I feel it necessary to respond.

Out of the mouth of babes shall come the truth. Truth, however well spoken, comes with consequences. Consequences may include alienation, victimisation and frustration. It may resolve itself in evolution, acceptance and change. Your audience may accept the truth. Hmm…unlikely.

Damion Crawford spoke the truth about what he felt recently. There are many who disagree that it was done in public fora. There are many who felt it was wrong and should have been done behind closed doors. He should have continued to mumble to himself and those that would hear him about his disgruntlement with the People’s National Party (PNP). He chose not to. He thought about it and decided that, at the expense of being a martyr, he would sacrifice himself and his career and spill the beans.

The Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) rejoices. Looking on, however, it should see the mirror of itself, the “frackling” (my word, a merger of frying and crackling) of its opponents. For little it be known, it may be seeing the mirror of its own demise.

Clearly disgruntled, Damion Crawford spoke about a party that has become a free-for-all; that had moved away from core principles and allowed the capture of the socialist democratic ideal by the JLP.

In my view, however, Damion Crawford erred. Not because of what he did, but because he misunderstands the nature of politics. It is about power. You cannot now demonise the very process which you serve. The structure of the PNP and the JLP and the elections is about aggrandising power upon select individuals. Period! And, contrary to what many may believe, the now leader of the Opposition, Portia Lucretia Simpson Miller, did as much as she could do, and she did the right thing. She gave every individual politician a face and a place, which is the function of a democratic process. She allowed the system which had created her very existence to play its role. Make no bones about it, save and except for Nanny of the Maroons — whom I never had the opportunity to meet — Portia Lucretia Simpson Miller is one of the greatest female politicitians ever to lead Jamaica. And she has done well. In the male-inundated field of politics she has evolved and she has involved and included young, bright women who we will see succeed her. In her words she has done everything that she could do.

I do believe, however, that she allowed her naysayers to affect the full effect of her leadership. I feel as if she was suffocated by the middle-class elements who compared her religioulsly to Michael Manley. And she cannot be fairly criticised when she says, “I have done all that I can do.” She did all that she could do and it was left to the PNP to do the rest. And they did not.

And Damion Crawford thinks that it was a free-for-all. It was not. It was the democratic part of the process of “democratic” socialism.

In short, the problem that plagues our beloved country is not a PNP problem or a JLP problem. Simply put, we do not produce enough. If we are to climb our way out of our problems we must produce more than we consume. If we are to increase our GDP then every Jamaican must work. Everyone! We must take ourselves off the sidewalks and we must produce. Something. Anything! So we have to actively open closed markets to the world, create opportunities, and embrace creativity of everyone . We must listen and respond. We must facilitate the avenues of production. In short, we must deliver.

Lisamae Gordon, is an attorney-at-law. Send comments to the Observer or lisamae_gordon@hotmail.com