compete with him. It was almost like no one else existed.
You mentioned shame. Remember politics has a morality of its own. It’s that same lack of shame that has the UNC pleading to unite with “the Corpse” and the leader of the Corpse, the Duck. Where’s the shame in that?
Have you ever realized the level of stupidity coming out of the UNC these days? Have you? I want to sit here and walk you through it piece by piece, but I think I will be wasting my time, because if you haven’t seen it yet, you never will. Where was the sense in mistreating Mr. Dookeran and effectively kicking him out of the party? Where was the sense in electing him political leader only for the party hierarchy to appoint Kamla as Opposition Leader? You may want to label those who want to vote for the COP as insensible, but if voting for the UNC is being bright, I want to remain a dunce.
By the way bredda, the UNC is not winning this election. The only party with a chance is the COP. So who is wasting their time now?
30 Responses to “A Letter to John”
By Kayode on Sep 28, 2007 | Reply
I was watching “John” and “Ed” in the other post.
Lookin like a case of himself agreeing with himself.
Mani, how much would you pay fuh a stick that could beat through the Internet?
By Jumbie on Sep 28, 2007 | Reply
Mani, Mani… wey yuh does get dem boy? Eh?
Jess reading dat letter killing meh .01% hope, but then I realise a lil thing: John hah to be ah old, uneducated person…. well, ah dumbass.
You see, is only old uneducated people who still see Panday as a saviour. De rest ah we see a demented old man who trying all how to keep in the spotlight. And since that failing miserably, he trying to create a Panday legacy and bring poor Mikela in.
Now, Ed and all have ah kinda closeminded approach to this politics thing. I mean, the best Prime Minister? You cyah agree with dat, surely? I would drop my vote for that title on Robinson. Look, NAR take a economy in crisis, and even tho they had to make unpopular decisions that get them voted out, we didn’t suffer too badly, we still remain stable.
Now Bush help Pa-trick plenty plenty with shooting up Iraq and by extension de oil price, but with all the squandermania going on, well, somebody have to put a sobering check on dat dey.
So COP is the only viable alternative in dis fight. Me eh know nah, the people who still watching Panday hah to be dotish, I mean, de man have a 30+ years history of mashing up everything good. He have a way of squashing anybody with ah concience, or ethics… morality of its own, eh? Look at Hulsie, Humphrey, Maharaj, Sudama… all they do is try to talk to the man to curb the corruption and tiefing going on under he nose.
His reaction was to kick dem dong and grind he heel in dey face.
Look, if John supporting dat kinda behaviour, he could tell meh where he live so I could clear out he house, if some PNM bandit ent beat meh to it first. Because dat mean he supporting tiefing too, so he cyah object if I want ah share… but meh concience ent go allow tiefing from de public so lemme see how he feel about sharing he own ting wid we.
Ah know dis long Mani, but sometime ting hah come out meh chest booy, else ah go buss… or fart fire.
Ah go stop here yes oui, odderwise John go see ah different Jumbie here today.
By Anonymous on Sep 28, 2007 | Reply
I used to look forward to The Manicou Report, come here from time to time, but now that your political colours are showing, it makes it less attractive for me (just my opinion). Aren’t there any objective people anymore?
“By the way bredda, the UNC is not winning this election. The only party with a chance is the COP. So who is wasting their time now?”
PS: I’m a first time voter..
By Toronto Trini on Sep 28, 2007 | Reply
My simple comment to John would be Dear John… “Opinions are like assholes… everybody’s got one”
By Mani on Sep 28, 2007 | Reply
Kayode! I want that! Organize that for meh nah boy. No Ed is a regular commentator. I’ll explain what Ed meant in a bit.
Ed, like nobody didn’t ketch yuh joke boy.
Jumbie, well boy I eh want yuh to fart fire so let it out man, let it out. By the way, you should read Ed’s and John’s comments again. Ed agreed with John that Bas was the “best Prime Minister between 1995-2000″. Bas was the only Prime Minister between 1995 and 2000. He really is mocking John. I agree with you that the people who still want to see Bas as PM have an undying devotion to him that sense can’t overcome. Jumbie, to tell you the truth, I feel a lot of them are lost.
Anonymous, you make me laugh. You say you have “always looked forward to The Manicou Report” but now my political colours are showing. Umm, exactly how long have you been coming here? Because I have been for the COP ever since there was something named COP.
But even before that I was leaning towards the UNC mostly because I was tired of all the killing and overspending and I knew we needed a new Government, but with a different leader. This is why I was so happy when Dooks was named political leader.
