Is he making the best use of her talents?
It has been a very captivating sight, the prime minister’s press secretary’s seemingly miraculous transformation into government economist par excellence. The lady, by her writings, her TV appearances and calls to the talk shows, has demonstrated she is boss when it comes to fending off the critics of her employer.
The way she spins reminds viewers and listeners of Cassius Marcellus Clay in his peak years, when he predicted the round during which his opponent would fall, and of Muhammad Ali doing the Ali shuffle.
Usually the press secretary is defending the prime minister, blocking uppercuts to his jelly belly, blocking jabs at his hardly pristine reputation and generally ensuring he remains on his feet, and never lands on his back.
But surprise, surprise! In recent times it seems the press secretary’s role is more akin to a deliverer of pizza, salted to her taste. Obviously she is bent on ensuring her employer emerges from the nasty economic disaster smelling, if not quite rosy, then surely like a ripe Julie mango. Her magic tool is that evidently newly acquired expertise in economics.
The prime minister’s secretary implies in one of her missives that it is her job to wrestle government and SLP critics to the floor, then dump on them all blame for our ever-growing fiscal deficit.
On June 10, she implied that she will do battle where the prime minister fears to tread. Hear her: “While the prime minister has stated publicly he is not interested in the blame game, I believe I have a duty to present the facts and respond to the inaccurate statements currently in circulation.
” Spoken like “The Greatest!” True to her threat, the PMS has been busier than ever, boldly wielding Conan’s sword from behind her desk, whether at pesky callers to Newsspin, invaders of Inside Government or Mr. Chairman’s followers.
We’ve seen her half strangle Mary Isaac with the lady’s own words; looked on in wonderment as she body-slammed the leader of the opposition, then banged her on her hairless head with a video expertly edited to make her sound like a “forked-tongued hypocrite.”
All of that when the PM’s press secretary had declared this not a time to settle old scores; only to salvage the economy. It would seem, if you’ll pardon the expression, that Allen Chastanet is the one for whom she reserves her hardest hard.
Witness: “When we should have been exercising constraint, Allen Chastanet was renting tents from overseas for $800,000; spending $500,000 on telephone bills; and with no difficulty paying almost one million dollars for twenty drunken minutes of Amy Winehouse.
” What! You’re asking: Did she actually say that? She certainly did. Still it’s hard to believe Chastanet had forked out a million bucks for twenty minutes with wino Winehouse who probably had no idea whether she was going or coming!
We need not repeat those well-known biting reviews of Boxing in Paradise!
Having recently donned her economist’s cap, the prime minister’s press secretary is focused on bringing to light the allegedly countless examples of economic transgressions and mismanagement exacted on the public by the last UWP administration, including bloating the public service and blowing good money on bad pursuits.
The perplexing question is: What will it take before Kenny Anthony realizes he’s wasting Jadia’s unique talents? When will he realize she could easily be his most effective economic adviser—if not his replacement as minister for finance?
The press secretary has lately been demonstrating at every opportunity she knows a thing or two about how money should properly be spent. With rumours flying around that a cabinet reshuffle is imminent, I take this opportunity, on behalf of long suffering Saint Lucians, to recommend the current finance minister do the right thing and exchange positions with the press secretary, for love of country, of course.
Then again, already we know our PM’s not especially well respected for telling it like it is. So what to do? Might Alva Baptiste be ready to give up being foreign affairs minister? Maybe if he’s allowed to keep his “lubricants of diplomatic intercourse” he just might agree to step into the press secretary’s, er, pantsuit!
Hee hee hee hee hee hee heee heee “When we should have been excercising constraint Allen Chastanet was renting tents from overseas for $800.000 spending $500.000 on telephone bills, and with no difficulty paying almost one million for twenty drunken minutes of Amy Wineout.” Hee hee hee hee hee and they voted him to be their new leader and the next PM THE ABSOLUTE SHAME OF IT. I always voice that he should be impeach by parliament to answer outrageous fiscal disparities under his watch he cost the country millions from Air Jamaica thru Jazz. Some of us value our seat so much at the diner table this page will never be written or publish in any of their books.
Maybe Kenny should step down and let her run the country then, at least she’ll look a sight better doing it.
I have a grudging admiration for Ms. Jn Pierre. As far as I am concerned she is one of the few persons associated with this administration who is actually earning her salary. I believe that her degree is in economics and while a first degree hardly makes you an economist it is enough to opine, at least as an academic exercise, on a not too complicated economy of a small island state and perhaps make sense.