The title of this post (don't say that) is the favorite one-liner of a certain three-year-old child when grown-ups say anything she doesn't approve of. It takes you back a bit and forces you to reflect on your utterances. Furthermore, it forces you to think twice before you say things in her presence. You are forewarned that you will be checked.
So what am I babbling about you asked? It is the machismo, no the utter disrespect directed towards opposition leaders in the Gambia by some of their compatriots living abroad. Some of the discussion about the opposition leaders— on websites, mailing lists, and especially online radio— has degenerated into rhetorical devices that also shut down the conversation before it can begin. It has to do with the view some hold that Lawyer Darboe is weak or that Halifa Sallah is a megalomaniac, who thinks he is smarter than everyone else.
In entrenched democracies, these characteristics are pale for the course. But in political environments, like we have in the Gambia, where the need for opposition unity is a necessity for any headwind against Yahya's authoritarian machinery, these arguments will provoke heated reactions and inflame the tender relationship between the parties that need to come together.
It is my fervent hope that anyone who is a flame thrower will stop and consider how their words impact people who put their lives and livelihoods on the line opposing a dictator where it matters the most... on the ground. They are human. Have family and friends who read and yes heard the hurtful things said about them. And it does impact them. Sometimes excruciatingly viscerally. And it is not even remotely necessary to cause them such pain. And their participation in politics and in political dialogue should never be the source of such pain. Particularly not from people who share the same vision. This is not a plea for censorship, but it is a plea for sensitivity and consideration. It is an attempt to raise consciousness. And it is an attempt to improve the quality of political dialogue such that controversial arguments can be made and challenged without them descending into personal animosities. Words matter. Our choices about words matter.
So the next time you feel like calling someone out of their name, think of that three year old's one liner "don't say that". Try it, it works...
Gambia ... a pictorial from the Colonial days
0 comments Posted by ousman ceesay at Friday, May 13, 2011
The National Archives of the United Kingdom has a flicker account with interesting photos taken during the colonial reign. The picture above is a representation. You can check them out by clicking on the link below:
If the headline sounds hyper and attention-grabbing, well that is my intent. For starters, my grandfather (my father’s father) did not fight in any war that I know of. However, the headline is not in and of itself wrong. My grandfather’s granny fought an epic battle in the village of Saba, in defense of his liberty and that of generations that follow and continue to be of his lineage today. This is why I used the heading of my grandfather’s war. It is, in essence, a shortening of the family tree. However, in this age of URL shortening in cyberspace, who is going to nit-pick at my usage of the term, besides, I just took so much time explaining the rationale.
Back to my grandfather shall we? He was a warrior in defense of liberty and a lesser man will succumb to the tyranny of the majority and accept subjugation. Not Duwa Banna Ceesay. He wouldn’t have any of it and in a split second, he put his life and that of his clan on the line. It reminds me of a saying that is attributed to old Patrick Henry of New Hampshire; “Give me Liberty or Give me death”.
The story goes that our ancestor who first settled in the village of Saba was a native of Salikenne …a village located in what is today central Badibu district. It is approximately five to six miles from Saba. He got into a fight with a group of men on the outskirts of town and end up killing one of them. Fearful of the retribution he will face if he went back to the village [Salikenne], he decided to flee and seek refugee with his cousin in the village of NjabaKunda, a few miles away from Salikenne. His cousin advised him to move west to the village of Saba and seek refugee with Konkono, the elder of the founding clan that inhabits that settlement. He will be spared if found living with Konkono, since his clan has “dancuto” [a joking bond] with Salikenne. Dancuto to this day is very sacrosanct in relationships and communal harmony. That is how Sano Ceesay settled in Saba. He was given land and married one of Konkono’s daughters. His settlement in Saba came to be known as “CeesayKunda Ba”. There are numerous Ceesay Kundas, but this is the original settlement of our ancestry in Saba. It is nestled between Suso Kunda and Drammeh kunda to this day.
