To the Jammeh Camp he was/is a nightmare. His buddies on-line embrace him as
a Manding warrior. He will never hesitate to throw a brick or the kitchen
sink at a pro-APRC. Mud-slinging to him is like a reminder that we are made
of the substance from day one. Fact is: he is not a feeble brain. At his
best, he is one of the most brilliant minds The Gambia has.

Gambia-L, Hamjatta Kanteh!!!


Subject:    Realpolitik: The Zeitgeist In These Harrowing Times(An edited
version)

...After the student massacre of April 10th. and 11th;....this is the period
of unity of purpose in restoring decency and respect to our body polity. It
has been said again and again that for an effective legal assault on the
tyranny that is Jammeh through constitutional means, those who oppose him
must stick together through thick and thin for they have a common lethal
enemy that divided, they would have to move literally mountains to
peacefully eject Jammeh into the dustbin where he rightly belongs. Not only
is this the most glaring reality in the Gambia today, but it's raison d'ętre
is not only moral but patriotic and measures to whatever Pan African
sentiments one subscribes to. There is another interesting side to this;
that is it's Realpolitik. Yes, Realpolitik has been and is still scorned by
moralists and idealists alike as a corruptible phenomenon to the body
politic and only a short termist palliative that can only lead to increment
in problems it seeks to eradicate in the first place. However, it's
efficiency and strategic importance in moments like the Gambia is living
cannot be stated in lines but in sentences and perhaps columns. Realpolitik
states that in a moment like this, ideals, rules, principles and the rest of
our quarrels are eschewed as a means to an end. The end being in restoring
decency and respect in our body polity without which it would be foolhardy
for one to expect to pursue one's ideals and visions within the framework of
institutionality and legality. So Realpolitik is the means and decency and
respect in our body politic the end. This is pragmatism in the face of
tyranny. It requires those who sincerely wish the Gambia well and belief
that Jammeh only means trouble, to reconcile their differences in the name
of restoring decency and respect that the Gambia has known before. This
doesn't mean one has eternally given up on moral disagreements with other
parties or life long held principles. No. Rather it is respite in the name
of an end that would bring decency and respect without which one cannot
peacefully co-exist with others who have opposing ideals. And yes it is
unmistakably Realpolitik. But so what? Realpolitik can be the only Zeitgeist
in these harrowing times of our country's history. Let me irredeemably
determinist here. It is inevitable for us to fall back on Realpolitik to
salvage our country before it gets too late. ...If as we all believe that
the Gambia is a sovereign nation and that we are the masters of her destiny,
then it is morally incumbent on us all to join hands to defeat whatever
seeks to deprive our future generations and the present a place to call
home. This is the Zeitgeist of the moment and yes it calls for none other
than Realpolitik; bending the rules if need be and embracing others we might
not agree with but wish to co-exist with. The rhetoric of this moment should
be an alliance of Gambian patriots to regain their country of birth. And
another thing. It's been three months now and we are yet to see anything
done about those who callously shot at our children and the hierarchy that
gave the orders. Instead these hooligans and sadists still prowl the
corridors of society whilst the victims are still in pain. The UDP gets
ambushed, a thug loses his life and less than 48 hours they have charged
people with the murder. Things are deteriorating by the hour. Mass dead of
the night arrests and abductions are becoming the order of the day. ...Is
there a bigger picture than that of constructing a dialogue on how one can
rid the Gambia of the metastasizing cancer that is Jammeh?  Hamjatta Kanteh

hkanteh






_________________________________________________________________
Join the world’s largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail.
http://www.hotmail.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface
at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
[log in to unmask]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~