Bottom Dwelling Scum Suckers and Catfish
Repost This ArticleThere is a joke that has been floating for a while with regard to the value added by lawyers to our daily existence.
It asks the question whether you know the difference between a lawyer and a catfish.
If you are interested, the answer is; one is a fish and the other is a bottom dwelling scum sucker.
In fairness to the lawyer fraternity, it should be noted that the above only applies to a miniscule number among them. Most are honorable men and women who ply their trade according to the laws of the land and obviously the implied negativity does not apply to them.
Unfortunately, the few bad apples among the law fraternity have a tendency to ascend to positions of power and influence precisely because they are willing to step into morally confusing and value compromising situations where others fear to tread.
In the case of the current state of Sri Lanka’s disunion and the exclusive rights held for that state of affairs by our political elite; the same could be used to describe the world of difference that exists between our politicians and catfish. Especially since some of the greatest contributors to the present state of our country are lawyer turned politicians.
It never ceases to amaze me at the ease the present regime/The Family keeps turning moments of glory and success into prolonged periods of national agony. Let’s take a look at how the First Family has handled its 2 biggest successes.
The first obviously was bringing to an end to Prabakaran’s reign of terror and the second was the “resounding” victory of Mahinda Rajapakse at the recently concluded presidential election. The regime has, with barely a break in its goose step, has turned these successes into a quagmire of broken promises, abuse of power and total disdain for the law of the land and welfare of the people.
In the case of the first, the regime wasted no time in antagonizing most of the western world by shutting itself off to any criticism of its actions during the last stages of the war. When faced with questions about the use of heavy artillery in an area that held thousands of non-combatants, the GOSL insisted on sticking to its position that NO civilian lives were lost during the what it euphemistically called the “rescue” operation and that the GOSL did not shell the sliver of land that held Prabakaran and his minions along with thousands of civilians.
Then, after “rescuing” the Tamil civilians held against their will by the LTTE, the GOSL promptly interned close to 300,000 of the “rescued” in camps because they were Tamils. When the UN, the USA, UK, Canada and the EU started asking some unpleasant, but reasonable, questions about what really went on in those last few days in the battle front and the internment of people in their own country; the GOSL went on a rampage attacking the messengers. Anyone or any country that didn’t swallow the GOSL’s position hook, line and sinker was termed LTTE sympathizers. The GOSL completely forgot the small detail that some of the countries that were accused of being soft of terrorism/LTTE had actually proscribed it as a terrorist organization. Who’s keeping track of minor details, eh?
The Prime Minister, various ministers and various secretaries of ministries were ever ready to defend the honor of the country. The High Commissioner of UNHCR; the FM of Sweden; UK’s Foreign Secretary ; American Secretary of State; the whole country of Norway were vilified in public. Our beloved public servants were shrieking at the high and mighty westerners like Banshees on steroids.
As a result of these hair brained actions, Sri Lanka, like an abandoned orphan, has been susceptible to the charms and enticements of many international pariah states. We have been left to wonder this desolate and morally vacuous space looking for salvation.
Once that little detail was taken care of; the regime looked inwards to weed out the local Doubting Thomases and make lifelong enemies out of bosom buddies. First in line was General Sarath Fonseka; commander of Sri Lanka Army. The man touted the best army commander in the world by the GOSL became public enemy number 1 when he and the President couldn’t come to an agreement on the General’s role in post-war Sri Lanka. While General Fonseka was not the most gracious or the most diplomatic when it came to handling his differences with the President, the government’s virulent and petty minded reaction to the General was both reactionary and an overkill. Eventually, this would lead to the General contesting against his former Commander of Chief at the 2010 Presidential elections.
What a peace dividend.
An election campaign highlighted by the lack of substance; abuse of state resources by the President’s campaign team and political gaffes of Sarath Fonseka came to an end with the incumbent romping to a comfortable and resounding victory. Mahinda Rajapakse, according to the final tally, received 57% of the vote against 40% for General Sarath Fonseka. Apparently close to 2 million more people preferred the incumbent over the retired General. One would think that such a margin would be a satisfactory outcome for the incumbent; especially considering his margin of victory over Ranil Wickramasinghe in the 2005 presidential election.
