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The Trinidad and Tobago Parliament was yesterday the scene of the most spectacularly unsuccessful revenge missions since a one-armed bounty hunter cornered “Tuco” in a bathtub in the classic western movie, “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.”
“I see hate, I see bitterness, I see acrimony, I see animosity and I see (someone) completely out of control…”
Former Prime Minister Patrick Manning had meant those words to be the epitaph of Diego Martin West MP Dr Keith Rowley, although, in reality, his outburst was the beginning of his own end.
Yesterday evening, though, the parable of “The Raging Bull” was finally laid to rest. Like a suicide bomber who decided to do a test run, Tobago East MP and Minister of the People and Social Development Vernella Alleyne-Toppin blew herself to smithereens while stunned observers watched on, unsure whether to laugh or cry.
In an effort to paint Rowley as a sexual predator, Alleyne-Toppin molested multiple Tobago families who had no business with the Parliament. In trying to put the Opposition Leader into a straightjacket as an angry black man, she herself became unhinged.
This was straight from the “Diary of a Mad Black Woman” with no Madea to lighten the mood.
“One day (in Mason Hall, Tobago) a young girl went to take lunch for her father in a coalspit,” Alleyne-Toppin read in Parliament. “When she got there, her father had gone to change his cow. It’s a true story. She, however, met her father’s best friend and co-worker, alone in the coalspit.
“This young girl was then raped by her father’s best friend. The product today is the aspirant to lofty office…
“Mr Speaker, can you imagine this mother carrying this pain and shame for nine months and the impact it had on the unborn child?
“The child was born and groomed to be arrogant and bombastic… He is the sum of his experiences.”
It might have been the most vile perversion in the Parliament’s history. And Toppin, who did not hide the spiteful intent of her attack as retribution for Rowley naming her in a credit card scandal, is as unfit for those halls as she is for her home town of Charlotteville. The town that she exploited as a backdrop for her unprecedented attack that also targeted Rowley’s mother, an unnamed school girl and her own family name.
And what did Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, the supposed patron saint for all Trinidad and Tobago women, and her People’s Partnership MPs do as “Shocking Toppin” made a mockery of their recent claim to the moral high ground?
They voted for the Tobago East MP to receive an additional 15 minutes of speaking time. And, when Alleyne-Toppin finally ended her sexual assault and, proverbially, lit a cigarette, Persad-Bissessar and her gang thumped their desks and cheered.
They were all accomplices to the metaphorical rape and ridicule of flesh and blood Trinidad and Tobago citizens whom they had never met.
So absurd and intellectually vacuous was Alleyne-Toppin’s scripted attack that, at one point, she posed a question to the Opposition Leader and sat down.
Her colleagues pointed out that the other side was empty as the PNM had walked out more than an hour earlier.
In truth, Parliament was completely empty. The Tobago East MP obscenely stripped the place of any lingering shred of decency that might have survived the reign of ex-Attorney General Anand Ramlogan.
The People’s Partnership dug a hole for the Opposition Leader and then fell into it themselves. Never again can they discuss the “Raging Bull” without rekindling memory of their own spectacularly unsuccessful attempt to terminate a rival.
“When you have to shoot, shoot,” Tuco advised his dying would-be assassin, “don’t talk.”
On the evening of 25 March 2015, Alleyne-Toppin talked herself and her colleagues to (political) death. Party done.
“Mr Live Wire sees hate, he sees bitterness, he sees acrimony, he sees animosity and he sees a Government completely out of control… Just call the bleeding elections already!”
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so Rowley rape a child is nothing then?
how u arrive at that?Toppin never said that….like doctor prescribe STUPID for u ah wha?
You for real? Anyway. We know why you couldn’t finish school . No different.
what?so you don’t agree with me gives you the right to start with the insults..I am no different? why should I think you would be any better than them Barbara Mouttet? and I don’t even know you what you know about me not finishing school you idiot.
really, why Barbara Mouttet? why couldn’t I finish school and where you got that? no different from who?
The supposed rape victim says there was no rape. Where is your proof to counter that, Cheryl?
if that tape is YOUR proof you have to come a lot better than that, it might be enough for the sheep but no body else is buying it, a 12 yr old could edit better than that but they know they don’t have to be too smart to impress ya’ll…carry on and btw I am not getting into any spitting match with the likes of you so don’t even bother to reply.
Surely even you know it is the accuser’s job to bring the proof. You make the accusation and it is the person’s job to prove they are innocent? Smh. No wonder our country is in this position.
The tongue is a very very dangerous weapon…and if one has nothing good to say then one should keep their mouth shut.Dont worry people SHE will get what she has opened herself to…..
Very good article! It sums up the complete lack of principle, decorum, and intelligence that had been a hallmark of our politics in recent years.
Yesterday was the lowest day in the history of our country using such a place as our Parliament to literally tell a man ” how he mudder make him ” shame shame shame on you Mrs Toppin
I agree this is too much
I so agree with u Peppa Pat….. Not an ounce of decency…as a matter of fact ..does any member of the UNC even know the meaning of the word….I am so disgusted…. This is yet another failure that our beloved PM hand picked to b a member of her cabinet
Madness when you dig a pit for someone you fall in it yourself karma is a b……th.
Toppin for a big old woman you have no sense,you bashing your own black women, the word rape is having sex with out the woman consent,that could happen to you or your family,be careful when your time come you could handle it,the only thing you to old you cant have kids, so you will take the 10 inch and smile.
Every dog has its day. Her day will come.
P.P gone MAD what what next with these people ?
Shame! Shame! Shame!
Satan you know that your time is short.
