Dear Editor,

Shortly after President Obama took office, ex-Vice President Cheney did a major media blitz criticising everything that the president did. Bear in mind that while he was VP, Cheney spoke to the media only a handful of times for his entire eight years. Reporters were eagerly trying to get a comment from President Bush about the performance of Obama. He gave a response which surprised me. He said, “I will give the current President the dignity of my silence.” Keep in mind this is after Obama basically won the elections on bashing Bush and tarnishing his legacy. Yet President Bush took the moral high ground and did not criticise Obama.

Recently, Mr Seaga embarked on a similar media blitz, commenting on the joint police/military raid on Tivoli Gardens, among other things. Some of his comments were disappointing and potentially divisive.

How dignified is it for a former prime minister (of any party affiliation) to be criticising the character of the current prime minister — in a relatively functional democracy? Can we have the former leader of the very party that Bruce Golding now chairs, coming out to bash him — even calling for his resignation?

This is not a debate of whether Mr Golding should resign, but rather an analysis of key players in our young democracy.

If Mr Seaga wants to comment on the state of the operations of Tivoli Gardens (given that he built it), I believe he has the right to do so. But I would have hoped that given Mr Seaga’s political savvy, he would play the role of elder statesman, take the moral high ground and refrain from commenting specifically on Mr Golding’s performance. That’s the job of the Opposition, the media and the people.

Perhaps Mr Seaga can take a lesson from Mr Patterson.

As a society, we all need to start being more mindful of the words that we use. Especially starting with our current leaders and former leaders. Sometimes, the best use of words is no use at all.

Marc Gayle

Kingston