End of story, eh? Not quite.
The re-elected Mahinda Rajapakse took no time to start the witch hunt. It seems like he was slighted by the margin of victory. In his convoluted mind, Mahinda Rajapakse was seeing foreign conspiracies to topple him and assassinate him and his family members in every street corner and behind one or two luxury dwellings; or so it seems. No opposition figure or supporter of Sarath Fonseka was to be spared in the search for the smoking gun. Persons were harassed, at least one journalist has disappeared; heads of government corporations asked to hand in their resignations; and to make sure the genie was not out of the bottle Sarath Fonseka was dragged kicking and screaming and given free accommodation in a chalet of the Sri Lanka Navy. Tamils have been vilified because the majority either supported Fonseka or abstained from voting at the presidential election. Instead of building bridges across the ethnic divide, the Rajapakse regime has been burning the few remaining ones.
Apparently, the retired General was planning a coup. We are waiting to find out whether the retired General had any knowledge of this coup and also waiting for the evidence to support the allegation.
This from the candidate who won the election by the incredible margin of 17%. What would he have done if the margin of victory was a mere 5%; I wonder. Actions of the Rajapakse regime after the election suggest 3 scenarios (maybe the more creative amongst us could conjure more);
- Support for General Fonseka was grossly over-estimated
- The election was rigged
- Mahinda Rajapakse thought he was going to loose the election
Looking back, I remember listening to a news conference involving Wimal Weerawanse and some others on the day of the election. In that conference, it was stated that they (I imagine the President) was going to challenge the legitimacy of Fonseka’s candidacy in courts. This was after the polls had closed. Did this mean the President thought he was going to loose the election?
We probably will never know the answer to that question. However, it does raise some interesting scenarios in the minds of folks who are not totally convinced by the “victory”.
To be frank, I didn’t think General Fonseka could win this election. Seriously, the General’s campaign was pretty much the amateur hour. However, I did not think it would be this lopsided. I didn’t think it would be as close as 2005, but I find it hard to believe that Mahinda Rajapakse would have beaten Sarath Fonseka by 17 percentahe points.
I think this was a case of political bottom dwelling scum suckers loosing all sense of proportion.
The way I see it, all this post-war and post-election shenanigans is the work of political bottom dwelling scum suckers. I imagine every politician worth his/her salt has these scum suckers in their payroll or amongst their supporters. They serve the purpose of clearing unpleasant political detritus. The scum suckers also insulate the politician from what’s real and actual by making certain only information that helps to propagate their cause is filtered to the candidate. In most cases, these scum suckers are the hangers on who are waiting in the periphery to grab the left overs. But, in some cases the scum suckers are closer to home. They may even be part of the inner circle; or worse, they maybe part of the politician’s family.
Political scum suckers are a useful and a necessary tool for folks in high office because they are normally totally subservient to the wishes of his/her political handler and will take care of matters that cannot be attended to through official/legal means.
However, if there are no handlers or if the scum suckers are part of the inner circle and are left to operate on their own volition, the political usefulness of scum suckers will be short lived. They could, in the worse case scenario, take down the head honcho along with them to political oblivion.
I believe that the presidency of Mahinda Rajapakse has reached this stage because of the political scum suckers who have been feeding and living off his success.
Does Mahinda Rajapakse have the political will/smarts to weed out the bad apples and reach out to the opposition to make sure that there is indeed a peace dividend? I am not holding my breath, but he has proved his detractors and doubters wrong in the past. I hope he will do so in the near future as well.
It is sad to witness Mahinda Rajapakse, the man responsible for bringing to an end the reign of the giver of death; the taker of hope; the denier of forgiveness that was Prabakaran resorting to pettiness, intimidation and political thuggery to silence the voices that do not see eye to eye with him.
