Focus on contents instead of the writer

Jul 08, 2009 Letters

Dear Editor,
I am replying to an untruthful charge leveled against me by Mr. Mohamed Z. Rahaman in a letter published in Kaieteur News of June 12 in which he alleged that “I never supported Barack Obama for President”.
People are free to support whoever they wanted and change that support anytime. And what does it mean to support a candidate? Merely writing a letter praising a candidate is not enough political support. Supporting involves working the phones and the streets not watching a candidate on TV and cheering him in one’s living room.
There is no truth to Rahaman’s allegation that I did not support Obama. Rahaman does not know me and I don’t know him. Therefore, it is impossible for him to know my personal activities especially who I supported in the Presidential election. Vishnu Bisram campaigned for Obama for President and also worked with him during the 1980s when I was an officer in student government (at CCNY) to protest cuts in grants for college students. We had some of those student aid cuts restored because of the struggle waged by myself, Obama, and other student leaders. I doubt whether Rahaman was ever involved in such a struggle.
I do not know what motivated Rahaman to focus on me instead of the contents of what I penned and my many activities on behalf of Guyanese in America. It is very clear that Rahaman is motivated by personality rather than contents. Let me state categorically I do not know Mohamed Rahaman and never met him and I don’t think I want to meet someone who is not an asset to Guyanese.
He claims he wrote letters in support of Obama published in CNY in which I pen a weekly column and occasionally news reports. I never read anything penned by Rahaman that was published anywhere.
It does not seem to me that Rahaman was a supporter of Obama. He did not claim to work to get Obama elected as President. Records will show that I made phone calls on behalf of the Obama campaign to encourage voters in the swing states down South and West to vote Democratic. It is a fact that I have been making phone calls during every election cycle (almost every year) for the last two decades to vote for candidates who are or were pro-labour candidates, pro-minority, pro-immigrant. I campaigned for Bill and Hillary Clinton, Al Gore, Greg Meeks, Elliott Spitzer, David Dinkins, Mario Cuomo, and many candidates for every local, state (Governor), City (Mayor) and national elections. Also, ever since the last Presidential campaign began more than two years ago, I encouraged people to vote “Democratic” because I felt we needed a change from the disastrous direction of a failed President Bush. Furthermore, my views on the need for change from Republican control of Congress and the White House are reflected in the Guyana dailies as well as in the NY Caribbean weeklies in the many letters, reports and columns I penned. I wrote positive comments of Obama in CNY on Oct 31, Oct 24, Oct 17, etc.). On Oct 31, for example, I wrote “it was impossible for McCain to defeat Obama”.
The fact that I supported Democrats or Obama in the 2008 election cycle did (does) not mean I should not be fair, balanced and objective in my analysis and reporting in the media. I wrote and still write as I see things and not untruths as Mohamed Rahaman did in his letter attacking me.
During the election campaign, I wrote dozens of columns and news reports on polls and issues relating to the election.
Instead of focusing his attention on me, Rahaman would be well advised to focus on the contents of my writings. Instead of spending his time unproductively looking to find faults with others, he should engage in some positive activities that will benefit the Guyanese or immigrant population in America.
It behooves Mr. Rahaman be honest in his remarks and not level false charges.
Vishnu Bisram

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