KB, Sorry for this serious misunderstanding,and it is deep from my heart. For Freedom Saiks ----- Original Message ----- From: Dampha Kebba <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Wednesday, November 15, 2000 2:32 PM Subject: Re: The Wages Of Indifference > Mr. Samateh, I will be very direct and brief with you. The point I was > trying to make was that the fiasco in Florida should not be used as an > excuse to perpetuate Yaya. If you are not trying to do that, then you need > not take offense in what I wrote. Frankly, it was meant for the Saja Taals > of this world. Few months ago, Saja Taal told the Gambian newspapers that > since Britain does not allow elections monitors in their elections, Gambians > should not allow the Commonwealth to monitor our elections. It was in > anticipation of these irrational rattling that I wrote what I wrote. I can > see Saja Taal or Sedat Jobe telling people that we should do away with > Democracy because the Floridians are having problems. Yes, I have a big > problem with that line of reasoning. If you personally think that this is an > opportunity to engage in American bashing, bringing up things that happened > decades ago and have little or nothing to do with these elections, fine with > me. My quarrel is with people that want to use this debacle to steal > elections in Gambia or disenfranchise the Gambians. You are right that there > is nothing wrong in questioning the legitimacy of the Florida elections and > learning from the mistakes of the Americans. There are currently more than > 20 lawsuits doing just that. But what lesson should we (Gambians) learn from > this problem? I hope we are not going to conclude that we want to do away > with Democracy and let dictator Yaya lead us forever. Sorry if I did not > make my point clear earlier on. > KB > > > >From: Saikou Samateh <[log in to unmask]> > >Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list > ><[log in to unmask]> > >To: [log in to unmask] > >Subject: Re: The Wages Of Indifference > >Date: Tue, 14 Nov 2000 02:37:36 -0000 > > > >I believed this discussion is getting out of context,if questioning the > >democratic character of the election system and or the weakness of American > >democracy should be a credit for the Jammeh regime it is not because some > >of > >us are putting forward such questions but those who are questioning the > >legitimise of our questions.If Dennis Jet,the leader of International > >Center at the university of Florida could say that if what happened in Palm > >Beach should have been the case in Latin America or Africa,American > >election > >observer will be the first to demand for re-election,an American whose > >organisation have participated in monitoring elections in Africa,Latin > >America etc if he could say so ,why should we shy away from raising the > >issues that we are raising ?just because we have a dictator back home.This > >intellectual arrogance and short-sightedness might be the very dancing > >floor > >that this fascist regime is waiting to do the last dance.Whether we as > >observer raised our critical voice or not,Americans will do it and are > >doing > >it,they know the history of their constitution and under what > >circumstances > >it was written,as some one was recently reminding me that the founding > >fathers were slaves owners who also have to protect their future > >interest,no > >wonder crisis are taking place in our generation under different > >circumstances. > > > >For Freedom > >Saiks > >----- Original Message ----- > >From: Dampha Kebba <[log in to unmask]> > >To: <[log in to unmask]> > >Sent: Tuesday, November 14, 2000 9:24 PM > >Subject: Re: The Wages Of Indifference > > > > > > > Hamjatta, a brilliant and timely piece. I like your 'flushing cockroach' > > > analogy. In my opinion, that is our most fundamental problem today. The > > > stubbornness with which certain people peddle 'bad ideas' is just > > > mind-boggling. But we must resolve to debunk these nonsense each time > >they > > > surface. Trust Yaya and his cronies for reaching perverse conclusions > >when > > > faced with clear challenges. As you pointed out and Winston Churchill > > > discovered years ago, Democracy is not a perfect system. But it is the > >best > > > thing out there. I agree that it is irritating to have people denouncing > > > Democracy and most of the time would not present credible alternatives. > >If > > > they are courteous enough to give us alternatives, their choices range > >from > > > the bizarre to the downright illogical. Some of these people are > >criticizing > > > a system that they do not even understand. We have to be very careful > >how > >we > > > interpret what is going on in Florida in the Gambian context. The > >population > > > of some of the counties in Florida is larger than the whole Gambian > > > population. The challenges that face the Floridians are different from > >the > > > challenges we have back home. When we advocate for democracy in The > >Gambia, > > > no one is suggesting that we should adopt all the proven mistakes and > >export > > > them to Gambia. That does not make sense. We should try to learn from > >other > > > people's mistakes. What is most significant in Florida is that there are > > > mechanisms in place for dealing with the debacle. The current structure > > > allows for matters to