Everald at it again!

OH, NO! The Warminister is off his meds again. I only say that, not because I have any special knowledge of Everald ‘Longfinger’ Warmington’s mental health – although the facts speak for themselves – but because I believe projection is a real thing in psychology, and he brought up mental-health issues to discredit some (to me) unknown target in the media.

At least this time he didn’t flip the media the ‘bird’ and gesture to it that it should “eff off”. But he did let the media know that it must eff off in other accusatory language.

Actually, what Longfinger did was to clearly and emphatically expound a conspiracy theory. Again, psychological projection might be at work, and this might be an admission that he has conspired with a media outlet or two.

And it’s the conspiracy aspect that I like for the simple reason that there is no chance of convincing the dedicated conspiracy theorist that he’s wrong. It’s a closed loop that accounts for any contrarian evidence.

For example, recall the story of the conspiracy theorist who died and went to Heaven. He meets God and has the golden chance to ask Him any question. “Who killed JFK?” he inquires breathlessly. God tells him that Lee Harvey Oswald was as deranged as some Jamaican parliamentarians and acted alone. The conspiracy theorist stops for a moment and thinks to himself: “Wow! This goes deeper than I thought ... . ”

Similarly, there’s no point in trying to convince Longfinger that he’s patrolling the lunatic fringes, because one day he will also meet the Maker and inquire about the RJRGleaner Group. That’s when he will scan Heaven sceptically and conclude: “Mi know seh dis place full ah dutty Scumredds ... . Of course, dem gwine seh nutten nuh goh soh!”

Furthermore, because I believe that entertainment value is a sound criterion for retaining a post in Cabinet, I don’t believe the PM needs to put him on a leash or any such thing like that. Perhaps the PM needs to put those dogs eating neonates on a leash, but Warmy is all right. He deserves free rein to generate more public entertainment.

But that’s not to say that anyone should be fooled into taking him too seriously. That would be to compound error and to misjudge comicality.

Still, let’s evaluate Longfinger’s claim. First, notice that it’s coming from a Government that unilaterally decided to quit post-Cabinet press briefings back in November, and weren’t called out on it till May. Just that timetable alone doesn’t give much evidence of a rabid media watchdog out to ‘get’ Mr Holness. And in that period, to put it mildly, there have been more than a few contentious issues requiring Cornwall Regional Hospital-style ventilation.

Let’s look at the big ones, shall we? Finance, Security, Health, and Education. The media have basically fawned over the appointment of Nigel Clarke. And I, as a minor footnote to the sprawling commentariat, have perpetrated that fawning, too. So there’s no reason to complain there.

Then, if you think about the obvious failures of the security efforts, and the non-existence of a crime plan, it wouldn’t be fair to say that the media have been overly critical there either. In fact, the media have generally gone along with the fantasy that hope is around the corner, even though crime has been rising while the State is throwing everything it has at it.

FREE PASS

In general, the administration has got a free pass for the mass detentions, and the failure of the much-ballyhooed ZOSOs has been handled very tenderly.

Then, let’s turn to health. Ahem! Not only has Minister Tufton been awarded prizes by the RJRGleaner group for running 5Ks and doing some fantastic shoulder flings, but even I was among the gaggle saying that we needed to hear him out on the Cornwall Regional Hospital fiasco. As more information has come out, the clouds have darkened. But that’s because of the facts!

Now we’re hearing that a new breed of mosquito has taken up residence and that a dengue plague is spreading faster than roadwork contracts before a by-election. But, pardon the indecency, that’s child’s play compared to what the dogs are devouring in downtown Kingston. I wouldn’t say the media have been hammering too hard, would you?

Then let’s talk about the redoubt of the misinformation minister himself. Under the rule of Ruel, enormous falsity has been uttered regarding the charging of school fees. Under any media regime requiring truth from public officials, much less one ‘out to get’ the administration, he would be hounded daily. That isn’t so. In fact, he carries on his merry way saying all the while that schools aren’t charging fees, while every parent in the country knows that they are. The variance between his words and the facts is not only tolerated, but almost lovingly celebrated.

So what then could Longfinger be talking about? There’s always the possibility – in fact, the likelihood – that he’s just irascibly shooting off at a favourite target. Another possibility is that he’s playing the outlier to build a ring-fence of preaccusation to discourage scrutiny and make sure it never happens.

But wasn’t Jamaica’s press just ranked the sixth freest in the world? Whoever came up with that needs to have their heads checked. It’s definitely a gross exaggeration to me, but whatever, you can be certain the country has fallen down a peg or two by Longfinger’s remarks.

Finally, a more cautious note. As Longfinger may have himself demonstrated, there ARE crazy people out there. So what if anything bad should befall a reporter of his targeted organisation by some nutcase he’s ramped up?

Daniel Thwaites is an attorney-at-law. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com.