Sano was blessed with children. He prospered in Saba. In those days, the more children you have, the more farmhands, hence productivity increases. His success reached an old friend of his in Salikenne, who eventually came to visit him and decide to stay as well. That friend of Sano’s is the ancestor of Today’s Drammehs in Saba. Drammeh Kunda today is located on land allocated to their ancestry from my ancestors. It is bewildering that due to his business success, the Drammeh friend turns foe and tries to rewrite history. His offspring to this day continue on this path of deceit. They have a superiority complex about them and go to the length of not marrying within my clan. The stupidity of caste lives within their ignoramus lot. Unfortunately, that is not isolated to them; it is very prevalent in Saba. The bigotry that is involved is breathtaking.
Sano lived a free man in Saba till his death. He never ventured back to his native Salikenne. That is where my grandfather’s war starts. Upon Sano’s death, the Janteh Kunda Kabilo decided that, since Sano was spared his liberty and didn’t pay for killing a man back in Salikenne (in self-defense by the way), they are going to make his children pay for it, by forcing them to work for their clan or they will unleash the wrath of Salikenne upon Sano’s children. It is insidious blackmail for lack of a better word. Duwa Banna, the eldest of Sano’s children and the heir to the clan upon his father’s death told the elders of the Janteh Kunda kabilo, who brought farm implements with them to shove it up where the sun don’t shine. Bullies for ages have glass jaws. They were not expecting the resolute stance Duwa Banna took. Taken aback, they re-group and called on their allies in the neighboring villages to confront what they termed intransigence on my grandfathers’ part. It never occurred to them that my people have a God-given right to liberty and self-determination. What ensued was an epic battle in the village of Saba. Duwa Banna ordered his men to fight with all they’ve got. He positioned himself by a lake located and still located behind the cemetery called “Buukay Daala”. It is more of a pond these days… the effects of erosion and nature taking its course. From this vantage point, he waited for his men to capture and bring the captives from the other side. He submerged their heads in the glistening waters of the freshwater lake; inducing the fear of drowning in them; a crude form of waterboarding for sure. The result is instant diarrhea. Extreme? You bet. But, extremism in defense of liberty as Barry Goldwater lamented, is no vice. By the end of the battle (when the other side surrendered) the lake was polluted with feces, thus the term Buukay Daala. Nine Alikalos were arrested by the colonial government from all over Badibou for the role they played, in trying to subjugate my clan. It is believed that they were sent to Sierra Leone for incarceration and nobody ever heard a thing about or from them. They end up like fart in the wind; lost to a cruel cause. The Gambia in those days was governed by a governor-general stationed in Freetown on behalf of the British crown.
Duwa Banna was offered the alikaloship of Saba after this event. He turned it down; reasoning that all he was fighting for, is his dignity and that of his clan. Power was not part of his calculus. The bad blood from this event, continues to this day, albeit, in a subtle way. It is never in your face kind of bigotry, but we all know the under currents. The phrase I know it, when I see it describe the conundrum that comes into play when you try to describe the bigotry that happens in Saba to this day. The comedy of ignorance still pervades a community that thinks they are better than their fellow villagers based on ancient feuds. Inter-marriage is virtually non-existent in Saba, there are two cemeteries in the village and yet people faked smiles at one another in communal gatherings. The hypocrisy of it all is nauseating. To add insult to injury, the younger generations devoid of any knowledge of Saba’s history are taking to cyber space, to spread made up stories, stoking their own egos. I cannot for the life of me, let that go unchallenged. If Duwa Banna in the face of thuggery and violence stood up, fought for liberty, and what is right, the least I could do is turn my computer on and set the record straight on the history of a village we all call home. This is not the most flattering history, but it is our history. And history someone said is prologue, thus we have to be eternally vigilant. It is afterall the price of liberty.
Back to my grandfather shall we? He was a warrior in defense of liberty and a lesser man will succumb to the tyranny of the majority and accept subjugation. Not Duwa Banna Ceesay. He wouldn’t have any of it and in a split second, he put his life and that of his clan on the line. It reminds me of a saying that is attributed to old Patrick Henry of New Hampshire; “Give me Liberty or Give me death”.