Mahinda Rajapakse, by all means should be in a position to heal many of the old wounds caused by years of ethnic polarization. He truly is in a position to turn swords into ploughshares.
Instead, Mahinda Rajapakse has, in a manner of speaking, turned the few remaining ploughshares into swords.
Pasqual,
Who do you ‘suck’ for?
I read the article with great interest. Just one factor which needed to be highlighted is the rationale for nearly 300,000 persons to be in camps. Note that there were a number of LTTE deserters who moved to the cleared areas with the civilians. If they want to make the transition to civilian life, the better. But the Govt. forces needed to filter out the rest that have no such intention. But this was the tip of the iceberg.
Note that the infrastructure in this region was devastated from the 3 decade long war as well as from the Boxing Day Tsunami. If adequate time was not given to rebuild the infrastructure; roads, hospitals, schools and other public institutions, do you really expect people to go and live in a area which doesn’t even have a post office? Secondly, until the lad is cleared of land mines, who would take the responsibility of those who are maimed? The foreigners in A/C rooms and leather seats would not even afford a second glance. It’s the government of this country who has to bear the cost and the burden and us tax payers who will have to pay for it.
A number of people shouted saying that the camps were against the Tamils. Look around you.. Don’t you see that we Sinhalese, Muslims, Tamils and Christians live in harmony in Colombo? There is no ethnic conflict other than which a few politically motivated persons are trying to depict.
As long as we dwell in the past, this country will not proper. We as Sri Lankans have an unique talent for finger pointing. But how often do we look at ourselves to correct our wrong-doing
AJ – “But how often do we look at ourselves to correct our wrong-doing?”. Good question for the powers that be…
Puhleez Mr. AJ… the govt. sent back half those IDPs to places with all the problems you’ve listed (infrastructure, mines, etc.) just to get votes off SF!!! And half the real ‘terrorists’ who were in the camps probably paid off people and got out anyway!
Yes, whether some of us agreed with the means of the war or not, it was over and there was a real opportunity to establish a ‘just and honourable peace’ (something like that was part of the Mahinda Chintanaya I?) but it is being squandered by the day!
my dear aj. are you one of the bottom dwellind scum suckers or catfish? for the love of the tamils being maimed and the resultant blame on the govt. was the cause for the forced internment of these tamils including some other reasons given by you, which sounds more or less like the bullshit dished out by the govt. fortunately for sri lanka there are intellectuals like yu people who will swallow any scum – that is what you people are – the govt. will leave behind for gullible chaps who doesn’t have any perception of what is happening around us.
the same goes for the zero casualties touted by the govt and swallowed by scum suckers. the most tehcnologically advanced and sophisticated army in the world are groping in the dark to fight a war without cusing casualties on the civillians in afghanistan and iraq and scum lickers like you believe our army conducted the war with zero casualties. no wonder the family regime’s conduct of governance is more or less similar to the administration of a mental assylum – the inmates being scum suckers like you and by extension the entire populace is treated as such – whilst the keepers of the assylum are making hay while the sun shines.
Political scum sucker? Lol by the tone and language of your voice.. it’s easy to say ur the other side of the coin. Another scum[Edited] sucker! Tone it down or no one will take you seriously. Your agenda for the power hungry other side is too transparent!
“The Prime Minister, various ministers and various secretaries of ministries were ever ready to defend the honor of the country.” WHA??
Thank GOD they did! As any minister of any nation would PROUDLY do! What the hell are you smoking?
1. Support for General Fonseka was grossly over-estimated
Duh!
2. The election was rigged
So does the other scum keeps banging on like a Banshee on steroids
3. Mahinda Rajapakse thought he was going to loose the election
Well it’s an open contest. You’d be very cocky if you disregard that possibility. Only a person who is having a FAIR ELECTION will worry of such things!
Looking back, I remember listening to a news conference involving Wimal Weerawanse and some others on the day of the election. In that conference, it was stated that they (I imagine the President) was going to challenge the legitimacy of Fonseka’s candidacy in courts.
