Dear BP,
Michael Pintard is an intelligent man who often showcases his intellect through his actions. However, his alignment with a group of oligarchs and historical revisionists, as evidenced by his willfully ignoring his cabinet’s stop review and cancel policies and its disastrous effects on health care and public welfare, remains a puzzle. Reasonable persons would assume that, given the nation’s progress, all Bahamians would continue to build on this success and strive to make the Bahamas even greater.
Alas, this is not the case. Despite the late Tribune editor extensively smearing the founders of the Free National Movement (FNM), especially Sir Arthur Foulkes, the FNM has repeatedly returned to its vomit and appears to be satisfied to let bygones be bygones, predominantly becaus the Tribune unreservedly publishes its malevolent propaganda. The FNM wants Bahamians to ignore historical repression, racism, and marginalisation and drink from its cups of transactional politics.
When politicians and voters engage in transactional politics, the participants are the only ones who truly benefit. However, these gains are short-lived, and the long-term impact on the country and its people is often negative. This should be a cause for concern for all Bahamians. We should all be wary of the negative impact of transactional politics.
That is precisely where we are right now in the Bahamas, courtesy of FNM lies and appalling behaviour. Elections have become inflexion points where voters decide whether they value continuing progress that benefits all or, despite the probable damage caused by their behaviour, continue selling out to sustain extravagant, temporary lifestyles. The upcoming elections are not just important; they are crucial, and every vote counts. Your vote is your voice, and it matters. The urgency and significance of the upcoming elections cannot be overstated.
This brings us back to the enigmatic Michael Pintard. Will he continue to slavishly carry out the dictates of his monied handlers like his predecessors, or will he break the cycle and become politically honest and progressive? The potential for change is there, and it’s up to us to demand it from this political huckster. This potential for change should give us hope and optimism for a better political future.
But to expect this to happen is futile. Pintard has a long history of trying to swing Bahamians. When he needs their votes, he talks about helping the poor and oppressed and eradicating perceived corruption by everyone but his FNM parliamentary colleagues. He is especially good at catering to the ultra-rich corporate and business owners and those with generational wealth because they provide his political financing. That’s where he appears to get his policy positions, all to the detriment of those he claims he wishes to help
So, if history is any guide, Bahamians will be foolhardy to listen to anything Pintard or his FNM parliamentary colleagues say; they are incorrigible and consumed by a visceral hatred of the PLP that has untethered them from reality. Recall that Sir Arthur Foulkes declared in the Tribune in 1966, “If you saved me from drowning tomorrow, tha would not make me leave the PLP,” and we know how that worked out.
Sincerely,
Michael J. Brown