The story goes that our ancestor who first settled in the village of Saba was a native of Salikenne …a village located in what is today central Badibu district. It is approximately five to six miles from Saba. He got into a fight with a group of men on the outskirts of town and end up killing one of them. Fearful of the retribution he will face if he went back to the village [Salikenne], he decided to flee and seek refugee with his cousin in the village of NjabaKunda, a few miles away from Salikenne. His cousin advised him to move west to the village of Saba and seek refugee with Konkono, the elder of the founding clan that inhabits that settlement. He will be spared if found living with Konkono, since his clan has “dancuto” [a joking bond] with Salikenne. Dancuto to this day is very sacrosanct in relationships and communal harmony. That is how Sano Ceesay settled in Saba. He was given land and married one of Konkono’s daughters. His settlement in Saba came to be known as “CeesayKunda Ba”. There are numerous Ceesay Kundas, but this is the original settlement of our ancestry in Saba. It is nestled between Suso Kunda and Drammeh kunda to this day.
Sano was blessed with children. He prospered in Saba. In those days, the more children you have, the more farmhands, hence productivity increases. His success reached an old friend of his in Salikenne, who eventually came to visit him and decide to stay as well. That friend of Sano’s is the ancestor of Today’s Drammehs in Saba. Drammeh Kunda today is located on land allocated to their ancestry from my ancestors. It is bewildering that due to his business success, the Drammeh friend turns foe and tries to rewrite history. His offspring to this day continue on this path of deceit. They have a superiority complex about them and go to the length of not marrying within my clan. The stupidity of caste lives within their ignoramus lot. Unfortunately, that is not isolated to them; it is very prevalent in Saba. The bigotry that is involved is breathtaking.
Sano lived a free man in Saba till his death. He never ventured back to his native Salikenne. That is where my grandfather’s war starts. Upon Sano’s death, the Janteh Kunda Kabilo decided that, since Sano was spared his liberty and didn’t pay for killing a man back in Salikenne (in self-defense by the way), they are going to make his children pay for it, by forcing them to work for their clan or they will unleash the wrath of Salikenne upon Sano’s children. It is insidious blackmail for lack of a better word. Duwa Banna, the eldest of Sano’s children and the heir to the clan upon his father’s death told the elders of the Janteh Kunda kabilo, who brought farm implements with them to shove it up where the sun don’t shine. Bullies for ages have glass jaws. They were not expecting the resolute stance Duwa Banna took. Taken aback, they re-group and called on their allies in the neighboring villages to confront what they termed intransigence on my grandfathers’ part. It never occurred to them that my people have a God-given right to liberty and self-determination. What ensued was an epic battle in the village of Saba. Duwa Banna ordered his men to fight with all they’ve got. He positioned himself by a lake located and still located behind the cemetery called “Buukay Daala”. It is more of a pond these days… the effects of erosion and nature taking its course. From this vantage point, he waited for his men to capture and bring the captives from the other side. He submerged their heads in the glistening waters of the freshwater lake; inducing the fear of drowning in them; a crude form of waterboarding for sure. The result is instant diarrhea. Extreme? You bet. But, extremism in defense of liberty as Barry Goldwater lamented, is no vice. By the end of the battle (when the other side surrendered) the lake was polluted with feces, thus the term Buukay Daala. Nine Alikalos were arrested by the colonial government from all over Badibou for the role they played, in trying to subjugate my clan. It is believed that they were sent to Sierra Leone for incarceration and nobody ever heard a thing about or from them. They end up like fart in the wind; lost to a cruel cause. The Gambia in those days was governed by a governor-general stationed in Freetown on behalf of the British crown.
