The PP racking them up.....
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/commentaries/Rab_s_immortal_lesson-106863363.htmlRab's immortal lesson
By Keith SuberoHe signed his name "Rab", but Richard Austen Butler was by no means the kind of person whom Trinbagonians would associate with that name. Rab Butler (1902-1982), to me, remains one of the most memorable British politicians. In 1963, Rab sat as deputy prime minister and home secretary and he was expected at some time to assume higher office. As I was reminded, Scotland Yard began investigating a company with which Rab was associated, prior to his becoming home secretary.
Rab delivered what, to me, was one of the most defining lessons in politics ever: "lest there be the hint of suspicion", Rab resigned honourably from the Cabinet, clearing the way for a full police investigation.
The lesson that Rab left us was: politicians must be people of virtue, and—for the overall good of the body politic—their every action must be seen as working for the common good.
"Man, if he is without virtue," Aristotle wrote, "is the most unholy and savage being." Justice, then, is Man's only salvation. So in the political community, every citizen ideally should work, for the sake of justice, and the common good. And so "politics"—unfortunately we misuse the word—is never about the politician's ambition, his group, or a party's interests, but an activity in which he assists citizens to work collectively toward "the furtherance of the common good".
Centuries after Aristotle, John Stuart Mill added further that governments must be seen always as being "for the people", and "a good government promotes the virtue and intelligence of its people". These are historical heights set by the early thinkers and, as a young nation, we need at this stage to demand these noble characteristics from our politicians. We did not demand such of Patrick Manning and look what good it did us, neither did we hold up such standards to George Chambers, Arthur NR Robinson or Basdeo Panday.
When he took office in the '90s, Panday swung a guillotine, firing a number of public officials, causing Lord Kitchener to respond with "The No Work Band", on fearing for the fate of executives, who were fired by Panday's United National Congress. Persons like Port of Spain Mayor Louis Lee Sing and Henry Sealy, then executive director of the Unit Trust, and many others I am sure, still carry that pain of the '90s.
Had the Grand Master been around, today we would have expected "The No Work Band Volume II", given the growing record of dismissals under the hand of the new People's Partnership.
• Last week, two Government ministers in the Office of the Prime Minister, Collin Partap and Rodger Samuel, marched into the Caribbean News Media Group (formerly TTT), and—without a board of directors in place—presided over the exit of CNMG's general manager, Ingrid Isaac. Was that for the common good?
• James Philbert, the acting commissioner of police, with days to go on his three-times extended contract, was sent a letter from the Police Service Commission ending his 43-year career. Was that for the common good?
• Col George Robinson, head of the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management, in the face of unusual political weather, is out of office. Was that for the common good?
• Nafeesa Mohammed, an adviser in the Office of the Attorney General, was asked to leave, but not allowed to clear her office. Was that...?
• Brig Peter Joseph, fired summarily from Special Anti-Crime Unit of Trinidad and Tobago (SAUTT), his commission in the Voluntary Service revoked, and now battling for his gratuity. Was that...?
• Three hundred clerical workers attached to schools across the country fired by the Ministry of Education. Was that...?
• Maxie Cuffie, working as CEO of the Government Information Service Ltd, is informed by the media that he is being replaced. Was that...?
• Keisha Ince, CEO of the Government's infrastructure company, is fired by the wave of a hand. Was that... just part of a growing list?
This is a frightening trend under the new government. It is something that the workers' representatives, Comrades Errol McLeod and David Abdulah, will very soon have to deal with, in the interest of workers, and "the common good". I fear that the People's Partnership, like the National Alliance for Reconstruction and the UNC, is squandering its public goodwill, given last May, because of its preoccupation with People's National Movement excesses, and its focus on settling old scores.
When our Prime Minister took to the "catwalk" last week, she looked more sure-footed there than in her five-month-old government, where she appears bent on earning a reputation as "Mistress of the Misstep".
Her partner on the red carpet, Attorney General Anand Ramlogan, appeared ideally suited, for he appears to be the front-runner for the title of "Mister Misstep" 2010—first the 1990 coup enquiry mis-step, now the CLICO-HCU enquiry mis-step.
I believe there are lessons to be learnt from Rab, Aristotle and Mill, and of course one should always listen as Kitchener warned about "the vengeance of Moko".
