Separating The Wheat From The Chaff

By Gambian Outsider!

Today is veterans’ day in the United States. I have the day off from work. And no, I am not a veteran. This is a consolidated article. I was thinking about writing an article to respond to Mr. Babu Soli’s commentary on Mr. Ousainou Mbenga’s article entitled “A Message to the Gambia Soldier; ‘Secret Service’ and Police.” As I was trying to juggle my schedule to start writing, then came Mr. Missionary, Sammy Sarr’s article on the same topic entitled “Messages to the Entire Gambian Security Forces.” Hence this consolidated article. I will begin with Mr. Babu Soli then move to the despot’s mouthpiece in the diaspora, Mr. Missionary!

PART I

Mr. Soli began quoting a Mandinka saying, “Though goats don’t bite, a desperate goat will undoubtedly bite.” Mr. Soli believes that Mr. Mbenga is a desperate goat, but he never tells his readers how and why Mr. Mbenga is a desperate goat. Mr. Soli, do you really know Mr. Ousainou Mbenga? I do not think you do. I know Mr. Mbenga. I have not seen or talk to him and his lovely family close to ten years. Mr. Mbenga has been living in the U.S. at least thirty years if not more. He is a responsible honest man. He is a great husband and a great father. He is free to go anywhere in the world except Gambia. He is not worried about anyone. He does not fear for his life. He is certain of what he says and where he stands as evidenced by his writings. Can you say the same things about your Master? Now you should know who is truly desperate.

So, to start with, your “desperate goat” label is baseless. I cannot understand why when someone writes something that you people do not like, instead refuting the writer with facts and reason, you retort to name calling. Your style demonstrates your lack of critical thinking ability. Of all the Gambians who write online, there are only two, in my mind, whose positions are unmistakable. These two persons are Mr. Ousainou Mbenga and Mr. Mathew Jallow. These you great Gambians have their respective fingers on exactly what Gambians are dealing with in the person of the despot. Most Gambians lack a true understanding of the despot, but these two get the real picture. Most Gambians think this is child’s play, but these two gentlemen know that this is no child’s play but something serious where persons may lose their lives. Most Gambians write because they feel like it, but these two write about the seriousness of the problems in the Kingdom.

You wrote “[r]eason and logic are the only things that separate human beings from animal. You have already been animalized since you have lost reason and logic by calling for an arms uprising within the ranks of our women/men-in-arms.” First, it is only reason that separates human beings from the “other” animals. I point out “other” before animals because human beings are animals too. Animality is the most basic thing that human beings have in common with the “other” animals. Second, reason is not synonymous with logic. Even those who are not familiar with the rules of logic like your self, use reason. For example, you cannot say a thing is illogical if that thing does not have reason at all. Logic presupposes reason. Logic, as a science, formulates the rules that govern the mind to think correctly. Logic, as an art, is a means to an end. Third, how can Mr. Mbenga be “animalized” as you put it if he is already an animal like all human beings are, as I have just pointed out? Here is one more point, a person can lose his or her reasoning ability, but no person alive can lose his or her animality.

I believe you meant to say that Mr. Mbenga’s article to The Gambian men and women in uniform is baseless. Is that really true? Let’s look at the facts, shall we! Mr. Mbenga calls the men and women in uniform to be on the side of the Gambian masses “I hope this message finds you in the highest spirit of readiness to be on the side of the Gambian masses as the tyrannical Jammeh regime is on the brink about to sink to the bottom of his filth and waste.” The quotation is the opening of Mr. Mbenga’s message. Now you accused Mr. Mbenga of calling for an uprising within the ranks of our men and women in uniform. Wow! From where did you get that? Should not the men and women in uniform be on the side of the Gambian people in a way? Or are you saying that they should not be. If they should not be on the side of the Gambian people, then on whose side should they be? What you wrote answers this question.

Mr Mbenga went on to say that “The Jammeh regime undressed the entire army out of their uniforms of integrity, dignity and pride and dressed them into ‘uniform of brutality.’ This action didn’t go unchallenged. Many of you resisted his barbaric behavior resulting to death, disappearance without a trace, imprisonment, forced exile and illegal dismissal ending in unemployment. In fact, you the soldiers, “secret service” and police caught the brunt of Jammeh’s monstrous behavior. You make up the highest number of victims in Jammeh’s dragnet of terror” This quotation can be verified. If what he wrote is not true, bring facts and refute him. But instead, you went into the name calling business. And by the way, the men and women in uniform can write and say what they think.

You wrote, “This is the last vestige of a villainous call from an unpatriotic breed from the animal world. The synopsis and synthesis of a neocolonial and counterrevolutionary henchman who believes in the sustenance of the status Quo. The status quo of a one/two-tribe domination and manipulation of an entire population. Those days are over in The Gambia.” Are you serious? Have you been reading what Mr. Mbenga has written over the years? What exactly do you mean by the “the synopsis and synthesis of a neocolonial and counterrevolutionary …” ? You appear to be a person who loves to hear the sound of his own voice even if what you say is a bunch of horse shit!