Duwa Banna was offered the alikaloship of Saba after this event. He turned it down; reasoning that all he was fighting for, is his dignity and that of his clan. Power was not part of his calculus. The bad blood from this event, continues to this day, albeit, in a subtle way. It is never in your face kind of bigotry, but we all know the under currents. The phrase I know it, when I see it describe the conundrum that comes into play when you try to describe the bigotry that happens in Saba to this day. The comedy of ignorance still pervades a community that thinks they are better than their fellow villagers based on ancient feuds. Inter-marriage is virtually non-existent in Saba, there are two cemeteries in the village and yet people faked smiles at one another in communal gatherings. The hypocrisy of it all is nauseating. To add insult to injury, the younger generations devoid of any knowledge of Saba’s history are taking to cyber space, to spread made up stories, stoking their own egos. I cannot for the life of me, let that go unchallenged. If Duwa Banna in the face of thuggery and violence stood up, fought for liberty, and what is right, the least I could do is turn my computer on and set the record straight on the history of a village we all call home. This is not the most flattering history, but it is our history. And history someone said is prologue, thus we have to be eternally vigilant. It is afterall the price of liberty.
The face of tyranny. Gadhafi and his family are losing control of what they see as their personal hacienda. The wind of freedom blows and I wish it blows towards what was the smiling coast of Africa. ... Gambia. Lord knows we need some popular uprising in that country.
I hope he (Gadhafi) goes and soon. God speed Libyan patriots. Take your country back. Gadhafi has been nothing, but a divisive figure on the continent of Africa. The world and Africa for that matter is better off without his destructive activities.
I hope he (Gadhafi) goes and soon. God speed Libyan patriots. Take your country back. Gadhafi has been nothing, but a divisive figure on the continent of Africa. The world and Africa for that matter is better off without his destructive activities.
Thank you Egypt. After Eighteen Long days and nights, you rid youselves of a thirty year tyranny. This reminds me of the old adage "Freedom is never free". Somebody has to fight for it, demand it and unfortunately pay the ultimate price.
If only Gambians can muster this kind of courage and take to the streets of Banjul, our sixteen year nightmare will be over in a moment. Can we?
If only Gambians can muster this kind of courage and take to the streets of Banjul, our sixteen year nightmare will be over in a moment. Can we?
Pro-government thugs at Tahrir Square used clubs, machetes, swords and straight razors on Wednesday to try to crush Egypt’s democracy movement, but, for me, the most memorable moment of a sickening day was one of inspiration: watching two women stand up to a mob.
That is how Nicholas Kristof begins his oped in todays new times. This is the scene he is alluding to. The grace of two women in the face of aggression from bulky angry men, who thugishly try to intimidate them to silence.
I urge my government and by extension the man in charge [President Obama] to do all in his power to force Mubarak and his thugs out now. The Egyptian army should be told in that it is time for them to step up to the plate and support the people in their quest for freedom, and that the continuation of the funds and materiel we provide them are dependent upon what they do.
I will end this writeup as I begin it: with a paragraph from Kristof's column... a must read by the way:
But for me, when I remember this sickening and bloody day, I’ll conjure not only the brutality that Mr. Mubarak seems to have sponsored but also the courage and grace of those Egyptians who risked their lives as they sought to reclaim their country. And incredibly, the democracy protesters held their ground all day at Tahrir Square despite this armed onslaught. Above all, I’ll be inspired by those two sisters standing up to Mr. Mubarak’s hoodlums. If they, armed only with their principles, can stand up to Mr. Mubarak’s thuggery, can’t we all do the same?
Mubarak is quoted:
Duh. Ya think. The dictator got scared straight by a sea of people, who can't take his authoritarianism no more.
"We will seek economic and political reform. I will also ask the police to always mind the people's rights and their duties," according to National columnist Sultan Al Qassemi.
Duh. Ya think. The dictator got scared straight by a sea of people, who can't take his authoritarianism no more.
From every corner of the Egyptian society they rise. If Mubarak is complacent before, well he got something else coming. Look at the defiance on that woman's face. Dictators beware. Yeah ... I am talking to you Yahya Jammeh. Gambians will eventually rise up and take their country back.
