SOMETIMES reading is difficult, because the level of language, lexical entries and syntactical complexities present burdensome challenges.
One thinks here of the Deriddas and Eichenbaums etc. Readers can even try Derek Walcott’s ‘Omerus’.
However, these exercises in academic parsing are wonderful. Apart from the discipline inculcated, they expand and deepen the mind.  All of this is the preamble to thoughts on ‘Fantasies unfolding into tomorrow’s tragedies’.
In this little essay, the challenge one faces is that of logicality and coherence. The writer is ‘all over the place’, and he practises ‘invokings’ that are bereft of understanding and relevance.
In the article, readers see that the presenter makes a ‘personal and unpopular’ claim. His words are:
“Today, I live in a country where a leader, dominated and destroyed by the inner layers of mediocrity, is driven by delusions of grandeur to the point where his failures will be celebrated at the National Stadium on September 16 in a pyrotechnical display of coruscation that masks the tragedies he has created and which will bedevil this nation for a long time to come.”
I contest this asinine frivolity by asking Freddie Kissoon to re-examine the aura of President Bharrat Jagdeo. Please, there is a need to ‘do the field work’ locally.
Also, when CARICOM and the UN evince respect for him (especially The Champion of the Earth Award), I find it stupid to think otherwise. At best, it betrays jealousy from the writer, who seemingly has a penchant to attract the riff-raff of society. 
The ‘Day of Appreciation’ was birthed by popular sway. It is most deserved, if only for two reasons: President Jagdeo was magnanimous enough to ‘sign himself out’ of the presidency. Also, he has set on course a great, positive revolution in Guyana that is manifesting itself in massive infrastructural advancements — housing; e-commerce; education; etc. So, the vexations of the writer remain his and his alone. He is not in any way speaking on behalf of anyone.
Now, there seems to be real personal envy in the statement that says: “…the President is addressed as Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, [and that this] denotes the frenetic pursuit of image and credibility; qualities and possessions with which Mr. Jagdeo was never endowed.”
Lies! Lies! Lies! President Jagdeo is his ‘own man’. He, irrespective of scathing denouncements from the few ‘usual suspects’ has been able to rise above criticism, fashion his own identity, win the respect of the international community, and make Guyana a far better place than it was during the PNC regime.
As regards his doctorates being honorary conferrals, the writer reflects a simplistic approach here. Honorary doctorates are not just given away. One came from Russia and the other from India. Maybe the writer should have opposed the investiture.
One remembers his presumption in trying to attract the attention of Shivnarine Chanderpaul. Kissoon attempted to persuade the celebrated cricketer to refuse an honorary token from President Bharrat Jagdeo.
One can also remember how he tried to write a letter to the Norwegian minister. Vain is the operative word here for Mr. Kissoon.
And yes, there is ‘stupendous growth’, and who says that no one wants to stay in Guyana? Please, do the fieldwork, and the suggestion is to go and see how many are planning to return.
Also, one needs to categorise the kind of persons who want to leave. And when one reads that there are ‘dilapidated schools’ on display for newspaper readers to view with disgust, that is only appropriate to the select ‘enemy committee’ and its outlet. 
The writer is on a mission; he once said that the ‘duty’ of the columnist is to ‘seek out’ follies (whether they exist or not).
I close by revisiting how the writer did suggest that Berbicians should ignore President Jagdeo. The best thing for him to do then is to take a visit and address Berbicians.
Also, since ‘all Guyanese’ are stupid and are following blindly the ‘Jagdeo trail’, maybe, arrogance can now be elevated to ‘pure ignorance.’ So Dear Writer, attempt a stoppage of the ‘Day of Appreciation.’  
Alex Morris

(2)

I beg to disagree

AFTER reading the article titled: ‘The WikiLeaks cables on Guyana show the fall of US power’, I was very amused.
Normally I would let Freddie Kissoon go untended, but in this case, I thought it wise to make a few comments.
First, according to the writer, when one “…juxtaposes the nature of the Hoyte administration with the Jagdeo Government, there is nothing, absolutely nothing to compare.  Hoyte strove for discipline in governance, compromise in the stakes of politics, and sincere attempts at democratization.”
So, I see here three good features of the Hoyte governance that are notably missing from the Jagdeo regime. These three features are not delineated. To me, this is tantamount to saying that Pele is the greatest football player, and not providing supporting evidence.
The writer needs to ‘bring the evidence.’ It is quite laughable to attribute anything remotely resembling “democratization” to the era of Desmond Hoyte. So again, I repeat my request: Please “bring the evidence.”
Now regarding the Jagdeo era; if Guyana is still at Ground Zero in every area, it has certainly championed and established a new tradition of ‘fair and free’ elections. All the way up to 1992, this was unthinkable. Yet the writer attributes the word ‘democratisation’ to a leader who cemented ‘rigging’ from 1985 to 1992.
I see elections as one of the great palladia of democracy. Without ‘fair and free’ elections, with the concomitant ‘transparency’, there is really no nation. I vividly remember how Desmond Hoyte resisted in this area. Even as he was buckling, he wanted private counting of the ballots. Imagine! Citizens of any nation must have their will reflected in the choice of their leaders, and this became a reality only in the post-1992 era.
Secondly, and yes, I agree that the writer is speaking in a singular and myopic voice. It is indeed for him and him alone that “…the most important of all the cables came from the pen of the Ambassador at the time, Roland Bullen when he wrote that Roger Khan may have compromised the Government of Guyana. (And that) nothing is wrong with this statement by itself. It is when you read how the US Embassy perceived Khan…that you see most graphically that the US as the world’s only superpower, is fading. I can only say ‘well, well, well.’
It seems as though Freddie Kissoon has taken it upon himself to pass final judgement and make ultimate analyses upon everything and everyone. This is so ludicrous. So the US has not invaded this land, and Kissoon thinks that this should happen, so there exists a faux pas. Anything that is not Kissoonian is folly. This is the impression I am getting.  I gather that the existence of this writer is really the life of a single man upon a single island. His laws are according to him. 
I also take umbrage with this article when the writer says that Guyana is “…totally dependent upon reliance on international funds, and influence in the international system, (and that) Guyana is a total non-entity in the global system. The article also describes “Guyana (as having) zero influence in the world system (social, political and economic). This pronouncement is sweeping stupidity. If I only posit the financial recovery of Guyana, that statement comes to naught. At the critical 1992 juncture, Guyana had to use well over 90 % of its income to service foreign debts, and no one will ask who bequeathed this onerously suffocating ‘inheritance’ on the country. Now look at what is obtaining: development for the hinterland peoples and Amerindian communities; huge inputs into education; housing projects all over the country etc. etc. etc. I simply rest my case.  I care little what others outside of Guyana say and do. Guyana was in the abyss prior to 1992. This has changed and is changing.
In closing, I express my doubts about the “…dinner at the Pegasus…” anecdote. Somehow I feel that thee figments and fantasies are ‘dropped in’ to bring some measure of authenticity and veneration to the writer and his superficial compositions. I do not believe for one ‘evanescent’ second that “…one of the (US) Embassy’s senior diplomats told (the writer) that if the Guyana Government continues to refuse the establishment of a DEA office in Georgetown,
then influence will come to bear on the World Bank, IMF and IDB…” This appendage has the touch of spuriousness about it. Freddie Kissoon has his place as a teacher, but nothing else. He is ignored otherwise.