LJD,

Thanks for the brilliant lecture about Bush, his predecessors, and American politics in general. I am not in any way taking away some of the credits he earned as a President. Certainly, black appointees were more in his administration as you rightly mentioned, together with some of his “cool” ways of appealing to Americans. When Bush admitted to having smoked weeds in his younger days, that was it. (LOL).  I am in no way saying that Bush was empty but I must tell you he was somewhat a problem in major things that certainly raised red flags for a healthy democracy like America.  Earlier on the day, I followed one of the former Supreme Court Judges in the person of Sandra Day O’Connor who expressed regrets over the way that the 2000 Florida decision was finalized which saw George W. Bush to power. (Star Tribune, 04/26/13). Personally, I am opposed to some of these wars waged in the name of liberation and war against terror. Like any other tax payer, I would have loved to see things directed to areas that benefit humanity, rather than create human suffering. This was a major contributor to job loss and to somewhat crippling America’s great economy. While I fully believe in America’s models of democracy, some of the wars we fought could have been handled different. We’ve seen a great deal of mess, from human loss, to destruction of infrastructure, thus creating more enemies out there. This was spelt out clearly by Obama during his first elections that brought him to power.

Regards to Gambia’s politics (Nana, Waa, etc), it is a total mess, and nothing could be more confusing.

I for one agree with you that our differences are more philosophical. I realized the favorite word in town, ‘Turncoats.’ I sometimes get blown away how supposedly future leaders of our country get so comfortable using the words ‘Turncoats’ and ‘apologists’ on others who are on their side. We all are too familiar with the Prophet Muhammad’s (PBUH) struggle to win the hearts of his one time foes. Omar (RA) was one that we know much about. I know that was religion and this one is politics. The truth is we must be very careful in our battles for redemption.  Let us go after the enemy and his combatants. Those that changed positions (turncoats) to our side must be welcomed to come and fight with us. Often times, people like to blow things out of proportion to the extent of insult. This has yielded us nothing but more division and giving more victory to the common enemy. I am openly saying that we must all change in attitude, from those that are too blinded to join ranks with Jammeh, to those that enjoy saying they never worked with Jammeh, to extent mount aggression on those constantly being termed here turncoats.  The argument is weak to even label people as “lacking principle/standards” because of a person’s opinion that we must seek to unite than divide. It is not only unhealthy, it shows scary tendencies. Some of these misnomers are so unfitting and to our disadvantage, the victor is only Jammeh. A liberator cannot be a bully.

In any way, the Gambia belongs to all of us. We all must decide what Gambia we want for our children and grandchildren. If we continue on some of the paths that I observed, I am truly afraid; we will be behind for a while. For any that beats the chest in boastfulness is not the one, and the one that divides is equally not the one. 

Best regards & thanks for any expansion in advance. Your humbleness and ability to remain civil and calm at all times is admirable. For that, I say you are winning...and keep it even sharper!

Yero.