But after the debacle at Mid Center Mall and after Kamla was appointed Opposition Leader and after all the idiocy that has plagued the UNC till now, I have decided that I will not stand for that. I am objective, but stupidity is stupidity. I mean how much stupidity can someone take?
So I have been a COP supporter from their start. I have made this abundantly clear and I have never hid my beliefs. I’m sorry that you were a little slow on the uptake. If you go back into my archives you can see the progression.
I see you took offence to my statement, “By the way bredda, the UNC is not winning this election. The only party with a chance is the COP. So who is wasting their time now?“. Are you living in Trinidad and can you see what is happening? The UNC cannot win this election. They are bruised and battered. If I were a UNC supporter and the hierarchy of the UNC told me they can win, I would run so far away. Honestly man, open your eyes, it’s not happening.
LOL, Toronto Trini, I think you just told him for me.
By boysieringo on Sep 28, 2007 | Reply
Great job Mani I see yuh posting fuh so and I’m in full agreement wit your views. As a former UNC-leaner myself I’ve always enjoyed your voice in the online community. As a new COP voter I’d like to encourage you to continue using that voice to wake up the masses that are curled up in the baliser.
By Mani on Sep 28, 2007 | Reply
Thanks Boysie, boy I trying to get my posting back up to scratch. Thanks, I appreciate the compliment. You could tell me what this man trying to tell me about “my political colours are showing”? I wasn’t aware I was hiding them.
Boy ah trying with the PNM till ah dead but they eh listening, dread. It have a lot of ignorance out there and it have people who just cyah analyze anything objectively - dem so I cyah help.
By bandwagonist on Sep 28, 2007 | Reply
mani making plenty sense… i guess T&T really moving with the COP…
I have never believed in the PNM (Manning era… even though I not old enough to know Eric, but educated enough to know the differences in their philosophy)
Mr. Dookeran is the only acceptable leader that T&T has right now. I cannot see myself voting for the UNC as they refer to the COrPse in the same breath that they call for UNTY… yes i purposely left out the I… cause its like TEAM… its about everybody coming together
to the anonymous first time voter… I will be as well… mani opinion is his… just like your is yours and its respected…
I voting for those who have shown that they have a plan, not those who promising to do things if they win
By Anonymous on Sep 28, 2007 | Reply
“people who just cyah analyze anything objectively”
Because I highlighted a statement of yours does it make me “PNM till ah dead” or “UNC”? It was simply brought forward to display some COP arrogance. Some of the COP come across as “I have the answer to everything, you talking “shchupidness” which is contrary to their community drive. I have listened to Gary Griffith, Nicole Dyer Griffith, Wendy Lee Yeun, Mrs Bart Alexander (It’s my party COP) and even the lady who calls in from Maraval on Mr Assam’s radio show to name a few, and they all come across in that way.
“I consider myself very sensible which is why I choose to vote for the Congress of the People”
Well done!
I have to admit, since I left England and currently trying to make the most of the educational opportunities (which now makes me a PNM (?)) now available I have not been on your blog. So if I missed your appearance on the stage at the “real red alert” I apologise. My “pie-orities” have altered.
By gospelspy on Sep 28, 2007 | Reply
If the COP of Winston Dookeran is the Corpse, then Red Beret must be the living dead. Something is definitely wrong in the head under the red beret, it has gone beyond loose screws, and it is outright madness. The logic under the red beret is flawed. How can one call for unity but at the same time spit the oil of vitriol on those with whom you propose to unite? Even worse, is the threat that if you don’t unite I will expose you as some sort of evil person with cocoa in the sun. So why do you want to unite with this person in the first place?
One major tragedy of the present scenario is not so much the fact that Red Beret’s political game plan makes sense to him, (one expects that he makes sense of his delusions), however it is the scattered remnant of supporters who actually applaud his illogical repertoire of hate and love in the same breadth. The majority of this remnant are East Indians who for some reason believe that they owe Red Beret wholesome gratitude for his work as a trade unionist or politician. Some may not like the way he was hounded and persecuted by The Emperor and want him to have a chance to get even. Whatever the reason, these sweet people seem unable to break from the spell of the red beret because they refuse to consider the larger picture.