be resolved with little or no risk for bloodshed. > >Not > > > everyone is going to be happy with the outcome. That is not the point. > >The > > > focus is to at least convince the overwhelming majority of Americans > >that > > > the process was fair and the outcome is legitimate. To use the Florida > > > fiasco as justification for dictatorships is absurd, hypocritical and > > > downright dishonest. The more logical thing to do is to try and outdo > >the > > > Americans by ensuring that we have a system where every vote counts. > >This > > > should be a minor challenge bearing in mind the population of The > >Gambia. > >It > > > is ridiculous and perverse to argue that we should allow Yaya to lord > >over > > > us because people cannot be trusted to apply Democracy properly. We can > >have > > > a Democratic process that is better than the American one. Let us set > >the > > > standards high. This must be made clear to Yaya and his cohorts. What is > > > going on in the U.S. should not be used as an excuse to disallow > >election > > > monitors in the coming elections. With all the noise going on in > >Florida, > >no > > > one is alleging fraud (yet). Did we hear George W or Al Gore putting > >guns > >at > > > the heads of elections officials and asking them to declare bogus > >results? > > > Granted, there are other pressures being applied at these elections > > > officials. But the significant thing here, is that there are checks and > > > balances that will make it very hard for some of these partisans to > >succumb > > > to the illegitimate wishes of their parties. Again, the challenges the > >two > > > societies face vis-a-vis Democracy are very different. Apples and > >oranges. > > > Like you pointed out, we should still insist on elections monitors (if > >and > > > when we have elections) and demand that the process be better than what > > > operated in Florida. Whether Democracy is a far more superior system to > >a > > > dictatorship headed by a moron like Yaya, should be a non-issue. Our > >focus > > > should be on how we are going to improve and perfect our Democratic > >system. > > > I will also conclude by reminding everyone about trying to flush a > > > cockroach. No matter how trivial we might think the 'bad idea' is, we > >have > > > to attack it. People can regard this as dictatorial. But it is not. Evil > > > ('bad idea') has to be met head on and debunked. To paraphrase an adage: > > > evil thrive where good people stay silent. The least we can do when > >faced > > > with injustice, is to speak out against it. We should not let Yaya or > >anyone > > > tell us that our people do not deserve to choose their leaders, unless > >they > > > can come up with a better alternative. And vagaries such as 'traditional > > > democracy' do not suffice. As you shrewdly pointed out, this argument > > > against Democracy is a very dangerous and sinister one. It is also very > > > insulting for people to tell me that I should not participate in > >electing > >my > > > leader because I do not know how to choose a good leader. That is what > >it > > > boils down to. This condescension must be wiped out. Morons like Yaya > >and > > > mental midgets like Saja Taal and Sedat Jobe cannot decide for us who is > > > supposed to lead us. One of these days, you will hear one of these > >shameless > > > spinmiesters trying to use the Florida problem to convince us to crown > >Yaya > > > as our leader for life. I can gladly live with the decision of the > >majority > > > of the illiterate farmers in Gambia if they freely decide to vote for > >Yaya. > > > What I cannot stand, is for Yaya to steal power from the people and then > > > have these knuckle-heads going around and trying to justify the illegal > > > takeover. > > > KB > > > > > > > > > > > > >From: Hamjatta Kanteh <[log in to unmask]> > > > >Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list > > > ><[log in to unmask]> > > > >To: [log in to unmask] > > > >Subject: The Wages Of Indifference > > > >Date: Tue, 14 Nov 2000 11:33:34 GMT > > > > > > > > > > > >_________________________________________________________________________ > > > Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at > >http://www.hotmail.com. > > > > > > Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at > > > http://profiles.msn.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 > >You may also send subscription requests to > >[log in to unmask] > >if you have problems accessing the web interface and remember to write your > >full name and e-mail address. > >--------------------------------------------------------------------------- - > > _________________________________________________________________________ > Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. > > Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at > http://profiles.msn.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 > You may also send subscription requests to [log in to unmask] > if you have problems accessing the web interface and remember to write your full name and e-mail address. > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html You may also send subscription requests to [log in to unmask] if you have problems accessing the web interface and remember to write your full name and e-mail address. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------