The status quo in the kingdom is the King. You can call the despot whatever name you want, but this will not change the facts. It is so funny that when people like you and the Missionary sing the praises of the despot, the next thing he does undermines what you say about him. Stop the ridiculousness of painting a picture of the despot that does not exist. The despot is true to himself and proves it everyday. How come the things he does and say are always the opposite of what guys like you say about him? His speech in Brikama is the most recent demonstration of who he is. So please stop this person worshipping already!

Here is the simple fact: Mr. Mbenga is against the despot running for a fifth term and you support the despot seeking a fifth term. Over twenty years of the despot’s rule is not enough for you. Bless your heart!

PART II

The Despot’s mouthpiece in the diaspora in the person of missionary Sammy Sarr also wrote about the same issue entitled “ Messages to the entire Gambian Security Forces.” Before getting into what Mr. Missionary wrote in his piece, I want to make a comment on his previous article entitled “President Jammeh is for a United Islam in the Gambia.”

I personally thought Mr. Missionary made some valid arguments in that article. He put forth the position of the few imams he accused of having “Boka Haram” mentality and argued that their position is wrong by pointing out that, there is a better scientific and reliable method available to determine certain Islamic feasts. Now, I said his argument was valid. I did not say his argument was true. Validity and truthfulness in logic are too different things. Some readers were outraged by some of Mr. Missionary’s language and they responded to that and missed the point.

Here is what I mean. A few weeks ago, I wrote a three part article in which I demonstrated to Mr. Missionary that “certainty” is not absurd. You see, Mr. Missionary initially quoted Voltaire on the absurdity of certainty. If certainty is absurd as Mr. Missionary holds, then why did he rely on a scientific method, that he claimed the Saudis and other Muslims use, if it were not because of the reliability and certainty of the method? He claimed that the method is accurate and therefore certain, which may be the case, but on the other hand, he also agrees with Voltaire that certainty is absurd. Whew! Mr. Missionary, where the hell do you stand on this man! And what would be your answer if those few “Boka Haram” imams tell you that the so-called method use by the Saudis and other Muslims is uncertain? In one place you agree with Voltaire about the absurdity of certainty and in another place you are singing the praises of a methodology’s accuracy. If you maintain that you still agree with Voltaire then your argument against the imams is bogus, and if, on the other hand, you maintain your position against the imams, then you contradict Voltaire. This is the true meaning of a dilemma. And logicians call it “the horned argument.” Mr. Missionary, you have been HORNED or shall I say you have HORNED yourself! I expect you to talk yourself out of this one like you have always done. You are truly an expert in this business! One in a million!

On to Mr. Missionary’s message to the Gambian Security Forces. First, it is important to all Gambians to be aware of who the messenger is. Mr. Missionary ran away from the despot’s clutches, came to the U.S, and applied for asylum and is free as a bird. And now he is telling you men and women in uniform that being enslaved by the despot is a great thing. In order to do this, he employed what is called reasoning by analogy. He gave you a narrative of the Iraqs, Syrias, Libyas, and Liberias of the world and that if you decide to free yourselves from being enslave by the despot, what happened in those places will happen in the Gambia. Whew! So, he would rather that you people stay enslaved. The first question that jumps to mind is why did he left The Gambia in the first place? The second question is, in the despot’s twenty years rule, Mr. Missionary was telling you how bad the despot was to you, and now he is telling you how good he is to you. If you want to believe him, I say go right ahead!

Since Mr. Missionary employed reasoning by analogy is his article, let’s see how the same method of reasoning would work on his various positions over the years. If one is to go by Mr. Missionary’s positions in the past, and which are the opposite of his current position, then it follows that one can validly infer that because he lied in his book in the past and in his other online articles about the despot and The Gambia, he could be lying about what he writes in the present. So you see why Mr. Missionary’s message to the Gambian men and women in uniform should be seen for what it is. Nonsense! baloney! hogwash! balderdash! hokeypokey! hooey! Of course, I can dismantle his argument line by line but I won’t bother you with that boring stuff!

Most Gambians believe that Mr. Missionary should be ignored as an afterthought. I believe that is a wrong move. Mr. Missionary is hired by the despot to counter Gambians in the diaspora. So if he is ignored, that will give the despot the impression that Gambians in the diaspora are defeated. Whereas, if you expose him, you show the despot that both he and Mr. Missionary are frauds.

PART III

Here are my predictions for the coming election in the Gambia. The Despot will win because he controls everything. He will win because he will once again use the machinery of the state at the disadvantage of the opposition. He will win because he will intimidate the Gambia people who do not support him and these people will stay at home on Election Day instead of go out to vote. And after the election is over, his praise singers will take the percentage of votes he got as proof that the Gambian people love him. This is how it has been and I do not see any changes this time around. My advice is to not be too emotionally invested in the process.

Ends