Words are important. Be careful what you say.

The Prime Minister of Jamaica recently labeled the Opposition Leader as an "Enemy of the State." What was his crime, to deserve such a vitriolic appellation? He had the temerity to say "You're not doing a good job."

This reaction is disturbing to me on several levels.

1. The Prime Minister seems to equate herself and her party with the State. This view is very dangerous, as it says "Don't criticize me! We are here to stay! Stop your noise peons, and do as we say!" The office of the Prime Minister is no one's personal property or right. The Prime Minister is the servant of the people, and the state is neither JLP nor PNP. One party may constitute the Administration, but they should not view it as their birthright.
2. The Prime Minister seems to say that she is above criticism, and that all criticism is negative. Newsflash; If you are not doing a good job, it's not in your best interests to have persons tell you you're doing a good job. What is more important; that you do your job properly, or that you feel good about yourself? I don't want the Prime Minister to do a bad job, because the country will suffer and I will suffer if she does a bad job. Thus, it is in my best interests to tell her when she's doing a bad job, so that she can make corrections. If she doesn't agree with me that she's doing a bad job, she's free to disagree with me; but she has no right to tell me I shouldn't comment on her job performance. It is still legal in this country to speak ones mind freely and to vote freely, and I plan to do both as a comment on job performance.
3. The Prime Minister seems to focus more on personal attacks than on the meat of the matter. This is immature, unproductive, solves nothing, and ignores what really matters. When you can't attack the message, attack the messenger. This is a tried-and-true tactic in Jamaican politics and Jamaican society, and it's a huge factor in our national non-performance since 1962. Rather than wasting time trying to make the Opposition Leader look bad, why not let your job performance speak for itself? Oh, yeah, that might not be a good idea...

This is a developing story, so I don't know what the fallout from this will be, but we will find out soon enough. I don't have any expectations that wiser heads will prevail, but hopefully I'll be proved wrong.