June 18, 2004
Bradley Roberts: The Man Who Cried Wolf
Rarely have people been so afraid of other people. Not during World War II, not during the 1960 assassination wave, not during Vietnam, and not during the race riots of '92. Back then, people weren't afraid of people, they were afraid of integrating cultures and whatever lied beyond either their suburban or urban boundaries. But now people are beginning to fear their fellow man. After September 11th, 2001, everyone was suspected of being a terrorist. It was almost like another Communism scare, ordinary people being accused of extraordinary crimes. Naturally, you would think the healing process from such a horrific event would not only bring the world together, but allow us all to accept diversity for the beautiful thing that it is. But every time you reflect on that, you get bombarded by idiots.
Just yesterday, Bradley Roberts, the Public Works Minister and Member of Parliament here in the Bahamas, flashed his true colours, stating Iranian businessman Mohammad Harajchi came from "a culture where you either get what you want or string together a few bombs and throw them into a crowd."
Bradley Roberts, unfortunately, seems to be from a culture where you string together a few racial slurs and over-confident remarks and throw them at unsuspecting people. Roberts made it clear in his Parliamentary speech that since The Confidential Source, Harajchi's government-bashing newspaper, wrote an article about him in a "place where he could not have his say", it was "only fair" to respond in session. Roberts also says that he doesn't encourage "recklessness or cowardice in persons when it comes to freedom of expression."
Unless those expressions are his own.
The obviously stunned Harajchi responded to Roberts' comments as if challenging Roberts to a brawl at the flag pole. "If he's (Roberts) a man of honour he should come and say the same thing outside of the Parliament," Harajchi responded. When asked for comment on this whole racial dispute, Roberts showed no remorse. "I have painstakingly and meticulously laid out what I had to say and I have no desire to answer any more questions from you on it," he told a Tribune reporter. Painstakingly? Meticulously? Each of those words mean being very careful or excessively diligent to detail. Was Roberts' statement either careful or diligent?
"... Mr. Harajchi is years removed from a culture where you either get what you want or string together a few bombs and throw them into a crowd... it seems that you can take a man out of a culture but you cannot necessarily take a culture out of a man."
Yeah, no kidding.
Roberts then turned to his most feared source throughout this whole racial dispute... the media. "If you attack me, I will surely attack you", he threatened firmly. He then forcefully blamed Harajchi's newspaper, The Confidential Source, saying that it "...knew the truth, but instead chose to publish this amateurish and devious story in an effort to bring my character as a person and Cabinet Minister into serious question." Interesting, but Roberts' character was already in serious question after accusing Eileen Carron, the editor and proprietor of The Tribune, as a "terrorist" only 8 months ago. Oddly enough, Roberts hit this whole dispute right on the nose. The fact that he IS a Cabinet Minister and STILL makes that kind of comment is not only a question of character but a question of intelligence.
Nothing slowed him down, Bradley Roberts was still on a roll continuing with, "My personal, professional and political posture has always been one that doesn't even consider muzzling or even stifling the freedom of anyone to express how they feel on any subject." So wouldn't threatening the media, harmless warriors who battle with keyboards and pencils, be an act of containing one's free speech, therefore contradicting everything he stated above?
Ironically, Bradley Roberts refers to himself as, "...a good citizen in good standing of the Bahamas (who) will not seek to destroy the innocent but focus my attack on those who are truly at fault." He then claims Harajchi's newspaper will "engage in terrorist attacks on individuals." That's funny, because terrorism is, in fact, the use of terror to intimidate. Hasn't Bradley Roberts been doing just that to the media, using the "terror" of his Parliamentary immunity to intimidate? If you reap what you sow, Bradley Roberts just harvested himself a heap of trouble.
So what makes a terrorist? It's hard to tell. It can't be race because one of the worst terrorist attacks on American soil was done by an American. Is it culture? We often hear about Palestinian suicide bombings, and Israeli retaliation which often borders on terrorism itself. Both sides are employing techniques they feel are their only key in winning the war they are fighting. Terrorism is containable, America has done it for almost three full years now. The biggest side-effect of terrorism is the "fear factor" that spreads throughout the world, even in times of peace. Let's just hope Bradley Roberts never bumps into Osama bin Laden in Rawson Square, because when Roberts cries "wolf" the hollow threat will echo throughout the Bahamas.
Posted by admin at June 18, 2004 12:39 PM