Frenemy Freddie has answered himself many times

Dec 09, 2024 Letters

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Dear Editor,

The antimetabole: “Fair is foul and foul is fair” helps to answer the question “Who is Guyana’s biggest sycophant?” This was posited by Freddie Kissoon on November 28, 2024, in his ‘only resort’, that is, the Guyana Chronicle. But a little preamble is in order before I address our ‘frenemy’s’ question, one which makes for a good ‘twist-around’ of his interminable ‘hypophora’ and one which will have its own ‘twist-around.’

Firstly, Editor, I do spare some precious thoughts for you, as many times, because of my brutal onslaught, you either ‘edited-out’ painful parts, or simply did not publish my pieces. I take no offence in this parsing, as it goes with the territory and I remain grateful that I was given space on so many occasions.

Let me now give the answer that predates Freddie Kissoon’s question, making his ‘taking umbrage’ an exercise in imbecility. In fact, there are many pieces in the Kaieteur News I could have used, as he has indeed answered his question in many of them.

Editor, in “Democracy inside three memoranda- Jul 26, 2008” in the ‘said’ Kaieteur News that he is now attacking, and against the said boss he was supposedly servile to, Freddie Kissoon writes about the Chronicle newspaper that “I do not read the Chronicle.” WHY?

Because “I (Freddie Kissoon) eschew the Chronicle because its publication of Governmental items is also contained in the Kaieteur News and the Stabroek News.” It, the Chronicle, flaunts “The new schools, fancy bridges and all that jazz that GINA puts out in the Chronicle, readers find in the two independent dailies and the Mirror.” He waxes really lyrical that in the Chronicle that “(Then) President Jagdeo’s speeches are also carried in the two established dailies. Why read the Chronicle then? (as) I have a particular dislike for the Chronicle for two reasons.” Let’s rehash.

“One (reason for Freddie) is that there have been people put in charge of it Chronicle) since 1992 who lack any conceivable talent in journalism. You could run a pro-government newspaper but you could also make it appear respectable…the Chronicle, since 1992, but particularly the past seven years (pre-2008), has been an atrocious media house that is completely devoid of any journalistic decency.” Like ‘wow’ and I will explain my interjection shortly.

Freddie is relentlessly anti-Chronicle, saying that secondly, “The Chronicle had more credibility, image and dignity when the PNC was in office.” Now his comparison between the PNC and PPP finds the PNC has come out better. Read it for yourselves and see.

So, I will not continue Freddie Kissoon’s inimical posture against the PPP/C, their supporters and their media outlet and personnel. Overall, he was as enamoured by the PNC as he was enraged against the PPP, as for him, “It has to do with competence in political leadership, ingenuity in management and brilliance in political style … All these people (the PPP) could resort to are vulgar and crude tactics.” “This is how they, the PPP again, run the Chronicle.”

 

So that is the answer for Freddie Kissoon for his piece in the Chronicle (November 28, 2024), in which he wants to know “Who is Guyana’s biggest sycophant?” Here, he laments that “I got another interesting one (email) two days ago, informing me that Mr. Glenn Lall’s partner that writes under the penname, Peeping Tom wrote a nasty piece criticizing people who write and support the government and ridiculing them as the world’s worst sycophants.”

So being piqued with embarrassment and riddled with guilt, and being in an untenable position, he retorts that “… two days ago after I was sent the Peeping Tom column in which the writer … was very nasty with people who support the PPP, deeming them as those who are fawning, groveling, and in rhetorical contortions performed by these political footstools (and) defy the standards of human dignity.”

Freddie says that “Those words apply in the most pulsating way to the man who writes under Peeing Tom the past 30 years. This gentleman is virtually a slave to Lall. I simply cannot believe anyone in life can be so sycophantic. And this man has the temerity to call decent people who work for the government as sycophantic.” Well. Well and well again.

I mean here is a recreant and a ‘palhole’ cussing out Peeping Tom. At least Peeping Tom stands by his conviction and shows loyalty. But look at Freddie Kissoon? He is churning out ‘idolatrous patronage’ to the same people, the PPP, whom he used to incessantly ‘cuss out.’

In summation, here are my questions: Which Government is in charge? Who runs the Chronicle? Who has moved from gyrating to hip-wriggling? We now have a lawyer dancing and singing.

The ultimate in sycophancy has to be Freddie Kissoon. He has added a deeper meaning to the word, and he provides himself as the example-the ‘Real McKoy’ and perfect paragon. Just for a joke: he attacks Glen Lall, using cheap personal insults and I am still to hear him, Freddie Kissoon, pronounce ‘deportment’ properly or even produce a perfect alphabetic ‘r.’ Anybody can ‘market cuss’ but Freddie takes the cake.

Yours truly,

Prescott Mann

(Frenemy Freddie has answered himself many times)

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• Chronicle newspaper, Freddie Kissoon, Frenemy Freddie has answered himself many times, Guyana’s biggest sycophan, Kaieteur News

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