It is awe inspiring. If Mubarak weathered this storm, he will have to open up Egypt to serious transparency. My gut tells me he is done, just like Ben Ali of Tunisia. Take a look at this picture:
Huffington post has a live update going on at this LINK....
The Daily Kos as usual has some of the most exhaustive discussion of the events taking place on that community blog.
Here is a link to the Daily Kos discussion board.
Aljazeera is running a Live stream of the events happening in Egypt. The role of Aljazeera in disseminating opposition views on the Arab street is consequential.
Here is the Aljazeera Live stream in english
It is awe inspiring. If Mubarak weathered this storm, he will have to open up Egypt to serious transparency. My gut tells me he is done, just like Ben Ali of Tunisia. Take a look at this picture:
Huffington post has a live update going on at this LINK....
The Daily Kos as usual has some of the most exhaustive discussion of the events taking place on that community blog.
Here is a link to the Daily Kos discussion board.
Aljazeera is running a Live stream of the events happening in Egypt. The role of Aljazeera in disseminating opposition views on the Arab street is consequential.
Here is the Aljazeera Live stream in english
Take a look at these photos and tell me you are not inspired. Egyptians came out en-mass in defiance of dictatorial orders not to protest.
The look on that elderly woman's face is priceless. She took a gallant stance for liberty. In an authoritarian country like Egypt, the consequences of this action is life altering. She knew this could cost her her life, but took a stand anyway. She is all guts.
The youth were out in force as well. Reminds me of scenes reported out of Gambia in the student demonstrations of April 2000. The difference between the two encounters is the stance taken by the older generation in support of the youth uprising. In the case of the Gambia, the elders cowered in fear while fourteen people were murdered by the military. Not a peep. What do you think would have happened if you have a few Gambian grandmas stood up for the youth like the Egyptian lady pictured above. The story would have been different.
The Arab street is rising up using social networks to challenge entrenched dictators. It started in Tunisia, moved on to Egypt. Mean while Gambians are castigating one another for losing an election that is not even contested yet. the contrast is so heart wrenching.
The look on that elderly woman's face is priceless. She took a gallant stance for liberty. In an authoritarian country like Egypt, the consequences of this action is life altering. She knew this could cost her her life, but took a stand anyway. She is all guts.
The youth were out in force as well. Reminds me of scenes reported out of Gambia in the student demonstrations of April 2000. The difference between the two encounters is the stance taken by the older generation in support of the youth uprising. In the case of the Gambia, the elders cowered in fear while fourteen people were murdered by the military. Not a peep. What do you think would have happened if you have a few Gambian grandmas stood up for the youth like the Egyptian lady pictured above. The story would have been different.
The Arab street is rising up using social networks to challenge entrenched dictators. It started in Tunisia, moved on to Egypt. Mean while Gambians are castigating one another for losing an election that is not even contested yet. the contrast is so heart wrenching.
This is the first house built in the village of Saba. It is not dated for obvious reasons: the owner and the society at large when this house was built have no inclination to the western idea of date and time.
This blog post is a prelude to the research I am doing relating to the founding of Saba and how its rightful founder came to be robbed of his settlement. One thing is not disputed in Saba: that the picture above is, in fact, the first house built in the village. Which begs the question, who owns that house then? The answer will surprise the revisionists running around the world wide web calling Madiba Singhateh the founder of Saba.
Bolokele Singhateh is the owner of the first house built in Saba. His family still owns the house and property upon which it stands. Bolokele Singhateh is the founder of Saba. This is a prelude to the larger write up I am working on. The lie that Madiba founded Saba has been perpetrated for some time now. It is time to challenge the nonsense with facts. Facts ma'am just facts. Stay tuned...
This was a note I wrote on my FaceBook page.
The advent of social networks has done wonders in bringing people together. Long lost friends, classmates and yes relatives are suddenly a search away. The internet has been around for decades, but the proliferation of social networking sites like this one (Facebook) has up the ante in connecting individuals. I have been blogging for years on Blogspot. I have a niche following of political junkies who read my rants and musings on everything from technology to mostly contemporary politics. One issue I have never dealt with is the history of the village of my birth, especially it's founding. This is a topic I intend to write about in detail on my blog in the very near future.