The opposition candidate was a United State’s citizen who didn’t even bother registering for his OWN FREAKING VOTE in Sri Lanka! Which he admits to as a lapse by himself. Of course this moron doesn’t deserve to lead Sri Lanka! We paid him a salary to be a soldier. Not a bankrupt politician.
Did this mean the President thought he was going to loose the election? We probably will never know the answer to that question.
Maybe not you Pasqual (btw, how did you end up with a French name that has arrogance written all over it?), but we (the common men & women) know the answer. Yes of course he considered that as a probable outcome. Any competent election strategist would explore that scenario…
I find it hard to believe that Mahinda Rajapakse would have beaten Sarath Fonseka by 17 percentahe points.
I suggest you leave your cocooned existence in Colombo high roller joints and go out regional. Dare you to speak what you have written here in public and come back without stones being thrown at you. They may not be able to comprehend all that in English yet they will still throw stones at you for your cockyness.
I think this was a case of political bottom dwelling scum suckers loosing all sense of proportion.
Interpretation: “Blah blah blah.. let’s just put in some name calling shall we.,. because my essay is lacking a lot of substance just about now..” lol
That’s right the administration was supposed to sit there and let a coup take place by someone who publically swore to destroy them in 48 hours! When intel of a possible coup was emanating from far as RAW. Simply wow!
Does Mahinda Rajapakse have the political will/smarts to weed out the bad apples and reach out to the opposition to make sure that there is indeed a peace dividend? I am not holding my breath,
Please hold it indefinitely..
AJ, it’s really a case of it’s wrong whether you do or don’t isn’t it?
At the start SF was banging on and on saying the administration was holding them (IDPs) against their will!
Then when the administration fast tracked the process just to shut up those UN haemorrhoids, there goes SF again… IDPs are being released into unsafe, de-mined areas!
I kid you not within the space of a week this 180 flip.. You live in Sri Lanka (those who do), you watched the news, am I wrong??? Java Jones and Idealist can rant on but some of us have half a brain to see cheap tactics.
Dear Observer/In Your Face
You guys should consider the fact that that this is a public forum.
If your MENSA buddies read your comments you might loose your membership.
Cheers
Very well said !!! interesting article, although we are in the “Titanic” now, no way out, the nation is divided!!! MR should stop his witch hunt, release the General, and make friends with the west , and get rid of the “beauty Pagent, Teledrama parliment”, get rid of the thugs, and give equal opprtunity to all people, and not making the “Rajapakse” family fat by robbing the country and keeping his relatives!!!
Haha so this piece is supposed to reflect on your IQ level?? Leaves a lot to be seen.
It clearly shows that you’re just the other side of the coin – of these “scum suckers”.
Why don’t you consider this as a public forum as well and not engage in temperamental diatribes? Before advising me of public etiquette…
People might take you more seriously then!
Hey Pasqual Sudat,
My MENSA buddies and I fight fire with fire. A public forum demands honesty, and I believe I’ve said it like it is!
Hey Observer – I wasn’t “ranting”. I was merely stating that AJ’s question was a good one for the powers that be to answer as well. What’s your problem with that? Or do you think they are above “wrong doing”?
Dear Idealist?
And half the real ‘terrorists’ who were in the camps probably paid off people and got out anyway! you wrote
A very big word to hide behind, “Probably”, often used to explain away the unexplainable.
It really means ignorance when used in the context of your statement above.
Java Jones, you’re right. Sorry.
248 106 Tamils are still in the concentration camps in appalling conditions and near starvation. 108 106 Tamils in a big concentration camp and 140,000 recently “ resettled “ Tamils are imprisoned in mini concentration camps in their home –districts. When this torture of the innocent and shell shocked people will stop ?
WSWS reporters recently visited the concentration camps covertly and filed this report
The Sri Lankan government claims that after the “resettlement” of some Tamil the situation in the concentration camps has improved. The situation there for 248 106 innocent Tamil civilians is worsening, again exposing President Rajapakse’s lies.
