Siege on the Capitol!
Ihave had several surreal moments in my recent life. Among them are the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on the USA, the first inauguration of Barack Obama as US president in 2009, the Christopher “Dudus” Coke extradition saga in 2010, the declaration of the novel coronavirus as a pandemic and subsequent lockdown in March 2020, and the January 6, 2021 siege on the United States Capitol building by supporters of outgoing President Donald Trump — reminiscent of the 2010 security forces operation into Tivoli Gardens.
Fox News: “This doesn’t happen here; this happens in other countries, and we report on it. This is a sad day. I love my country and never expected this to happen in a thousand years.”
Jake Tapper on CNN: “I feel like I am reporting from a Third World capital like Bogota.”
In 2016, Senator Ted Cruz said: “I will tell you what I think about Trump; he is a pathological liar and a coward.” That was Cruz’s honest, unvarnished opinion of Trump. However, political ambition led to jaundiced eyes and Cruz subsequently embraced Trump with an eye on his 74 million supporters. Cruz, in his support of Trump’s outlandish claim that he was robbed of the election, said in the joint session of Congress: “Recent polling shows that 39 per cent of Americans believe the election that just occurred, quote ‘was rigged’.” He continued, “Even if you do not share this conviction, it is the responsibility, I believe, of this Office to acknowledged that it is a profound threat to this country and to the legitimacy of any Administration that will come in the future.”
Based on what transpired on January 6, senators Cruz and Josh Hawley should consider their 2024 presidential ambitions dead. This, however, may not be the case, as they are both gambling on inheriting and becoming the new “area leader” for the 74-million garrison.
But what happens when you have a narcissistic leader, president, CEO? Psychoanalysts speak of narcissistic personality types. The concept of narcissism comes from an ancient Greek myth about Narcissus, a son of a God, who fell in love with his own reflection in the water. Over the last 20 years the business discipline has learnt a lot about narcissist leaders. At the turn of this century there was a love affair with narcissistic leaders. They were larger than life, superstar leaders who were confident, bold, actively self-promoted, and had grandiose ideas. Some of these leaders were/are as good as their promises, but too often — using a title from a Stanford Business School article — “they destroy from within”. The article continues, “True narcissists are self-serving and lack integrity. They believe they’re superior and thus not subject to the same rules and norms. Studies show they are more likely to act dishonestly to achieve their ends. They know they’re lying, and it doesn’t bother them. They don’t feel shame. They are also often reckless in the pursuit of glory — sometimes successfully, but often with dire consequences.”
Other research shows that narcissistic leaders reward flattery, personal loyalty, and servitude, but treat with contempt and hostility those who have different views. They externalise all blame while accepting credit for others’ successes, and they expect perfection. Narcissists also have a great ability to attract and inspire followers.
The description given above of a narcissistic leader is personified and operationalised in the United States President Donald Trump. Examples of Trump’s congruence to these characteristics abound. Privately, politicians and governments know that he is a narcissist, but they accommodated it for political and economic reasons. When President Trump was invited to England they showered him with pomp and ceremony, so did President Emmanuel Macron of France and the leaders of Saudi Arabia. There should be no surprise in Trump’s attempt to hold on to power, especially as there is the possibility of prosecution after he leaves office.
What this insurrection and attempted coup also demonstrates that “puss and dawg don’t have the same luck”. An unarmed black man or woman poses more of a threat to democracy in the United States than white men with assault rifles. Donald Trump was planning a revolution — as one of his supporters described it. This was all planned online and there were no national guards, additional police, or the military called in. For black demonstrators all the necessary precautions would have been made beforehand, and we would not have had the gall to storm the building. In fact, when black folks demonstrate, law and order need to be maintained.
At the “Save America” rally before the attempted coup, Rudy Giuliani incited the crowd, calling for “trial by combat” to settle the election, while Donald Trump Jr warned Republicans who decided to certify Joe Biden’s presidential victory that, “We will be coming for you.” Trump then called for his supporters to march on the Capitol.
Had Trump been a black man, or even a black president like Barack Obama, he would have been arrested along with his other coup plotters, and so would those who aided and abetted. In fact, the protesters would have been shot. There would be no talk of the 25th Amendment. Then again, if Trump were black, he wouldn’t have been elected president in the first place; both black and white people would have agreed that he was too moronic and crass to be president.
The US Constitution assumes that an elected president will be a person of integrity. Trump has changed that assumption, and so additional laws will be needed to make it less difficult to unseat a sitting president. In my non-legal opinion, a blatant attempt to subvert a democratic election must rise to the level of high crimes.
