The Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) Member of Parliament for Fox Hill Fred Mitchell gave a spirited contribution during the budget debate yesterday.  He ended chanting "Bahamians first" as his opposition colleagues banged on the desks of the House of Assembly in support of him.  Members of the governing Free National Movement (FNM) heckled from the other side.
During his contribution, Mitchell spent a lot of time addressing the United States diplomatic cables being published by The Nassau Guardian.
"Here we have a press that does not support the PLP.  They oppose the PLP.  They have now used their resources to get these so called cables. They do not get an independent panel to edit and release the information. Instead they arrogate to themselves the right to selectively choose what to release," said Mitchell of the cables obtained from WikiLeaks.
"Now in a situation where there is support for the FNM why would anybody not be surprised that the PLP is the subject of these attacks with the same tendentious propaganda and slogans of the FNM now repeated in the mouths allegedly of U.S. diplomats."
The Nassau Guardian has no political affiliation. It has chosen to publish the diplomatic cables just as esteemed media companies -- the New York Times, The Guardian, La Pais, Der Spiegel and Le Monde -- around the world have.
In the region, The Gleaner in Jamaica has also obtained the cables on that country. The Gleaner is publishing the Jamaica cables as The Nassau Guardian publishes the cables on The Bahamas.
We did not write these cables.  Officials from the U.S. Embassy in Nassau did.  The Gleaner did not write the Jamaica cables.  Officials from the U.S. Embassy in that country did.  Mitchell and the PLP must accept this simple fact.
Let us be clear that the written words of the cables contain the words of embassy officials and their views, but mostly they echo the spoken words of the Bahamian persons then being interviewed.
All the words of Bahamian participants were freely given and must have reflected what those individuals thought and felt at that time even though those same persons may be somewhat embarrassed regarding those same words now.
The time period covered by the cables is an accident of history.  The media simply has in its possession what was leaked.  The Bahamas cables mostly cover the PLP's last term in office from 2002 to 2007.  That's just how it is.  If the cables mostly covered the FNM's period in office, the majority of the stories to be published would be about the FNM.
The Nassau Guardian has been responsible in how it has handled the cables.  The stories written by our team of journalists have been measured and analytical, fitting with the overall style of the paper.  We prefer substance to fluff; we prefer examination as opposed to titillation.
If the U.S. diplomats did not think highly of the PLP, the PLP should examine their critique.  The Americans were not just reciting FNM propaganda.  They worked closely with the last PLP administration for five years.  The opinions they expressed in the cables are based on that interaction.
The PLP should be very concerned that senior diplomats from the most powerful and richest country in the world think that its leader, Perry Christie, "has a well-deserved reputation as a waffling, indecisive leader, who procrastinates and often fails to act altogether while awaiting an elusive consensus in his Cabinet," as was reported in a cable.
The Nassau Guardian thinks the Bahamian people should know what the U.S. thinks of Bahamian leaders.  The majority of the tourists who visit our country come from the U.S.  If the U.S. blocked its citizens from visiting this country, there would almost be no economy in The Bahamas.
Mitchell and the PLP should relax.  The publishing of these cables, worldwide, is historic.  Bahamians have been fascinated by the insight provided by our stories.  Historians will use the cables, and the stories written on them, to write about this chapter of the human experience in The Bahamas.
There is no anti-PLP agenda or any pro-FNM agenda at The Nassau Guardian regarding this process.  Such an assertion is silly.  We have written about the FNM and non-political actors too and we will continue to do so.  In fact, the PLP should be happy that a fair and balanced newspaper such as The Nassau Guardian had the initiative to obtain the cables.  If certain other papers in The Bahamas had obtained them, the cables certainly would have been used to attack the PLP.
We are a responsible paper.  We have made no such attempt, and we will make no such attempt.  If Mitchell and the PLP are upset at what was said by the Americans, they should go see the Americans and have a chat.  Attacking this newspaper, based on what was written and thought by U.S. officials, is illogical.
 

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