Mind you n she’s the minister of the people and “social development” and she does the exact opposite of what her job requires her to do :/ confused as F
Distasteful!!!!!!!!
just a snippet of my thoughts I always thought the Chag by-election in 2013 was “gutter” politics at its worst, from releasing person’s private business on political platforms to JW bringing a goat on stage and calling it “Anan(d)” but this past week has shown me that our politicians have regressed and are no longer worthy of the title leaders.
How does one expect to score political points by boasting that the a member of the opposition was raised by a single mother??? I mean where in that shouts “yea that’s a good idea” and the hordes of supporters lap it up like milk. None of them has the decency to say the next day, I think Dr. Moonilal went over board and what’s the point. Because clearly there are no single mothers in the UNC, COP or TOP, right???
Then this was followed 2 days later by Vernella Alleyne Toppin’s remarks in parliament about Dr. Rowley’s mother allegedly being raped by his father and that’s why he’s angry.
I mean if it weren’t for my teenage cousins I have on fb page the words I would say to these 2 politicians, smdh. I mean is this really what is passing for politics right now? I mean there is picong and then there are clearly demarcated lines that one should never cross.
I wonder if there are members in the UNC, COP, TOP who might have been raped and suffering PTSD, and contemplated suicided and probably had an abortion because of rape. I mean how the hell do you think something like that is appropriate to bring up???
and the sad thing about this past week as that the Prime Minister of this country is a WOMAN!!! Well yes this week we’ve seen it all.
This is the best Government for Kaiso (in my Kurt Allen voice)
Would collective responsibility come into focus now?
Wait, Toppin actually said those words in Parliament? Where the SPeaker?
Well said Yvette Nelson
rite now she lower than snake p***y. #HOWLOWCANWEGO
This incident has nothing to do with race, religious background, politics or otherwise…political “pekong” is somewhat normal during the lead up to elections but for a Prime Minister who admits to supposedly looking out for our nation’s women, to applaud after such statement is disgustingly unacceptable and heartbreaking. The amount of women, mothers, wives and children that has been victims of abuse both past and present and certainly future, MP for tobago east should not only be ashamed of her statement but sent for a psychiatric evaluation as she has to be insane to make such a statement in Parliament.
Excellent writing ..
She should remember what you say about others, says a whole lot about YOU!!!
An utter embarrassment to the country. A drag-up bacchanalist with no decorum whatsoever. Not one thread of decency is in this woman. Why was she ever appointed MINISTER??? #shameful
There simply are no words.
CLASSLESS.
LOW
NASTY
f**k politics. f**k affiliation. this woman here needs to DEMIT OFFICE NOW. IMMEDIATELY. WITHOUT QUESTION, REASON OR EXPLANATION.
Great job Lasana, as always!
Parliament has become an episode of Game of Thrones. What a disgrace.
Too much… I have to focus on T&T v Panama tomorrow.
To be honest Fulton Wilson, that one was difficult to satirise. It was so disgusting and bizarre.
The PP government coffin large so I feel many more nails.
Lasana you must be in your glee. Yuh getting one seta material to work with.
March 22 2014: http://www.tv6tnt.com/sevenpm-news/VERNELLAS-STRANGE-BEHAVIOUR-251626861.html?m=y&smobile=y
Punishment for this should be something out of this world .
not even the no confidence motion, its just the decorum within the parliament. Fine debate the motions blah blah blah, but to get personal in the Parliament? Come na man, dyze what the platform is for… THe Code of Ethics comittee should go after them for sure now
Nicole you know things bad when Jack is the voice of reason.
Pahahahaa..ent!?
I think that was the nail in the coffin for the PP. Who would have thought their No Confidence motion would destroy their own side?!
She always tried to distance herself from other scandals. But she was right there thumping on her desk and agreeing to give Vernella an extension to go on speaking.
Party done.
An apology or being fired is just not enough sometimes…
True Kendall……all time lower than the lowest of lows….these people have become……
How can the Lady come out smelling like a rose with this one?
For some, Kamla has largely preserved a good image. I think that has been lost. Vernella has put the final nail in the coffin I think.
True perversion of Parliamentary Privilege, common sense and decency. People sat down and discussed this and decided that this was a viable course of action. I was moved to public profanity when I read the Express article and that sentiment hasn’t dissipated. This is the most despicable thing I have ever heard in my life as a political strategy.
Please place this lady back under her rock.
This is just to show how nasty the Silly Season is going to be….Ya Allah help us…..
Then they want to know why the Secondary school children behave as they do…….role models in the minus.
she being a big grown ass woman, ah nanny and ah tanty, she should know better than to say shit like that….
what does her statement say about those who HAVe been raped and have bared fruit through the event? are they nothing in society?
Apart from the fact that this is deeply personal information and probably untrue, what it says about children of rape and molestation is even more disgusting. What is wrong with this woman?!
never in my wildest dreams would I have thought I would quote Jack Warner and the words would resonate so deeply within my soul.. “I weep”
that one was no laughing matter. Well written Lasana…..
“He is the sum of his experiences” ie a child of rape has no place holding public office and should not aspire to anything.
Exactly Ms. Gellineau!! “The most important thing in communication is hearing what isn’t being said” – Peter Drucker.
While it will not be enough, an apology and her immediate resignation is the only course of action right now. After seeing the entire PP Government support her speech there is no way they can condemn her statements and distance themselves. So even firing her will be a hollow gesture because the country has seen them for who they are. Lasana I can only imagine how hard it was not to throw in some expletives in this article, but well done.
I could not have summarized yesterday’s proceedings any better. Thank you Sir!
May your voice never be silenced. May the people come out an demand better and may we one day finally get a Government for the people, interested in rebuilding and advancing our beautiful twin republic.
Chin chin to responsible journalism