Preamble
After the “unprecedented” lecture on the intricacies of monetary and fiscal policy by ex-Foreign
Affairs Rufus Bousquet to the
Star Publisher (Rick Wayne) on his own TALK show where he is believed to be infallible; and followed by the brilliant legal elucidation by Antigua’s
former Attorney General Justin Simon QC on the interface between the Minerals Vesting Act and the
Interpretation Act; and culminating with another abrasive “legal” lecture by Anthony Astaphan QC to the Star publisher on Shelton Daniel’s
90-MINUTES on RSL, I felt impelled to share some of
my technical and political perspectives with you.
Retribution by
Gravity
As long as the laws of gravity exist, they were bound
at some point to act on Rick’s “education” and it was only a matter of time
before the writing was on the wall. From time immemorial, Rick’s discourse has
fed not only on common sense and intuition but equally on misconceptions and
misinformation derived from that common sense and intuition. Apparently his wide
selected readings and research have not taken him into the mission-critical
areas of world discourse. A typical case
is the dynamics of monetary and fiscal policy and their impact on the financial
markets. He apparently thought because of the ECCB’s reduction in interest rates
on savings that Saint Lucia was the worst country in the world until Rufus
Bouquet appearing as a guest on his rejuvenated and rebranded “TALK” show lectured
him on haircuts.
Previously, Rick’s journalistic credibility had been
put on the line by Guy Joseph's notorious disclosures in the House which placed
Rick at the epicentre of an “ethical” dilemma. Even his colleague journalist
Clinton Reynolds - a member of his own media fraternity – had pronounced him as
“not being credible”.
With “Rochamel”, “RDP
1 & 2” and “Grynberg” having effectively been blown away by the
winds of truth; and with the “Lambird’s” pseudo-scandal seemingly on its
deathbed, and with the DPP having put IMPACS in its proper perspective, we are
now curious about how much is left of or for Rick! Will he “wheel and come back
again”? Will he - like King Lear – be left exposed
to the elements?
Perhaps not! As we
say in the Lucian vernacular, Rick’s
head is not only “hard”; but he is
also a hard nut to crack! Let’s
use some elements of “SWOT” to make a rough assessment of him.
Rick’s
post-formal thinking
Rick is blessed with encyclopedias of “crystallized
intelligence”; but sadly his universe of crystallized
intelligence only seem to have completely overshadowed his “fluid intelligence”; and perhaps, therein may lie a partial scientific
explanation for the mismatch between his excellent language skills and his almost “defunct” intellect.
Let’s analyze Rick’s post-formal thinking in the
context of the formal literature.
The literature (cf: Kallio, 2011) on cognitive and intellectual growth suggests that at the post-formal level of operations,
people like me and Rick are generally able to reconcile even the “irreconcilable”
when we think, speak or write. It was therefore expected that it would be a “given”
for Rick to appreciate the interface (in law) between the provisions of the Minerals
Act with the provisions of the Interpretation Act; but he has thus far not
demonstrated that competency, and with the legal revelations coming out of
RSL’s “90-minutes” with Justin Simon QC and Anthony Astaphan, it appears that the
faith and trust in Rick’s pontifications on the talk shows and in his degenerating
Star tabloid might be eroding.
An appreciation of the potentially complex legal and
intellectual issues related to the rationalization of the Mineral Vesting Act
in the context of the Interpretation Act may require post-formal thinking.
According to Michael L. Commons of the Department of Psychiatry at
Massachusetts Harvard Medical School, post-formal thought has four levels:
systematic, meta-systematic, paradigmatic and cross-paradigmatic. The
systematic stage involves solving problems of a multivariate nature; the
meta-systematic stage involves acting on systems; the paradigmatic stage
generally involves creating new paradigms out of multiple metasystems; and the
cross-paradigmatic stage calls for the integration of paradigms into a “new
field”.
My
view is: because Rick is quintessentially an “anti-intellectual” wearing a
large intellectual mask, it is
extremely difficult to place Rick anywhere in that post-formal hierarchy!
There’s
also the intervening issue of his oversized “Mr Universe” ego; he is not
only arrogant but equally a paramount figure who likes
to bully
(but not be bullied) into submission. Lately, however, the tables seem to
be turning on him and his larger than life ego has been subject to a few
bulls-eyes resulting in his upward, cocky trajectory of motion finally beginning
to obey Newton’s Laws of Universal Gravitation.
It
Never Rains but Pours . . .