This larger picture is the fact that the UNC Alliance is unattractive to the majority of those who oppose the PNM in Trinidad and Tobago, the major unattraction being Red Beret himself. Hence, because it’s popularity is zoned into the traditional “sugar cane” seats, the best that the UNC Alliance can do is form part of the opposition. They cannot win any marginal seat. It is only the COP, which has the broad based appeal across all ethnic and other divides of the society that provides the best umbrella under which to capture the government from the PNM to the benefit of all the people of our country.
This is the reason why the unity for which so many desire (including Red Beret) can only bear fruit under the banner of the COP with Winston Dookeran as leader. The irony of Red Beret is that for one who has said that his life struggle has been to unite the people of T&T, is that he can accomplish his life long goal by simply doing nothing, yes simply get out of the way and “Voila” unity. The problem with Red Beret is that the only unity he will accept is the one that he leads and he will smash up anybody who tries to take away the title of Mr. Unity from him.
Nevertheless, despite the efforts of the Red Beret, unity is happening on the ground as there is a quickening momentum of support for the COP coming from all sections of the society. What may well happen is that Red Beret’s party will be reduced to Team UNC Alliance and suffer the same ignorance by the electorate as Ramesh Maharaj’s Team Unity. Now by the way, unless Ramesh Maharaj can explain how he knew to fly his family to Grenada on the eve of the Muslimeem coup of July 1990, he will always be a man I distrust.
For those who have eyes to see and ears to hear, “Winston is de man!”
By Mani on Sep 28, 2007 | Reply
Thanks Bandwahhonist. Well said. I like how you left out the “i” from Unity.
Anonymous, boysieringo wasn’t referring to you when he spoke about “masses that are curled up in the baliser” and I was not referring to you either when I spoke about “PNM till ah dead” - that was a completely different topic. The last comment I made about you was this: “You could tell me what this man trying to tell me about ‘my political colours are showing’? I wasn’t aware I was hiding them.”
I’m not sure what you are referring to when you speak about “missing my appearance on the stage”. The facts are that I have always been a supporter of the COP and before that a supporter of the UNC with Dookeran at the helm (which my very first political posts will confirm).
You made a comment about me beginning to show my political colours which I thought was misinformed since I have never made an attempt to hide them. So if you missed it in the earlies when when I stated my views, I apologise, but surely I can’t be held accountable for that, can I?
You did make a reference to a statement I made about the UNC not winning this election, so I apologise if I concluded you were a UNC. Your comment was not something I could see coming from a PNM supporter.
Your pie-orities? I’m very confused by you.
By bandwagonist on Sep 28, 2007 | Reply
“pie-orities”… seems pseudo-racist
By Mani on Sep 28, 2007 | Reply
Bandwagonist, that’s what I thought too, but I was giving him/her the benefit of the doubt.
By Anonymous on Sep 28, 2007 | Reply
It is very interesting the distance some would go in interpretation. If I tell you “pie-orities” is the way Mr Dookeran pronounces the word would you believe me? Now that it was highlighted, makes me wonder…
If you look at my posts, no time have I disrespected any poster here (not carried away by my anonimity). Simply expressing my opinion.
By Mani on Sep 28, 2007 | Reply
Anonymous, I understand what you say, but you have to understand that “pie” is a racist epithet - albeit one I haven’t heard for a long time. I don’t doubt that you mean to allude to Dooks, but it is a very obscure reference (I’m sure you would agree).
By Mani on Sep 28, 2007 | Reply
Gosplespy, thanks very much for your comment. Sorry I did not respond to it earlier, it just never came to my e-mail inbox like all other comments do.
By Anonymous on Sep 28, 2007 | Reply
I honestly did not know that, but thanks for the “pie” education all the same.
By bandwagonist on Sep 28, 2007 | Reply
anon i apologize if u were offended… and i know we don’t all pronounce words the same… it sometimes causes problems…
this is off the original topic but along the lines of the “argument”… Lennox Grant had an article on speech/language a couple of weekends ago…
Reigning power couple in style, content
By Mani on Sep 28, 2007 | Reply
No probs, anon.
Thanks for the link bandwagonist, that was a good read.
By Jill on Sep 29, 2007 | Reply
why are all the anonymous people bashing today? i think it’s uncle patos secretly blogging ! haha no j/k.. the the first anonymous who stated “Aren’t there any objective people anymore?”
Voters used to be, until the PNM and UNC pissed them off ! So COP is hopefully a step in the right direction..
So as a first time voter, don’t waste your vote, because if you plan to vote PNM or UNC, I’d rather not place the future of our country in your hands..
