Editorial

Perspective: International Assholes Of The Year 2020

January 18, 2021 | By Hopeton O’Connor-Dennie |

To qualify for this rather dubious designation or distinction the individual must have uttered or acted in such a manner to bring him or herself into ridicule or the system into disrepute. It could simply be discrediting a proven and tested system like wearing a mask or washing your hands to avoid the spread of Covid-19, or refusing to recognize the importance of vaccination or refusing to maintain Social Distancing as advocated by the World Health Organization (WHO). Just to name possible areas for one to earn this award of International Asshole of the year.

Some of the nominees score overwhelmingly in many areas. In fact you could say have proven to be overly qualified for this award of International Asshole of the year 2020.  It is not funny!

USA

Donald J. Trump for his false utterances that voting by absentee balloting leads to fraud. Yet, he and his wife have used the system repeatedly.  His unsubstantiated claims that the election was stolen from him and his 64 such lawsuits against the voting that changed nothing. His inciting his supporters to take to the streets which resulted in riots and a mob attack on parliament in the USA resulting in 5 deaths. Finally his second impeachment which is historic for inciting a mob who attacked Parliament. The above earned him without doubt “Asshole of the year 2020” for the USA .

Runners up are:  Rudy Giuliani for encouraging Trump to file false claims on the validity of the polls.

Cohen a lawyer and fixer who lied and was convicted for Trump.

Trump male supporter who said putting antiseptic in his vein as stated by Trump could cure COVID 19.

Canada

Justin Trudeau earning a third ethics violation for allegedly dipping into “We Charity” Funds.  His wife also benefited from this fund. Justin Trudeau’s character came into question. This action along with others have earned him Asshole of the year 2020 for Canada.

Blackface

Trudeau was basically excused for the Blackface fiasco as it was felt that it was just a weird prank. Also he was not in public life then.  The Conservatives saw the incident as racist. This was to likely fuel their political agenda.  The public did not buy into that idea, as Trudeau was never portrayed as a racist in the media or elsewhere.

SNC Lavalin Scandal

The SNC Lavalin Scandal was also seen as a politician trying to secure jobs for his constituents.  True or false he was by and large given the benefit of the doubt.  The aspect of this SNC Lavalin Scandal that really hurt Trudeau was the fallout from Jane Philpott’s and Jody Raybould Wilson’s resignations. Jody in particular was more damaging as she was a Native Canadian (First Nation) decedent who was a qualified lawyer, and the first such to rise to the high office of Justice Minister & Attorney General of Canada. That resignation, in my view, did cost Trudeau some votes. He also handled the matter poorly. There was the perception that he was pressuring Jody to break the law to prevent Lavalin from criminal prosecution.

Ironically, she ran as an independent candidate after that fallout and won her seat in the Federal Parliament for Granville.

We Charity Affair

When a public official is accused of dipping into funds entrusted to them for say a charity, persons in the streets view such infraction differently. The average person is forced to live off a tight budget, yet public officials especially at the level of the PM gets free transportation, housing and other perks.  These officials live virtually free off the tax dollars. So for them to be seen as double dipping that is a no no or rather a low blow. The public sees this as greed and of a serious character issue. One of untrustworthiness and a low down act.  Mike Duffy had a similar problem, he had to resign from government.

Teflon

The Justin Trudeau brand is so strong that he has been described as having Teflon qualities.  His brand name and dynasty qualities have been his saviour so far.  Apart from that he is a smooth talker and projects a great image for Canada on the domestic and international political landscape.  Justin Trudeau is a charmer with credible charisma.

Trudeau is still lucky to have kept his job as PM despite his many indiscretions.

Runners up was a the Shooter from Nova Scotia who killed an RCMP officer and others without cause. The Ryder Van killer who is an Incel, who killed 10 innocent lives. The Provencal MP who resigned after traveling overseas from Doug Ford’s government.

Jamaica

Zahra Burton

Here is a really bizarre case of a supposedly professional journalist who for reasons still no clear to many chose to use her privileged access to a live zoom press conference being beamed from Jamaica House to ask Health Minister Dr. Christopher Tufton:

“Have you ever cheated on your wife?”

Asked Zahra Burton, journalist of 60 degrees North.

Tufton responded:

“That is none of your damn business”

Dr. Christopher Tufton responding to Zahra Burton’s intrusive question.

The silence after Tufton’s response was deafening.  That exchange, became the talk of the town for a while.  Vision carried a well visited perspective on the issue. It was likely the biggest story that was visited by Vision’s readers for 2020.

As a public official Dr. Tufton’s morality is critical,  but the timing and place were considered inappropriate for such a question. Burton earned the distinction of being awarded “Asshole of the year 2020 in Jamaica. Since then we have heard very little from Burton. Prior to that there was a threat of a law suit from the PM for certain allegedly unsubstantiated charges bordering on corruption by Burton’s investigate team. We have heard very little of that matter also.

Burton had some support from alleged fringe elements who seem to have had been on a political agenda to embarrass the Andrew Holness led JLP by using the Tufton/Burton imbroglio as a launching pad. That dissipated as quickly as butter on hot concrete.

Disrepute

When the dust settled it was widely felt that Zahra Burton had brought herself and the Journalistic profession into disrepute.

Runners up were:

Lisa Hanna, failed presidential candidate for the PNP, had said “if I knew I would one day be offering myself for PNP leader, I would have treated people differently.”

Norman Horne knew he was a US citizen and was not eligible to serve in the Jamaican Parliament, yet he kept deceiving the party. Horne triggered a Constitutional crisis in the Senate, by refusing to resign and they could not dismiss him.

Renato Adams ex SSP in the police force. His US visa was revoked for alleged Human Rights abuses. He said he has always upheld the Jamaican constitution and was innocent. The Crime Management Unit (CMU) he headed, was disbanded after public and international outcry after certain controversial killings. They were also accused of planting illegal guns on victims they killed.  Four victims included was a woman who it is alleged were killed in cold-blooded fashion, in Krawl Clarendon was the last straw. There were other alleged atrocities by the CMU. The unit was disbanded after that event in Clarendon.

Foot Note

If you found the above Assholes of the year funny. Then that was the objective. These were serious issues with a funny spin put to them.  Please note that we do not endorse such misconduct.

Hopeton O’Connor-Dennie is a veteran journalist who has a passion for politics and has International exposure.

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