They are the most detested and despised figures. Their names are forever etched in infamy, and have actually become synonymous with disloyalty. Indeed, the pages of history are stained with the identities and dastardly deeds of notorious traitors, but in the interest of time and space, we will cite only a few.
Benedict Arnold is one of the ugly names in the rogues’ gallery. Arnold switched sides from his high rank in the American army, to collaborate with the enemy British in the 1780’s. His treachery resulted in severe losses for the Americans, because he was privy to the location of weapons depots and troop positions. Arnold was a disgruntled soldier who felt that he’d been passed over for promotions, so he defected to the British, betraying his country. Sigh!
Then there is Marcus Junius Brutus, a Roman senator, and one of the murderers of Julius Caesar, the Roman Emperor, in 44 BC. According to the historical account, Brutus and his co-conspirators, cornered Caesar in a hallway, stabbing him twenty-three times, and leaving him to bleed to death. William Shakespeare, in his great tragedy, JULIUS CAESAR, shares that as the slain emperor’s life ebbed away, he looked around in disbelief, and saw Brutus, his erstwhile close friend and confidante, standing with the assassins and covered in blood. Shakespeare writes that the betrayed emperor declared in dismay, “Et tu, Brutus?” It was such an unkind cut. Actually, Brutus’ treachery is deemed to have been so abhorrent that Dante Alighieri, he of DANTE’S INFERNO, consigned him to the lowest and hottest level of hell.
Then there is Delilah who seduced and then betrayed Samson. We’re quite familiar with that sad story.
Then there is Judas Iscariot, undoubtedly the most despised of all the world’s traitors. According to the scriptures, he was one of the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ, and the one who infamously betrayed him with a kiss. Sigh! Judas gave up Jesus to the Roman Sanhedrin for thirty pieces of silver. Needless to say, his was not a happy end.
Then there is a misguided young man from St Mary’s South, whose name will hereafter be associated with sneaky, conniving, backstabbing behavior. It is not difficult to imagine that when the United Progressive Party (UPP) candidate for the St Mary’s South constituency felt the point of this man’s blade in his back, that he looked around in shock and exclaimed, “Et tu, Brutus George?” Here was ‘Shugy’s’ erstwhile campaign manager and friend, turning coat and running against him. Caesar is nodding knowingly in his tomb.
As our very own Shermain Bique-Charles reported in yesterday’s DAILY OBSERVER [August 3, 2023], in an article entitled, SHUGY SAYS FORMER FRIEND DWAYNE GEORGE ‘BETRAYED’ HIM, Shugy shares, “’I spoke to him the night before the announcement was made. I heard that it was going to happen, and I didn’t want to discuss it over the phone. I wanted to have a face-to-face, man-to-man, chest-to-chest conversation with him. . . . He told me that whenever he has time, he would let me know . . . I saw him the next morning and expressed the same sentiments that I wanted to see him . . . he said that he would link me, and then the next day, I heard the breaking news.’ He said that George’s action had shocked him, as George had not given any indication that he was planning to sever ties with the Opposition Party. There was no indication . . . he did not tell anybody. There were a lot of people in the branch that respected him, including myself. We all feel hurt, disappointed, and betrayed. It’s shady, and not a move of character, and not a move that any leader would want to have attached to them. It is a bad way to start. . . .’”
Of course, the good gentleman traitor, who was further made a ‘pappy-show’ when he was sworn-in to the Senate at Government House yesterday, has been trying feverishly to explain his low-down double-dealing, but nobody believes a word of his pathetic ramblings. And we will certainly not repeat them in these good pages, after all, we do not wish to sully our publication with drivel. Suffice it to say, he has made a dreadful miscalculation. He CANNOT win, and after his little dirty dance with the Antigua Barbuda Labour Party (ABLP) is over, he will find himself alone, wallowing in irrelevancy.
Why he would wish to cast his lot with an unpopular (and increasingly so) ABLP is a head-scratcher. Did he not consider that he will never again be trusted? That folks will always watch their backs whenever they are around him? Schoolchildren are saying that the good gentleman traitor was peeved because he was passed over to replace Corthwright Marshall in favour of Kelvin ‘Shugy’ Simon, and he became bitter and resentful. True, he stayed on Shugy’s team, but he was not a happy camper, and reports are that even when he was on the campaign trail, some of his spiel sounded more like he was campaigning for himself, rather than for Shugy. How like Benedict Arnold he looks?
Which beggars the question: How can a turncoat look at himself in the mirror? We suggest that it is a rather difficult proposition, especially for him, because bodybuilders are forever preening and posing in front of mirrors. They are always looking for more definition and bulge. It is the nature of the business – the eternal quest for the perfect body – were talking ‘lats,’ ‘abs’ and ‘pecs,’ – the ultimate six-pack! So when the good gentleman traitor looks in the mirror and flexes his muscles, he will be disgusted by what he sees. It will not be a pretty picture. True, the body may very well still be an impressive specimen, but his visage will be contorted with malice, envy, resentment, spite and treachery. He will see in himself, what normal people with a heart and a conscience also see in him. And he will have to avert his eyes. Talk about loathing and disgust!
And the sound of Shugy’s voice, and the decent people of St Mary’s South, will be forever ringing in his ears, “Et tu, Brutus George?”
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