#BTColumn – Awake, you Rip Van Winkles!

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the author(s) do not represent the official position of Barbados TODAY.

by Roderick P Harris

Bajans have been accused by politicians as having short memories – nine-day wonders to be exact.

Bajans have been accused by politicians as being gullible. Party slaves! One politician in Barbados has openly said that anything major in Barbados must come through her. But that seemingly has been forgotten.

One politician has been viewed as micro-managing many of the ministries and often has the last word on issues in those ministries. The ministers are acquiescent.

Cabinet is a collective, and major national decisions are not made by individual ministries; Cabinet gives these decisions its stamp of approval and one person is the head of Cabinet.
Barbados has laws as it relates to the protection of children and the inclusion of their parents with respect to being interviewed or probed outside the normal and accepted course of their daily teaching.

Barbados has laws with respect to data protection inclusive of collection, storage, dissemination, etc.

My question to all the social commentators, politically blinkered, yardfowls, academics, columnists, call-in programme experts, et al: Why are you all apportioning blame to Miss McConney and Archer-Bradshaw ALONE? The buck does not stop with them. Why isn’t the supreme commander being dragged over the coals as she should be? Have we bought into that silly and expected sound bite “Not about here” as though she is divorced from the situation?

Are our craniums on selective pause? When there is reason for rejoicing, a great spectacle, acclaim, any form of positive photo op, the supreme commander is always visible with a toothy smile and a thumbs-up. But when someone from the inner circle or collective messes up, it seems to this observer that the collective is always initially minus one who takes the high ground, then metaphorically rides in on a tired horse, and tries to save the day with one-liners, cliches, admonishments and monologues.

But we Bajans are nine-day wonders and this too will pass. No heads will roll, the din will dim, the tumult will subside and Bajans will return to their mental slumber, their mimicking of Rip Van Winkle, until roused by some other misstep that is as inevitable as rain.

But again I ask, why are Bajans feasting on MCconney and the Chief Education Officer alone?