They say it never rains but it pours; and with all
those peculiar quirks of fate which have been plaguing Rick recently, that may be exactly the case with him! And I
can only empathise with extent of cognitive dissonance he may have to endure of late.
Yet, the
once-upon-a-time, short-lived SLP Senator is certainly no pussyfooter like the
“Virgin
Mary”
senator! He is smart and he does have a few feathers in his cap, too.
One
of his distinctive feathers is his skillful marriage of St. Lucian politics
with his brand journalism. In fact, Rick's
journalism has (like a parasite) invariably fed on politics. It
became the driving force which propelled him to national recognition. It is perhaps
this skilful achievement that makes him stand out as a colossus on
both the media and political landscapes in St. Lucia! He may well be considered
as the “knight in shining armour” who has been on the frontline in the open
politicisation of journalism in St. Lucia.
How does
an observer like this writer view his paradigm of journalism may depend his/her
conceptual frame of reference. To some it may be prostitution of the “discipline”;
to others, it may be the best thing that has happened to St. Lucian journalism.
There’s a also third school of thought that he may have a few proverbial
skeletons in his closet; and there’s an equally powerful countervailing view that Rick is a
highly transparent figure
worthy of emulation. For the moment, Let’s agree that in our circumstances the
jury may still out on those. Suffice it to say that whilst
he exhibits much aberrational, idiosyncratic behaviour which
may be largely linked to his obvious limitations related to his post-formal
thought processes,
he has practiced
his craft with “distinction”.
Propensity for musical chairs
While
the limitations of his analyses and resultant skewness are obvious, his
advocacy is strong and unyielding; he is by no stretch of imagination an
academic but he is not a pimp either. He is skilled writer with an enviable
command of the English language! However, there’s a view that his “limitations”
tend to circumscribe the command he wields.
Let’s
consider an example: Rick has pathological tendency to neurotically latch to issues
that many of us perceive to be irrational and he does so with an unparalleled
passion to the point of fixation, playing musical chairs with them for years
even when the substance, merit and logic in those issues face increasing degeneration.
The
Jessica Affair which was perhaps his sputnik moment in Lucian Journalism; he
beat on it until there was perhaps nothing else left in it. Then came Rochamel,
RDP, Grynberg which he still continues to “go to Jerusalem” with. Lambird’s and
IMPACS were the newest fads.
Distinction in skewness
Perhaps, it is precisely his “distinction” in skewness
and his apparent inability to consider a different “geometry” for his investigative
journalism that summoned the
force of gravity on him.
The fundamental question we sought to answer was: What
prevented a journalist of the Star publisher’s ranking from reconciling the “interface” between the Mineral Vesting
Act and the Interpretation Act and drives him to continue with his
interpretations of the former in a vacuum without relating it to the latter? Is it pure stubbornness, or is
it fair to
say that with time he may have exceeded his capacity to learn?
Suppose
none of the above is the
case, then what else would drive
the holder of an Honourable OBE to be averse
to use his competencies in investigative journalism to research that critical
interface and its legislative implications?
A third dimension to the argument also logically evolves:
if Rick’s skewed pronouncements on law are any indication of his “heuristics”
of investigative journalism and that he has a following of disciples, then just
think for a moment of the impact he has had on the “discipline”; and by
extension, the potential impact of his “vast store of misconceptions, misinformation”
on his impressionable disciples.
Journey to Jerusalem
Figuratively,
Rick loves to “go to Jerusalem” with the issues. At
the moment, he may not be able to hit the ceiling; but he will certainly not
allow the force of gravity to keep him on the floor! Rick may have seen himself
as the “saviour” of journalism in Lucian. It is for this reason that that Rick
may be a candidate for the “Jesus Christ of Journalism” in St. Lucia. Indeed, like
Jesus Christ, he has picked up a few disciples along the way; but is Rick’s current
trajectory
also
leading to his own self-crucifixion?
Rick’s distinction in skewed journalism maybe a major
factor in his self-crucifixion. He hammered Labour for Rochamel, RDP and
Grynberg. . . but he turned a blind eye to the breaches of the Finance
Administration Act, the Taiwanese funds, the findings from the audit of town and
village councils, Boxing in Paradise and many other critical issues of
governance during the reign of the UWP; hence, it is no wonder that Rufus came
back at him on his own show like boomerang.
Rick’s
“trajectories of thought” took him high into space but the gravity of the truth
on Grynberg for example according to the gospel of Anthony Astaphan on
Shelton’s “90 minutes” had the final say: it dragged him down to ground zero
again. Indeed, he was obviously his own Judas and Pontius Pilate.
