Put up or shut up Cassandra's Corner Stabroek News April 2, 2000 We have already established that the rumour mill in Georgetown is without parallel. It is vicious and character crippling. There is no doubt in my mind that the rumours do not self ignite, nor do they spring from actual happenings. No. Instead the rumours are consciously constructed in backrooms, where I imagine meetings are called to discuss the creation of slander and scurrility with nothing else on the agenda. In the environment from which I stemmed, we were nurtured on the policy of aggression before being aggressed upon; offence is the best defence, or, in ghetto speak, do something to someone before something or someone do you. Later in life, I was to experience this depravity on a personal level. A group of bandits led by a political thug knew that a colleague and I were going to clip their thieving talons. The next thing I knew was that letters were being sent by the then boss man for us to defend ourselves against the accusation of theft and misuse of government property. That attempted defamation was like a cuff in the solar plexus. The boss man should have thrown the garbage into the garbage bin, but, of course, he had to pretend that he was responding to the accusers' complaints and we were the fall guys. My colleague never really recovered from this episode. He opted for the subservient posture, trying as decently as he could to explain away the accusation. He died with some marks of the stigma still unfairly sticking to his person. I, on the other hand, went berserk. Nobody was going to fool around with my integrity without an apt reaction from me. I had just returned to serve Guyana, and all I had was a sense of moral rectitude and the desire to cultivate a "good name." So I tek front. I went to the location and behaved like a lunatic. In retrospect, some of my actions were possibly foolhardy and might have had serious repercussions. But right was on my side. One of the wretches was later jailed and another skipped the country. The whole clique folded up. When they went to the Big One, he laughed at them and told them dat if dey play wid fire dey had to get burn. He did not support me, but he also did not give me licks for mannersing his political activists. Years later, one of the conspirators in an attempt at a pseudo-apology, confessed that the manufactured vilification was hatched in the kitchen of the miscreant that absconded from the country. It was too late for my colleague though. So what does all of the above have to do with the price of eggs? Simply this: Each group of political aspirants has a Dirty Tricks Department. Their job is to churn out calumny and scandalum magnatum. And then they let the venomed tongues spread the wickedness via supposed honourable and professional TV talk show hosts, letters to the editor, plays and skits (sometimes performed internationally), etc. Now, we have some spurious tape or the other. Well, let me tell you that I have heard about tapes before. Yuh all got tape? Play it. Put up or shut up. The questions will come later. You know, who do de recording and weh it do, and of course, how credible is anyting on dat tape. The story of my personal experience (told above) in dealing with peddlers of aspersion should influence those who are on the receiving end of this infamous tape to act with fury and ferocity - if, of course, they are not guilty. As to CANA, it has a lot of pie sticking to its face. Worse, having given the tape credence and respectability, without a government input it had not stood by its story. STOP PRESS. More worserable. They have recanted, now that the mischief has been done and the damage achieved. Nagamootoo's vicious reaction has been vindicated. Bully for him on this one. In passing, I should mention that it was quintessential dotishness to openly associate the PNC with the tape, when that party had made no official comment about the tape's contents. The PPP's immediate action vis-a-vis the PNC and the latter's reaction tell me that there is a lot of paranoia and rabidness floating around. How shall the twain ever meet? Let's go off on to some totally different paths. Firstly, this Caribbean Court of Justice. Why am I scared of such an institution. SNs editorial of 24.3.2000 was very persuasive in its argument for the establishment of a Caribbean Court of Appeal (CCA). One of their salient points is that such a court will minimize the possibility of political interference in our Caribbean judiciaries. What level of minimization is acceptable? Look, this Region, perhaps because of the smallness of its component parts, is nutrient broth for the cultivation of little Caesars and homegrown dictators, whether their names are Somoza, Duvalier or The Big B (you choose which one). Every single leader that I know of has overtly or covertly tried to tamper with the judiciary. And when they can't impose their wishes, they go to the electorate and change the constitution. It matters not whether they are benign dictators or if the country has a democratic system of government. Third World countries are replete with examples of the judiciary being made to do the bidding of those who bring all sorts of spurious moral pressures to sway the thought process of members of the judiciary who are also human. And, of course, these judges have to live in the very terrorist prone environment in which they make their judgements. It must however be clear to everyone that these leaders who have their own private agendas could never influence the Privy Council. I recognise that it is "anachronistic and undignified" to beg the Bakra fellah to make our decisions for us, three decades after independence. Well, show me where in those three decades we have managed our collective regional affairs with maturity, wisdom confidence and self assurance. By the way, isn't it interesting that several judges, after serving in the highest courts, find work upon retirement with law firms that they might have had to rule for or against while they were sitting on the ultimate high benches. Finally, the biggest National Budget ever has been prepared and presented. It has onerous objectives and responsibilities - and plenty words. Yet all I could see was: NO INCREASE IN FINES. What nonsense is this? Go on guys, break the laws and laugh while paying the meagre compensation sums as exemptions from real punishment. Finally, finally, I now know Thomas Carroll's visage from every angle. Wha co- conspirator Mr Khan look like? Enjoy the week.