It's Just Too Easy To Play With The 'Hart'

Yes, yes, it's old news. Calder Hart left. And every headline is as punny as possible (including this one) because there was a twisted sense of humour that created and defended the Hart a total of 45 times. When I heard the news on Saturday, I had better things to do than write about something that I predicted: I told many people that it was O'Halloran all over again. Perhaps the problem is that Trinidad and Tobago doesn't have sufficient history for Trinbagonians to study, thus they don't, thus they repeat it.

And, of course, the PNM isn't held in great esteem now - and neither is the man occupying the Honourable Office of Prime Minister, Patrick Manning (note the placement of Honourable). So what now? Calder Hart resigned, left and... umm... everyone has something to say.

Other UDECOTT directors are so confused that they say 'Resign for what!'   instead of 'Resign for What?'. Clearly they have no friends amongst what could be something resembling an opposition part. Winston Dookeran (COP) feels vindicated. And Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj wants to probe the criminality of Hart. Every rumshop has its share of puncheon induced people discussing the issue as intelligently as everyone else - sadly, perhaps more so - before they slalom home, breathalyzers be damned.

Me? It simply astounds me that it took so long and got so far out of control. A Prime Minister defends a man 45 times. That seems to be the magic number before someone resigns. Did they count off? 

'1...2...3... steady.... 23...32... steady... 40... 41,42,43,44... get those tickets!... 45! GO GO GO!'.

And it astounds me that the Opposition was so deeply involved with its collective pants around its ankles that they managed to scare off the prey instead of capture it. For the conspiracy theorists out there who think that Patrick Manning and Basdeo Panday had an illicit love child in Calder Hart, it fits. Add one Kamla, filter off one Bas, simmer and... the Hart pops out.

The hero here, oddly enough, is of the PNM ranks - Rowley, who stood up and said what he had to say - but even then he was limited. It is sad that Trinidad and Tobago has a due process that allows this sort of thing to happen and continue to happen when it is patently obvious to everyone that there is a serious problem.

And the unsung hero? The media that cracked the story. While I can be tough on the media, they were more effective than Trinidad and Tobago government in getting the truth out - which, really, isn't saying that much. Even so, they deserve kudos.

So what now? How much more money will be spent before it ends as O'Halloran's hijinx did? Will it end the same? 

Remember what I wrote earlier about history in the first paragraph?