On Having a Sense of Humour in Politics

by Larry Smith

"Bad humour is an evasion of reality; good humour is an acceptance of it."
-- Malcolm Muggeridge

We thought you'd like to see some examples of bad and good humour from the recent election campaign:

Ingraham: How you could fly a whole plane out of the airport and ain't nobody know about it?

Rigby: The PLP is not interested in race.

Symonette: I right here.

Mitchell: Whoever wins Fox Hill wins the general election.

Wilchcombe: The fat lady hasn't sung yet - but she's warming up.

Ingraham: He assured us he was simply helping his constituents. This is the same man who claimed to have single-handedly delayed the US implementation of its new passport programme.

Christie: ????

Christie: ????

People with no sense of humour often take themselves much too seriously, which leads inevitably to problems for the rest of us.

We have searched our memory and clip files for a genuinely humorous remark by Perry Christie on the campaign trail, but we cannot find one.

In fact, the case could be made that the PLP generally lacks a sense of humour, although perhaps some readers are thinking at this point: "So how do you explain Fred Mitchell."

But it is difficult otherwise to explain how the same mix of traits turns up repeatedly among the PLP hierarchy - greed, narrow minds, arrogance and sourness.

The party's reaction to the May 2 electoral defeat is a clear case in point. It was not until late last Thursday that former prime minister Perry Christie came to Gambier House "like Nicodemus in the night" to tell his unruly supporters they did not have the keys to the kingdom.

Since then we heard nothing more from any PLP leader until today (May 8) when Christie was sworn in as opposition leader. In fact, the party's web site still carries the headline: "FNM Wins. Some Seats Still In Question." And Christie is still quoted referring to "unofficial results".

Contrast that with what happened after the 2002 general election. Back then Parliamentary Commissioner Errold Bethel certified the poll as "totally free, fair and violence-free." That's the same Errold Bethel, by the way, who presided over last week's election and who has yet to issue a similar declaration.

In 2002 Perry Christie was sworn in as prime minister the very day after the general election. His opponents (Hubert Ingraham and Tommy Turnquest) congratulated him at the same time:

"Clearly Perry Christie and the PLP message were more attractive," Ingraham said. "The people voted for a change, and that's fine."

And Turnquest added that he accepted the results "without resentment or malice."

Not so this time. This time is more like 1992, when the FNM ended the 25-year-rule of the Pindling regime with 55 per cent of the vote (an 11,000 plus majority). Back then it took even longer for Ingraham to be sworn in as prime minister of the "interim government" as Sir Lynden scornfully referred to it.

And although Pindling could crack jokes with the best of 'em and ridicule any opponent (remember "the shadow" and "old sore throat" in reference to the late Sir Kendal Isaacs? - he certainly had no sense of humour when it came to his own self-importance.

We said earlier that some people look upon Fred Mitchell as a joke - or, if not an actual joke, at least a bit funny. But that is really not the case. Experts say Mitchell is almost too serious for words.

In the 1970s and early 1980s he was a fanatical Pindling propagandist who would viciously attack any dissent from the official PLP line. In fact, yours truly was the subject of one such scurrilous attack by Mitchell's PLP Herald newspaper.

It seems I was "writing against and denigrating the government and some of its major personalities under the cover of a pseudonym." Ah, the good old days!

But Mitchell is caught in a more convoluted predicament today. A few years ago he launched a website named after himself to harangue the FNM government. After he was elected in 2002 he removed his name from that site. But the writing style and rhetoric remained the same - despite disclaimers to the contrary.

More to the point, there is no contact information published on the site - despite the vitriolic and very personal attacks in the style of the old PLP Herald that it regularly presents. We are left to wonder what will happen now that Mitchell is out of government.

Mitchell has a complex (if humourless) personality. In 1986 he told a Kiwanis Club meeting that: "Most of my contemporaries have long abandoned the PLP as having an important role in what is going to happen in the future of the Bahamas."

Of course, he has fudged that position today. This week's post-election edition of the website that used to be named after Mitchell was true to form. It was all about his favourite subject, and the provocations were delivered with all the sham gravitas that could be mustered.

"It is quite incredible that the Bahamian people would be hoodwinked into electing this man with the mentality of a thug to the office of prime minister again.

"There is a great deal of satisfaction, if not singing, among nationalists in the country that Fred Mitchell, the former foreign minister managed to survive the most astounding onslaught on a politician in the history of Bahamian politics.

"The press of The Bahamas has simply disgraced themselves as a bunch of lying, conniving, crooks who - for entertainment and political reasons - simply spew one set of lies after the other in pursuit of their nasty agenda.

"We are right back to where we started prior to 1967, only with Uncle Toms at the helm but the Master in charge...It is quite an incredible situation that we have now returned as close as we can get to the days of apartheid.

"Naming Brent Symonette minister of foreign affairs is an absolute insult to the Bahamian people. The people of the world will now think that Symonette represents what is Bahamian."

You can see what we mean when we say the PLP has no sense of humour. And for a little perspective, here's a memorable quote from the 2002 general election:

"This is not your grandfather's PLP...We must demonstrate our commitment to build on our diversity and our differences and not use them to weaken us." -- Perry Christie.

Comments

[EJR]

Another excellent commentary, Larry, and perfectly timed. Just when you feel like you may need some duct tape to stop your head from exploding with all the serious accusations and over-zealous vitriol, you come along and remind us that there IS humour in all this. While I may not wish to see the insult-laden American style of humour, I can't wait for the day that we can see regular satire and sardonic commentary on our look-how-serious-and-important-I-am politicians and other community "leaders". Check this interesting article along the same lines, posted today:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1830626/posts

[larry smith]

There's a lot more humour than most of us imagine - but a Bahamian satirist? I have yet to see such a creature.

Satire makes a point by making fun of people with power.

[nicob]

Larry, with all due respect to you and others, Bahamian satire is a major component of our culture. The very quadrille is satire -- the slaves' mocking of their masters' court dances. Figures like B'Rabby and Shine are avenues for satire, and Junkanoo used to be its main venue.

Its formal expression exists in our theatre. What do you call Michael Pintard's "Election 2002", for instance, or Ian Strachan's "No Seeds in Babylon"?

But politicians and other "true-true Bahamians" don't attend Bahamian plays, do they? The worst legacy of our father's PLP is the denigration of serious Bahamian cultural expression, and the near elimination of the power of Bahamian satire. That the only cultural expressions that we consider legitimate are feel-good ones, not the ones that make us think or question or criticize. We recognize music and dance, the party culture.

Literature and theatre -- the places where the people get to talk back to the politicians -- are nowhere on the map.

Don't get me started. The administration of culture has now been tacked on, as an afterthought, to education, youth, and sports. I shall be prosecuted under General Orders if I say any more at all.

[SDJosey]

Isnt it quite amazing as you noted that Mr. Christie does not know how to win-worst yet he does not know how to lose.

[larry smith]

I would never argue culture with the director of culture.

But I was thinking about satire that is easily accessible in the popular media, which in the Bahamas means newspapers, radio and TV.

I was thinking about satire as a tool to advocate a change in a social, moral, or political process. Or to register disapproval.

In this context I always go back to the 'Dis We Tings' performances that were so popular (on stage, at events and on TV) years ago.

In my memory, the author made fun of ordinary people quite effectively - but there was never any attempt to push the boundaries and attack the powerful - particularly politicians. Not the right protocol.

[nicob]

You're right about it not being easily accessible (or even being produced much these days), and you're right about Dis We Tings.

My point is that it's not foreign to us. We just have abandoned -- for whatever reason -- our roots.

Perhaps we're all just too timid.