With Trump at the helm, the Republican Party is in a quandary. Does the establishment want to identify with Trump? But, do they really have a choice with 40 per cent of the electorate loyal to him? Will his popularity wane after the attempted coup? At the international level, what will be the impact of Trump’s tour of duty?
Research has shown that when narcissistic leaders change their organisations or country, those changes outlast them. Trump has certainly changed the US. In fact, some will argue that he has made it weaker. While the USA is struggling under the weight of the coronavirus pandemic and death (mostly Government-inflicted), its main geopolitical rival, China, has recovered and the real economy has started to hum again. A recent report from the Uk-based Centre for Economic and Business Research indicates that China will overtake the US to become the world’s largest economy by 2028, five years earlier than previously forecast.
Under Trump, the USA has lost a lot of its gravitas. It can no longer be expected to enter in global agreements without unilaterally pulling out, as in the Paris Accord or in the Iran agreement. The US is no longer considered the citadel of democracy as, on January 6, 2021, a failed coup attempt, a siege of the Capitol by no less a person than the incumbent but outgoing president rendered them a banana republic.
In 1861 the southern States refused to accept the outcome of the election, as Trump is currently doing, and this led to the American Civil War. Will January 6, 2021 signal the deepening of the divide in US domestic politics along tribal lines, or will it unite the country? I have serious doubts about the latter.
The world is changing, and approximately 40 per cent of the USA is unable to respond to these changes and, consequently, have resorted to conspiracy theories. Will the instigators of the insurgency face any consequences? History tells us no. The instigators of the 1861 Civil War have had statues built in their honour, and their names adorn military bases. Minions will be arrested and charged for their role in the 2021 siege of the Capitol building, but none from the political hierarchy.
Great nations have risen and fallen in the past. Is the USA being destroyed from within?
Garfield Higgins is an educator and journalist. Send comments to the Jamaica Observer or higgins160@yahoo.com.
Good millet is known at the harvest. — Kpelle proverb, Liberia
Jamaica has the potential to be the leader in many areas of growth and development in the caribbean and Latin america. Potential alone, though, is never enough. Jamaica constantly requires both smart economic and astute foreign policies, among other things.
This headline, ‘Battle lines drawn — Tapia says Jamaica should consider where it would stand in Us-china war’, in The Gleaner, December 31, 2020, was for me a reminder that we are of very significant strategic importance to the US and China.
We are premium grade in the region. The news item read, among other things: “Said the ambassador: ‘It doesn’t mean it is a warning. It’s just saying, ‘Look, here is where the world is moving. Here’s where the Government of the US is moving, where Europe is moving, and one of the things you have to look at is if the US goes to war with China, what umbrella would [Jamaica] be under? What might we do?’ ‘ “
À la carte or prix fixe?
Outgoing United States Ambassador to Jamaica Donald Tapia’s tour of duty ends on January 12. In his quiet moments, or not so quiet, he will, doubtless, actively reflect on his 17-month tour of duty here. I listened keenly to many of his public pronouncements and I liked his straight-shooting style. He did not hide behind unintelligible jargon, hypocritical smiles, antiquated ceremonial claptrap, and useless self-salutes. I got the impression that Tapia was from the old school, where one gave as good as one got and did not allow a pique to fester. Sadly, these admirable characteristics are not aplenty in the public square anymore.
Notwithstanding my admiration for aspects of Tapia’s public persona, I do not agree with him that the foreign policy choice we have is an alternative between an à la carte or prix fixe menu/restaurant. Like the USA, Jamaica must look out for her individual interests first.
Henry Kissinger, who served as national security advisor and later concurrently as US secretary of state in the administrations of presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, once remarked that: “America has no permanent friends or enemies, only interests.”
I believe Tapia is familiar with
Garfield Higgins is an educator and journalist. Send comments to the Jamaica Observer or higgins160@yahoo.com. for the categorisation ‘vulnerable’? If that is the reality then we need to have our collective heads examined.
We can point fingers at toxic masculinity, patriarchy, or any number of societal foible until the cows come home; that, by itself, will not stop the rapid multiplication of social powder kegs all over the country.
We need to do more than just call out males. We should all be deeply concerned at the stereotypical portrayal of males as failures, deadbeat dads, womanisers, abusers, louts, and the worst kind of human beings who exist.
It did not escape my notice that International Men’s Day, observed on November 19, 2020, was hijacked and turned into ‘Cuss Man Day’ by some who ply their trade in our traditional media and scores on social media platforms, who are evidently convinced that Harvey Weinstein — American former film producer and convicted sex offender — is typical of the majority of males.