By Anonymous on Sep 29, 2007 | Reply
What kind of site is that that need approval of the owner to be posted? I guess once there are post that do not seem to hold the same view as you in support of the COP it will be filtered, to give the impression that everyone in T&T gone COP. What a waste and some of you always wonder what is wrong with T&T
By Jill on Sep 29, 2007 | Reply
fyi anonymous, i posted recently to mani about his article on the pnm comedian, and i disagreed with him, and he posted it. if i didnt like COP, he would still allow my post, just as he allowed yours. the only stuff he would need to filter is obscene language etc..
By Anonymous on Sep 30, 2007 | Reply
This site just like that inshan ishmael and that muslim station that only supporting cop and making ppl feel cop is the way to go when they only taking cop callers and text. Cop not even getting one seat in parliment not even a crix tin to sit on,
By ed on Sep 30, 2007 | Reply
My goodness. Accused of being a troll AND a Panday supporter! I can’t even decide which to be more offended by.
Anyway, glad you at least got the joke, Mani.
By Anonymous on Sep 30, 2007 | Reply
You have to admit to anyone new reading this site it does have a heavy slant in favor of the COP, that is the perception so it cannot be denied, all well and good but in the fairness of being balance the owner should at least temper the UNC bashing or is it that COP is so lily white and their are no ills with any members of that party? Why try and fool the public with that nonsense just to attain power? In the end if the COP wins and does not live up to all that is being pushed or expected who will lose??
ALl of us and that is be very sad and I hope all of you will be willing to shoulder that blame.
By Jumbie on Sep 30, 2007 | Reply
Dear Anonymous,
The comment moderation is as a result of SPAM… I had to do it on my blog as well. Believe it or not, people do spam blogs with ads, or in my case I saw spam in Portuguese etc….
So Mani is not really censoring comments, just not posting the dodgy stuff, same as I do…. separating the chaff and wheat so to speak.
By Toronto Trini on Oct 1, 2007 | Reply
So.. anonymous…who are you blaming (or your words) who is shouldering the blame for the condition this coutry is in presently…I hope its the people that voted PNM.
By Triniobserver on Oct 3, 2007 | Reply
I am not for the COP and this comment will be going through.
What a ridiculous assertion.
I am always late to the party…
Having been away from most of the political (and social) turmoil, I lack any perspective on the current PNM iteration.
I think that in general, Third World governments tend to share an alarming lack of perspective on what it takes to advance.
“First World” is not about infrastructure–it is a state of mind.
(For example, if two barbershops near me–within feet of each other–cannot take it upon themselves to be: 1) Open by 10:00AM or 2) Post signs advising people of their (already unusual) operating hours or 3) Acknowledge a customer when he walks in (I thought the free barbers were actually customers waiting–that’s how bad it was); then we aren’t getting anywhere by 2020, or anything with a “2″ in the front of it.)
Trinidadians have a terrible dependency on the Government and government action, and the government has a (and I don’t like to use this excuse, but it works here) colonial tendency to want to control everything and is more of a hindrance to progress than anything else.
I have yet to hear anyone address what I see as fundamental problems like that–admittedly because I have not been listening (Trinis? Original ideas?).
In lieu of that, I (who will not be voting due to logistics/timing etc.) have come to the conclusion that the PNM status quo would not be so much of a disaster as a UNC win.
If I knwo anyting about thos e years is that a level of greed, graft, shamelessness and corruption the likes of which I had never witnessed in my life exploded upon the country. I wish people would come out and say it without feeling the need to equate it to the present– it was bad, bad, bad-bad, bad.
Like-nothing-else bad.
We’re nowhere near that now.
If you tell me the COP is better, I will believe you. I (because I do not think they will win) think they deserve to be in the opposition over the UNC any day (especially since they have proven they’d vote for sense and not oppose for opposition’s sake).
Anything but Basdeo Panday, please!Please?!
If the COP wins, I won’t be scared, but I don’t get the feeling that they will get even close to government. (By all means vote though–or else that won’t happen).
By Mani on Oct 4, 2007 | Reply
Anon, I know what you’re up to, even though no one else does.
Jill, doh study that anon, he’s on a mission.
Ed, lol. I get yuh joke pardna. I’m not sure which is worse either.
TriniObserver, without having to g into it too much again, I really don’t agree with you on a lot of the things you said, but to each his own.
By Triniobserver on Oct 7, 2007 | Reply
Well, again, hopefully they will do better than the UNC–whether that means winning a lot.
I do, however, feel strongly about excessive government dependency–but I can type all day about that one.