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“[…] This is not leadership; it is a distraction.
“[…] Ordinary citizens risk lawsuits or police action for far less, yet politicians hurl insults without consequence. That imbalance is the real scandal …”
The following Letter to the Editor on the effect of our leading politicians’ trading of insults was submitted to Wired868 by Bryan St Louis of La Brea:
The uproar over Dr Keith Rowley’s “jamette” remark and Mrs Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s earlier “Oreo” jab has been framed as a battle of insults. But the real issue is not the words themselves; it is what they expose about the state of our politics.
(Copyright Power102fm.)
Yes, Mrs Persad-Bissessar’s “Oreo” remark was racially charged. Yes, Dr Rowley’s “jamette” comment was classist, misogynistic and beneath the dignity of a national leader. Both are wrong. Full stop.
More troubling is what they expose: a political culture where personality clashes dominate, institutions remain weak and real issues go unresolved. Insults are not just offensive; they are symptoms of politics unmoored from ideas, policy and accountability.
What is worse, however, is the way supporters on both sides defend the indefensible, treating politics like watching an English Premier League game. This is not leadership; it is a distraction.
While leaders trade insults and the quarrel drags on, violence spreads unchecked, household budgets collapse under rising prices, our young people are left searching for direction in a country that offers little stability, and working-class citizens are fighting to make ends meet.
The truth is, chaos benefits those at the top. Division by race, class and party colours keeps ordinary people distracted while the privileged remain secure in their gated communities.
Ordinary citizens risk lawsuits or police action for far less, yet politicians hurl insults without consequence. That imbalance is the real scandal.
Citizens deserve more than outrage. We deserve leaders who can debate crime, the economy, education and healthcare with clarity and respect.
We deserve a parliament where privilege is used to advance solutions, not to shield insults. And we deserve a political culture where supporters demand substance, not defend slurs.
This moment is an opportunity. It can either be remembered as another circus or as the point where citizens insisted on a higher standard.
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Bryan St Louis is a former education officer for the Communication Workers’ Union (CWU).
Dr Rowley, Bryan, is an EX-politician and a long-serving one at that.
Does that not make his behavior after decades in the business even more of a tragedy, a more damning statement on the sterility of our politics—even if we were to argue that Keith Rowley is not your typical Trini politician?