Sister Jabou: While you have the decency to refute and apologize for decisions you had made, others still do not understand the value of compromise. While you have not committed any sin, others continue to used words that lack understanding in simplistic grammar. I hope you are looking up. You are one big sister that many adore. Please keep up with the decency. Your behavior is exemplary. Naphiyo, Comrade ML Jassey-Conteh Greensboro, NC/Kombo East Constituency Original Message: ----------------- From: Hamjatta Kanteh [log in to unmask] Date: Mon, 27 Aug 2001 05:57:31 EDT To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: My apology and take on the so-called opposition Alliance Jabou, Let us have the basic decency to admit the obvious. When you decried what you termed as a "so-called opposition Alliance" when the reality is that the "so-called opposition Alliance" is nothing but a "devious" plot schemed to bring back the PPP, you were either engaging us in an exercise of semantic sophistry or playing to the anti- PPP gallery. For starters it is plainly dishonest to imply that there is no such thing as an Opposition Alliance: what would you call agreement of the PPP, UDP and GPP to fight the elections under the leadership of Mr Darbo? The fact that Mr Darbo heads the different parties in the Alliance - UDP, PPP and GPP - suffices to say that there is indeed an Opposition Alliance, ipso facto. No amount of self-righteous pieties can make void this unalterable truism. We can all pen acres of rhetorical pieties and self-righteous indignation as per how things got to where they currently are; but to say that in all honesty there is no such as an Opposition Alliance, is merely unbecoming of you. Furthermore, in a bid to redeem yourself of the moral faux pas you committed vis-a-vis your rash denunciations of the PDOIS and NCP, you commented: "You see, after hearing the stories of these two parties, after conducting my own research and asking yet more questions, and with the way the effort to form a united coalition has unfolded, I have come to the conclusion that yes, brother Halifa Sallah was indeed right that after doing my homework, I would owe both of these parties an apology." This merely reflects your own personal weakness; i.e., how you easily become a victim of your own herd instincts of following popular and fashionable opinion rather than research issues and make the appropriate comments. Here your comment that you should have at least looked beyond the ordinary and do your homework before passing judgements is merely the psychological portraiture of one hugely predisposed to the short-termist and comforting lures of the herd mentality and judges before one has all the facts. Above all, this is a huge indictment of your own ability to critically and independently think and make critical and independent judgements. Jabou, at the end of the day, we can all engage this futile exercise of playing to the gallery of anti- PPP sentiments and employing all sorts of rhetorical pieties that makes us look good - morally. But what will it achieve in October? For all that it is worth these days, i was never a PPP, GPP or UDP supporter; during the period i happily allied myself with a political party, i supported the PDOIS. These days, i no longer endorse any particular political party. But i'm in this for something more practical than abstract. I'm in this because i want my freedoms and liberties back from the dictatorship that has since July 1994 hijacked the Gambia. If freeing myself from these hijackers entails a pragmatic alliance with forces i will naturally disagree with and oppose their political philosophy, so be it. What, however, doesn't help me is to engage in the pastime of anti- PPP rhetorical pieties that merely adds allure to the very dictatorship that continues to hold hostage our dear country. That will merely elongate the predicament that continues to grip the Gambia. All the best, Hamjatta Kanteh ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------- Mail2Web - Check your email from the web at http://www.mail2web.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. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------