By Richard Peters

An altogether worrying business this declaration by minister Elvin Nimrod that after God Prime Minister Keith Mitchell is the person he reverences the most, so you see where this is heading.

One gets to wondering too whether he put God first condescendingly just to be in keeping with the whole evangelical tone of the NNP convention/religious crusade/bad talk fest at the Grenada Trade Center.

I am told a few of the more hardened sinners in the audience, congregation (?)...got all teary at the eye with the outpouring of scriptural quotations and religious admonitions and that the only thing that stopped the activity from being a full-fledged prayer meeting was the anti-opposition, hate-filled vitriol that was spewed in every direction.

With this evangelical focus it is strange that members on the government aide are bashing a man of God in Pastor Karl Hood for getting involved in front line politics. Even the Minister of Savings Union jumped into the fray and took a swing or two at him advising that his place was on his knees rather than on a political platform.
I didn’t respond when a particularly vocal individual pointed out to me that as far as the ruling administration is concerned every Grenadian should be on their knees but not in prayer, either with an empty begging bowl or in humble and obedient supplication to the NNP’s political dictates.

Back to Mr. Nimrod’s testimony about how much he is inspired by his boss and the infallibility of the prime minister.

If these sentiments are shared by all of the other ministers them some amorphous amphibious creature may well be puffing at our collective stogies. In other words “crappo smoke we pipe.”

This poignant outpouring of rapturous adulation some would see as confirmation that the government is run as an organization with a strict pecking order, thus, the prime minister at the top as maximum, political, spiritual, social and everything else leader and everybody else pay homage and constantly sing his praises.

An uncomfortable state of affairs for the people indeed because there will be no one prepared to raise a dissenting voice on their behalf to stay the hand of tyranny, despotism and corruption.

The only consolation (that is providing the others are not of like disposition) is that this supreme expression of idolatry was gushed by Minister Nimrod who is not really known as any quotable demagogue.

The owner of a singularly nondescript political career and an equally non- noteworthy character he is usually given to listless ramblings and impulsive, far from inspired utterances.  

Something else has come to mind though. The government dedicated efforts at Caribbean togetherness has but I think in our enthusiasm and commitment to the ideal we are taking it just a tad too far.

So if a Barbadian who has landed an important job here proceeds to take every opportunity to lambaste the local media, do not dare call him a Barbadian for fear of promoting insularity and regional division.

If this Caribbean brother accuses the media of partiality forgetting that the very nature of his job prevent him from anything close to impartial, since he has to say whatever will make his boss look good, accurate or not, call him any other thing but not by his nationality. If you can manage to bar he, call he more or less the advisor to a very senior civil servant.

The same goes of course for if there is a Jamaican or two up to tricks at the electoral office as Senator Chester Humphrey quickly found out and now his limited financial resources are under threat
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By the way, did I hear it implied that opposition forces are responsible for the questionable goings-on at the electoral office? How come? Was it the opposition’s job to remove the names of long dead people from the list, delete them altogether? Then why the heck doesn’t the opposition do its job and have adequate back up in place so that when thousands of names are “lost” from the list we do not have to go back to an old list.

But what bothers me the most about these opposition people, why in the world should they try to complicate an election that public sentiment indicates they are sure to win fairly and squarely?

People are getting more worried about the limited scope nature of our poverty alleviation methods. One person asks, can $8million worth of free food really take care of a dramatically burgeoning poor population? The answer is self-evident.

The authorities have to understand that persons who could not have been classified as poor one year ago fall into that category now because their income could not hope to keep pace with the dizzying rise in the prices of everything.

Therefore the old gauge of who is poor and who is not cannot be practicable any more. You may well find a school principal who fit the poor profile.

The experts call for skillfully planned and executed economic initiatives to arrest and reverse a deteriorating economic situation and therefore the escalating poverty situation.

However if the government thinks some food baskets and gifts of milk is enough then who am I to argue. I’m no economist certainly.

As the months go by more and more people will be joining the ranks of the poor and the 8 million will no longer be able to reach very far so I guess the designation will have to revised to the acutely poverty stricken.

And I still have to ask why in every part of the island, in every constituency, everything is managed and done out of an NNP office whether the party holds that seat in parliament or not.

House repair assistance, school book assistance, job requests including road work…

I guess the government’s massage is clear. “We wouldn’t even dare suggest who you should vote for but when you go to vote no matter where the country is going, remember where your assistance came from.”