Why the sudden interest some may ask. That is where the advent of social networks and the power they possess in disseminating messages be they true or in most cases not so true comes into play. I have come across a blog posting on the founding of saba that parroted an old lie that has been perpetuated for eons. Here is a link to the posting in question (The author of the blog send me an email on 1/23/2011 to say he is deleting his blog. Sorry for the broken link folks).
Saba wasn't found by Madiba Singhateh. I know that is a bold statement for some folks born and raised in that village. But the facts will support my suppositions when I lay them out in the blog post I am working on. Opinions are entitlements, but no one is entitled to their own facts. The photos displayed on the blog post I reference above tell a different story. I am not sure if the author is clueless or trying his hands at revisionism. Hint...the first house belongs to someone other than his purported founder. The first Gate sat on land owned by the owner of the first house....you get the drift. Saba, like most African villages, has no written history. Most of its history is folklorist and embellished. However, there are landmarks that are agreed upon regarding there significance to the founding of the village. This is where fact base analysis comes in handy. I am not interested in what your grandmama told you if it is directly contradicting a known fact.
Stay tune folks ... the subtle bigotry that has been the norm in Saba will be laid to bare. Yes Bigotry. Saba is a very bigoted community. It is all so subtle, but the under current is brutal.
The photo above is that of Dr. Isatou Touray and Amie Bojang-Sissoho: two honorable ladies, who made a career of fighting for women's rights in a male-dominated society. They have until a few days ago been engaging their countrymen to put a stop to some harmful practices undertaken in that society such as female circumcision. Along the way, they have gathered some powerful enemies, but they persevere. That is until they were arrested and detained at the Gambia's notorious mile two prisons on trumped-up theft charges.
Their arrest is a smokescreen on the larger socio-political dynamic taking root in the Gambia. Imprisonment without due process is the norm in Yahya Jammeh's Gambia and they have become the latest victims to this madness that has engulfed our nation since July 1994. Our people cower in fear while their fellow citizens are brutally subjected to inhumane treatments. Nations deserve their leaders and the Gambia is no exception. Gambians are not bystanders in this tragedy, they are active participants, aiding, abating and yes meting out inhumane treatments to prop up a dictatorship.
The comedy of tragedy extends to religious leaders as well. In civil and human rights crusades around the world, religious leaders take an active role in freeing oppressed masses. From the abolitionist movement to the civil rights struggle in the United States, religious leaders have been at the forefront. The Gambia's religious leaders have failed tragically in this arena. The Supreme Islamic Council has very recently dictated that a fellow imam refrain from preaching to the flock; because, well he is hurting their little feelings. Our Christian brethren, though not involved in any outright censorship that I know of, are missing in the fight against the infringement of rights that is a daily occurrence in their immediacy.
Yahya is who he is because Gambians have become fearful of their own shadows. A lot of Gambians aid this buffoon's ego trip and hurt a lot of innocent people along the way. The larger population has a cynical world view. It is never about them until one of their relatives is picked up and mistreated. The adage "injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere" has never been a mantle in our society. It is these two ladies today, it will be somebody's brother tomorrow until we shed the fear and confront cancer that is Yahya's brutality before it metastasized to a terminal stage. Then all bets are off.
History, they say is prologue. But that doesn't mean we can't or shouldn't learn from it to make adjustments for the better. Opposition supporters have come to terms that a united front is our best shot at competing in any meaningful way against an entrenched dictatorship. What seems to be the sticking point is the modalities needed to bring about such unity. To come up with the modalities requires acknowledging the differences that bridge the parties. To this end, the points Demba enumerated are germane to the discussion. They are the most thorny issues in this unity quest. We keep mouthing off about unity, but when confronted with the mechanism to achieving such a feat, we get cold feet and withdraw into our corners.