Many years ago I read a story in the local The Star newspaper about a man. I think his name was Charlie “Mattress” Henry, who was alleged to have sired 34 children. The alarming discovery was made some time after Henry’s death. Some, who said they knew Henry, claimed he did not even give the children sugar; that is, any kind of financial support. Henry’s alleged misbehaviour is the rule and not the exception, some say. I have not seen any empirical evidence to support that conclusion.
Before some start to throw tons of molten lava on my head, let me state that I have no issue with the ramping up of efforts, legislatively and otherwise, to protect women and girls. I accept wholeheartedly, too, the importance of protecting and educating the fairer sex.
Credible research has shown that when a woman/girl is protected and educated the ripple and transformational impact, on especially a developing society, is phenomenal.
I am simply, humbly suggesting that, in 2021, we need to place equal focus on the protection/education of males and females.
Our public discourse, policy crafting, and implementation should reflect a meritocracy. It is very unwise to attempt to cancel centuries of male domination of females by the systematic diminishing of males — as some are attempting. More people of influence also need to learn and use the term “some men”; all men are not ‘wutliss’.
Senegal’s COVID-19 Story
On the matter of ruinous stereotypes: Some weeks ago I noted that many commentators in the United States and Europe had made dire forecasts about the spread of the novel coronavirus on the African continent. Some went as far as to predict that Africa would have been devastated because of, reportedly, “a weak health system”. I think many of these experts do not yet understand that Africa is a continent made up of 54 countries.
Foreign Policy magazine last year ranked New Zealand number 1 in the world for the effectiveness of her response to the novel coronavirus pandemic. Foreign Policy magazine examined a mix of wealthy, middle-income, and developing nations. New Zealand has since received global recognition. This is quite in order.
Only a few have highlighted the small West African nation, Senegal, which placed second in Foreign Policy’s list of 36 countries. Maybe because certain expert predictions did not materialise, some folks neglected this important bit of information as a means of covering the splatter of egg on their faces.
Does the parsimonious media treatment of Senegal have anything to do with the fact that the United States placed 31st? I wonder.
Credit, though, to USA Today, on September 6, 2020 it bravely went where only a few have ventured with an insightful piece titled ‘Senegal’s quiet COVID success: Test results in 24 hours, temperature checks at every store, no fights over masks’.
Up until last Thursday, Senegal had 19,364 cases, 17,375 recoveries, and 410 deaths related to COVID-19.
The World Bank 2018 figures indicate Senegal has a population of 15.85 million.
no St anns!
Lee Kuan Yew famously said: “No society can succeed without social order, and no successful society has ever existed without the rule of law.”
Last Sunday the country learned that Jamaica had confirmed four cases of the new variant of the novel coronavirus. The four are among the 20 travellers from the United
Kingdom who tested positive for the novel coronavirus after their arrival in Kingston on December 21, 2020.
Recall, the videos making the rounds on social media of the rowdy Jamaican bunch who shouted, among other things, “No St Anns!... Send wi a wi @###@#@ yard.”
I doubt they would have behaved in like manner had they been landing at Heathrow, John F Kennedy International, or any major airport outside of Jamaica.
If we are honest with ourselves, we have to own up to the fact that their crass, unenlightened conduct typifies that of many here, at home and abroad, who see “yard” (Jamaica) as a lawless outpost at which they can do as they please.
We can choose to be Pollyannas about this and related issues, or we can expedite the adoption and tailoring of templates from especially successful democracies that have faced similar problems and have implemented transformational changes to overcome them.
Seismic shifts are needed in how we see ourselves and our country. Without such changes the future may very well be facsimiles of certain gloomy bits of our past. Superman is not coming to save us. Jamaica has to save herself.
“Butch” Stewart passes
No one can credibly deny Gordon “Butch” Stewart’s indelible mark on the growth and development of this country. Stewart’s greatest contribution is, perhaps, the road map he provided us on how to be successful in business and in life.
He was a true Jamaican in word and deed. He was innovative and colourful, even while a bit controversial.
A fitting memorial will, doubtless, be erected to remind us of this towering figure in Jamaican and Caribbean business. Perhaps we can best honour his memory by diligently improving upon his numerous entrepreneurial creations.
Gordon “Butch” Stewart served his country well and showed immense courage in doing so. He inspired many with his strong leadership and a deep sense of conviction.
We have lost an outstanding businessman and an outstanding Jamaican.