Dear Editor,
A few of us read with comic relief an article published in the Sunday Observer of December 13, 2015. Unfortunately you didn’t publish the name of the author, so we don’t know who to congratulate for finally showing some bravery in “skinning the cat”.
For one thing, those of us who went to school with our good friend “Pablo” or “Paulus” already know that he is a good chatterer and quick on his feet with words. That the People’s National Party (PNP) allowed him to hold the post of general secretary was laughable; being the replacement for a proven success in Peter Bunting.
We who knew him from his younger days, and even another of our batchmates who is active in Central Jamaica, raised serious concerns on a visit here in Canada. The only answer he gave was “Portia want him...” A very unpatriotic remark, we chimed in, until it became clear there was a view that she had passed her “sell by date” and that it was time for the “big man” to take the top spot.
So now that the inevitable has happened, it seems that all have woken up to Paul Burke’s brand of success. The PNP should well recall their fate in the northern St Andrew constituencies at the first election contested with him in Region 3. To this date they have not recovered some of those seats. Even the St Ann South Eastern “bastion” was not spared Paul’s magic touch.
The recent “cuss out” between his wife and young Damion Crawford had her husband’s fingerprint all over it. At Jamaica College we had a joke we kept secret — without success — from Paul. He was the antithesis of King Midas. While everything Midas touched turned to gold, in Burke’s case we said everything he touched turned to scrap metal. That he has been allowed to derail a national institution such as the PNP is a tragedy, if ever there was one. I would suggest his removal and the reinstatement of Bunting, or any other modern strategist who at the very least can think his or her way out of a wet paper bag without dousing it with gasoline and setting it ablaze. Suggestions include Julian Robinson, Lisa Hanna or Ian Hayles. The sooner, the better.
Paul Clarke
Ontario, Canada
pablo.o.clarke@gmail.com
A few of us read with comic relief an article published in the Sunday Observer of December 13, 2015. Unfortunately you didn’t publish the name of the author, so we don’t know who to congratulate for finally showing some bravery in “skinning the cat”.
For one thing, those of us who went to school with our good friend “Pablo” or “Paulus” already know that he is a good chatterer and quick on his feet with words. That the People’s National Party (PNP) allowed him to hold the post of general secretary was laughable; being the replacement for a proven success in Peter Bunting.
We who knew him from his younger days, and even another of our batchmates who is active in Central Jamaica, raised serious concerns on a visit here in Canada. The only answer he gave was “Portia want him...” A very unpatriotic remark, we chimed in, until it became clear there was a view that she had passed her “sell by date” and that it was time for the “big man” to take the top spot.
So now that the inevitable has happened, it seems that all have woken up to Paul Burke’s brand of success. The PNP should well recall their fate in the northern St Andrew constituencies at the first election contested with him in Region 3. To this date they have not recovered some of those seats. Even the St Ann South Eastern “bastion” was not spared Paul’s magic touch.
The recent “cuss out” between his wife and young Damion Crawford had her husband’s fingerprint all over it. At Jamaica College we had a joke we kept secret — without success — from Paul. He was the antithesis of King Midas. While everything Midas touched turned to gold, in Burke’s case we said everything he touched turned to scrap metal. That he has been allowed to derail a national institution such as the PNP is a tragedy, if ever there was one. I would suggest his removal and the reinstatement of Bunting, or any other modern strategist who at the very least can think his or her way out of a wet paper bag without dousing it with gasoline and setting it ablaze. Suggestions include Julian Robinson, Lisa Hanna or Ian Hayles. The sooner, the better.
Paul Clarke
Ontario, Canada
pablo.o.clarke@gmail.com