Dismissal of dangerous driving charge was half slackness, half dangerousness

Dear Editor,

I was shaken to read that a man was freed from dangerous driving. If nothing else, the freed driver, a known quantity of immense proportions, must be complimented for the vast, and hitherto unknown, scale of his night vision now revealed. He did work wonders and make the light of understanding come to places where utter darkness reigns supreme for most Guyanese. With almost military precision, a well-organized and well-oiled machinery sprang into being. First, there was that suddenly discovered breathalyzer equipment malfunction, then that staggeringly swift verdict. If something of this kind had happened to Janet Jackson (of Super Bowl wardrobe malfunction fame), she would have had no alternative, but to be similarly coy. As I like to say, these things happen.

The problem is that that same piece of newly detected impaired component of this nation’s justice machinery has to provoke many others, less fortunate before the bar (not the liquid one), to question how come this did not happen to them when their moment of truth came; that they did not get a round on the house for being a customer of copious capacity. Perhaps, I venture, they lacked the required resources. That is, possession of that same kind of night vision spoken of earlier, which causes shadows and shadowy people to respond to the light of promptings. To be brutally frank: they didn’t have what it took to evade the hook. But whether they did or not is not the issue. Point blank, it is this: that breathalyzer could not have been used just in this one instance for that entire year or so. And if it was, and my belief is that it is so, then any convictions against those found guilty must be quashed. How about freedom for some Christmas cheer: a holiday pardon? One where no tithes and professional Santa stockings and other such silliness, are involved. Just the facts, ma’am and let the majesty of the law take its course. In this country, that majesty, no matter how grand it is believed to be, is a little ragged and worse for wear these days. The machinery suffers from too much overuse while in reverse gear. Judicial reform, anyone? While I am at it, things are so far gone down a certain road here that, for its own good, it would be healthy if the entirety of this country is placed under some form of reform. Since I am in the same boat, simply for being stupid enough to be here, that would have to include me. The plus side is that I should be able to get a close up of some characters of interest, many of whom would be in a state of withdrawal from truth and reality.

All considered, that decision is a real ‘eyeopener.’ For Guyanese unaccustomed to the strong stuff, there is gagging from swallowing the hair of the nasty dog that bit; the way that it was served, compliments of police and magistracy, it had to be downed without even a chaser. It was down the hatch, take it or leave it. I know one man took it and ran for the nearest comforting bar. I suspect that Guyanese, who may have been negatively impacted by that unreliable piece of breathalyzer equipment (yeah, that one again) have problems taking it similarly joyfully, Xmas and all. That leaves one question: of all the suspect pieces in the GPF armory, how is it that it was that one that was drummed up to be part of this copyrighted song and dance?

I know that it delivered as planned and arranged. The same arranging that creates settlements bigger than the one at Bath; and the sweet silent sounds of Simon and Garfunkel. I call this police and judicial democracy. In the simple exercise of writing about this, I want to throw up. Let’s drink to that but remember, two drinks minimum. To paraphrase Voltaire: this is half dangerousness, half slackness, and totally Guyanese wickedness.

Yours truly,
GHK Lall