People at Manik Farm are still living in the small tents put up last May, 8 month ago . These tents are now in a decrepit condition.
The concentration camps are still guarded by soldiers and surrounded by barbed wire.
Anger, resentment and weariness are evident in the faces of people who have now been incarcerated for eight months without adequate food, medical care and sanitary facilities.
There has been no let up in the seizing of youth as LTTE suspects. We were told that military intelligence personnel come night and day to drag people away. Everyone is afraid that they will be next. The climate of fear and hopelessness prevails with no justice or fairness is in sight
The Sri Lankan government claims that people have been given freedom of movement. But this is false. Those who want to leave have to apply and their release is by no means guaranteed.
For short-term releases, an application form must be filled out at the camp’s military office. A family member has to vouch for the outgoing person by signing the application form. Those given “freedom of movement” have to return on the same day. If they fail, the family member is taken into custody ortured and beaten ruthlessly .
The regime for visitors is also prison-like. Visitors have to register with police at the entrance to the camp. They can only enter after a body search and are then confined to the visitors’ area. No cameras or cell phones are allowed. Visitors cannot come closer than a metre or so to the inmates and often have to speak loudly to communicate. Soldiers monitor what is being said and also the limited amount of time allocated.
Food is limited. The weekly ration is just a kilogram each of rice, flour and sugar and 100 grams of lentils or dhal per person. People have no money to buy other essentials. They do not get fish, meat, egg or vegetables. The rations are obvious inadequate and many children and adults are suffering from malnutrition.
Water is also scarce. Each inmate receives five litres of drinking water per week. Tube wells have been sunk to use for bathing and washing, but the water is very salty. To ease the water shortages, the Sri Lankan Army unit in charge of the camp has brought muddy water from a nearby dam , however , if people bathe in that muddy water they would get the extensive body rashes , eye infection and many other irritations .
Health services in the camp have deteriorated. Last month the Colombo government washed its hands of providing health care, passing the responsibility to the provincial government. However, provincial health services lack adequate funds and are crumbling. Doctors assigned to the camps only attend for two to three hours a day. The sick have to wait in line or several days in a row for a Doctor appointment.
21,500 Tamil children, who are still in the Concentration camps , have been deprived of education, in fact more 97% IDP youngsters had failed the exam last year
During the election campaign, Rajapakse visited one of the camps and feigned anger at the conditions facing the inmates. He promised to complete the resettlement process by 31 of January 2010.
State-owned TV stations broadcast footage of Rajapakse giving “advice” to military personnel to provide “facilities” for the refugees.
It was all for show.
Nothing has happened since.
Do you have law and order int he country today ?
please read the following :
Lanka Editor finally released: President absolutely ignorant of this detention; how wonderful!
(Lanka-e-News, Feb.16, 2010, 5.30PM) The Editor of ‘Lanka’ newspaper Chandana Sirimalwatte who was detained on orders of Defense Secretary was released today (16) without any charges being filed and unconditionally.
Sirimalwatte was arrested by the CID on 29th January and held in custody for three long months.
Sirimalwatte was produced this evening to the chambers of the Gangodawila Magistrate by the CID and was released. He had already filed recently, a Fundamental rights (FR) petition in the Supreme Court against his unlawful detention and for his immediate release.
The sudden release of the Editor was a consequence of the questions raised regarding his arrest from the President by a non state media personnel at a meeting of leading journalists of the State media yesterday at the Temple trees.
According to reports reaching lanka e news, this release was triggered after the President was questioned by the editor of ‘Ravaya’, Victor Ivan who was also present at the meeting as on what grounds the Lanka Editor is being detained and for what purpose. The President had replied that he was not aware of Sirimalwatte’s detention.
After Sirimalwatte was arrested by the CID on the 29th, he was ordered to be detained for 30 days by the Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapakse. The irony of ironies is that this Defense Ministry is under the control of the President. Besides, the Defense Secretary is President’s brother. Yet, President confesses to his abysmal ignorance on this subject.