It is my opinion that the parties should form an alliance lead by the largest opposition party with the following understanding between the parties:
1. Formation of a coalition government lasting five years
2. Electoral and constitutional reform during the coalition governments' term
3. Parties to the alliance maintain their identity and freedom to organize during the term of the coalition
4. Members of the coalition government will not contest subsequent presidential elections
5. Coalition government members can endorse candidates for subsequent presidential elections (free speech and association).
6. Mobilize mass public campaigns to educate the population in their rights and duties as citizens (parties can do this as well).
These are some of the things that could help bridge the gap. I submit that the parties have smarter people in charge of their affairs than yours truly. Furthermore, I am not breaking any new grounds here. I have heard variances of these points made by numerous people. Pragmatism dictates that we give up something to gain some. The Gambia needs her opposition children to be pragmatic for her sake.
It is my opinion that the parties should form an alliance lead by the largest opposition party with the following understanding between the parties:
1. Formation of a coalition government lasting five years
2. Electoral and constitutional reform during the coalition governments' term
3. Parties to the alliance maintain their identity and freedom to organize during the term of the coalition
4. Members of the coalition government will not contest subsequent presidential elections
5. Coalition government members can endorse candidates for subsequent presidential elections (free speech and association).
6. Mobilize mass public campaigns to educate the population in their rights and duties as citizens (parties can do this as well).
These are some of the things that could help bridge the gap. I submit that the parties have smarter people in charge of their affairs than yours truly. Furthermore, I am not breaking any new grounds here. I have heard variances of these points made by numerous people. Pragmatism dictates that we give up something to gain some. The Gambia needs her opposition children to be pragmatic for her sake.
I am pressured for time these days, but I read through a lot of mail courtesy of my membership to the two largest Gambian mailing lists. The clarion call from most of the participants is a united opposition ala NADD to contest the 2011 presidential elections. I am not a pessimist, but I will venture a prediction that, the opposition coming together as they did with that NADD formation isn't going to happen this time around. If this (opposition parties coming together) is their only chance at defeating professor Jammeh, they might as well call it a day. There is very little pragmatism in the opposition leadership to allow for a united front.
Proponents of unity harp endlessly about unity, but are short on specifics. The mechanisms needed to get these guys to come together is always an elusive one. Until folks are willing to look beyond their own biases, a united front will not happen and Jammeh will cruise to victory with all the impending baggage that entails for the nation.
Proponents of unity harp endlessly about unity, but are short on specifics. The mechanisms needed to get these guys to come together is always an elusive one. Until folks are willing to look beyond their own biases, a united front will not happen and Jammeh will cruise to victory with all the impending baggage that entails for the nation.
"Millions without health insurance. Poverty abounds. For war billions more. But no more for the poor"...Reverend Joseph Lowery uttered those words at Coretta Scott King's funeral.
What he was decrying then is the scenario unfolding right under our nose. President Obama ordered thousands of troops to descend on Afghanistan to fight a war without any fuss from the deficit hawks. These same folks are putting every procedural road block available to them to stop the passage of a public insurance option that will generally benefit poor and low income people in this country. Where is the outrage of the Liebermans, the Landrieus , Ben nelsons and the blanche Lincolns of the world? Their hypocrisy knows no bound. It is galling to see how they run their mouth about deficits when it comes to health care reform, but they will borrow their way through wars till the cows come home.
Watch the video and see how poignant his observation is to todays crowd in washington.
What he was decrying then is the scenario unfolding right under our nose. President Obama ordered thousands of troops to descend on Afghanistan to fight a war without any fuss from the deficit hawks. These same folks are putting every procedural road block available to them to stop the passage of a public insurance option that will generally benefit poor and low income people in this country. Where is the outrage of the Liebermans, the Landrieus , Ben nelsons and the blanche Lincolns of the world? Their hypocrisy knows no bound. It is galling to see how they run their mouth about deficits when it comes to health care reform, but they will borrow their way through wars till the cows come home.
Watch the video and see how poignant his observation is to todays crowd in washington.
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