Phillip Edward Alexander
Welcome to Fantasy Island.........
Okay, okay, I get it now. I refuse to believe it that it took me so long to get it and I must admit I am feeling a little ashamed, but I get it. Only after watching the illusionary splendor of our political influenced carnival for the second year in a row did it all click, and wow, it's really like looking through the looking glass when you get it.
I finally understand why the Prime Minister's residence is called La Fantasie, I mean, what other name could be more apt? Living there is usually as the result of mesmerizing the electorate with grand promises and nothing gestures like a magician manipulating time and space to deliver illusions, and in T&T the best magic show gets to go on to claim the first prize, five years in our own Magic Kingdom, La Fantasie. In La Fantasie the rules do not matter. You could make things appear, disappear and then reappear by just saying a word. You could conjure up whole new realities for everyone, and everyone is supposed to suspend their powers of disbelief and play along.
Similar to the 'results' in the Soca Monarch show, it's not SUPPOSED to be real. While the grand spectacle of the show is fantastic and the effort that most performers put out lulls you into the belief that there is a chance that the decision is being made based on the quality of the song, the performance and the stage presentation, it is obvious now that those messy details are taken care of well in advance so as to prevent any untoward or embarrassing mishaps.
Or the plot against the Prime Minister, it's meant to pull your leg, nothing more, and if anything I want to thank THIS government for the effort they put into the misdirection show. Whoever is coaching them backstage is doing one helluva a job, because once they agree on a story or a plot line, they all work so hard to sell it. Were the conspirators 'in' on the plot to expose a plot? I want to believe so because we've heard nothing since, not even a highly paid lawyer raising the messy spectre of a wrongful arrest lawsuit, so it must be that they all were part of one well planned, well delivered, piece of theatre.
I guess that's the reason there were at least seven different reason for the State of Emergency. Like plot lines in a 'coming attraction,' they were simply 'floating ideas' to see which one got the most traction and I must say as a policy it makes sense. I love the commitment to decision once made and I would like to applaud John Sandy above all else for the role he played, channelling a career in the disciplined armed forces into a strict one line delivery is hard and shows that this man has a huge future in the theatre if he chooses to pursue it.
I am laughing at myself for now 'getting' what Party Manifestos are. They're not like, promises or anything, but are there for pure entertainment value. Take last election and 'Rise' for example, anybody Rise? No, they weren't SUPPOSED to. Next election could be 'Twist,' as in 'We will Twist,' but don't expect to really twist, is just a joke, a make believe, a come along. Or 'New Politics,' that was a good one. It could just as easily have been Candy Coated Oxtail, just meant to sound interesting, nothing more. If 'New Politics' mesmerized them this time, then next elections let's try 'Focused Governance' or 'Prioritized Deliverables.' Anything really, that the masses could bite onto and use as a mantra, and I feel relieved to finally understand why none of the words and actions of any of our politicians ever add up.
All the time that I have been referring to T&T as La La Land, or quoting David Rudder and calling it Pappy Show Land I didn't know how close to the truth I really was. Now I have to reorganize my plans to make use of this eye opening discovery. Next year we are going to bring out a mas band/music troupe/political organization all in one called the People's United Congress, and we are going to PUC down the place for sure. Now that nothing that is said has to be real, our campaign slogan/soca monarch song could be either 'PUC You' or 'PUC Away' and we could win, we could sweep all the titles, because if is one thing we in this land of make believe loves, it is a PUC-ing good time.
