The Tribune

By Inigo ‘Naughty’ Zenicazelaya

Instead of ripping off Loretta Butler-Turner’s ‘Forward Together’ campaign slogan (which she ripped from Hillary Clinton), the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) should change it to one that is more fitting these days: Hear No Evil, See No Evil, Speak No Evil.

It’s become obvious Prime Minister Perry Christie must not have heard Jerome Fitzgerald say out of his ‘own mout’ that he solicited contracts from Baha Mar developer Sarkis Izmirlian.

And he must not have seen copies of the cheques Peter Nygard wrote to his Minister of Labour Shane Gibson.

So, true to form, the ‘cat gat his tongue’ when it comes to his ‘good’ ministers.

In an age not long ago, the Prime Minister may have been able to get away with staying silent while simultaneously calling anything he doesn’t want to deal with ‘fake news’. But this is not that age.

This is the age of news and scandals spreading faster and wider than any propaganda concocted by state-run media could ever dream of travelling.

This is the age of live video and memes and ‘pulling files’. Which is why, even as the Prime Minister tried to label the Fitzgerald scandal as ‘fake news’, more ‘real news’ from real newspapers which showed just how stink the stench is that’s coming from his Cabinet had already racked up thousands and thousands of views and ‘likes’ on Facebook.

It really is amazing (and a little mind boggling) to watch an historic party like the PLP try to do battle on the new political playground that is the internet and social media.

PLP attempts at ‘spinning’ the truth are met with scepticism, laughter and blunt acronyms. (CY... um ... A anyone?)

In the age of technology, no one has time (and, paradoxically, everyone has time) to deal with ‘keyboard cronies’.

Posts, threads and comments can go on indefinitely. Stories from yesteryear can be resurrected in a nanosecond for a swift and deadly rebuttal in real time (this, by the way, is what the young people call ‘pulling files’).

To be fair, I have seen many dust-ups involving FNMs and DNAs online, too. The difference is that hardline PLPs are having a much harder time defending the party (and themselves) because of the inaction of Mr Christie.

Not only has the PM not fired Fitzgerald, he is now ‘toting’ him from island to island like a trophy wife and has sent him ‘shout outs’ from rally stages.

Mr Christie now claims, real ‘fake news’ style, that the late Prime Minister, Sir Lynden Pindling, named Fitzgerald as one of his successors.

He has stubbornly turned a blind eye to an ugly truth, and resurrected a memory most hardcore PLPs hold dear to it.

The Rubis-gate, emails-gate, and contracts-gate may mean nothing to a group of politicians trying desperately to hold onto power but on the growing battlefield of social media they count for a lot.

Technology means the new generation (and the next generation) is no longer blind, deaf and dumb.

The late Dr Myles Munroe said it best: “We are now in a moment where the old weapons that kept the Bahamas don’t work any more.”

That, my friends, is the gospel truth.

The ‘delete’ button and ‘block’ button now destroy propagandists. ‘Comment’ is the gateway for ‘friends’ as well as ‘foes’. ‘Reply’ can leave your timeline in shambles. And the ‘share’ button is the new weapon of mass destruction.

I’m surprised almost no one in the PLP with a literal handful of ‘honourable’ members (whose political relevance is also on the line) has spoken out against the way the PM is dealing with Fitzgerald.

Like I said, ‘hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil’ ... together.

• Inigo ‘Naughty’ Zenicazelaya is the resident stand-up comic at Jokers Wild Comedy Club at the Atlantis, Paradise Island, resort and presents ‘Mischief and Mayhem in da AM’ from 6am to 10am, Monday to Friday, and ‘The Press Box’ sports talk show on Sunday from 10am to 1pm on KISS FM 96.1. He also writes a sports column in The Tribune on Tuesday. Comments and questions to naughty@tribunemedia.net

• Watch Naughty’s new series of videos ‘The Coldest’ on Facebook at Inigo Zenicazelaya (Da Naughty One)