by Edward Hutcheson

Talk show host Darrold Miller seems to be a very “touchy” person on some issues; he refers to some of them as “old stories”. This week I called in to comment on the Commissioner of Police’s statement of him leaving the Police Force if an officer that he had discharged was allowed back on the job. I tried to get the point across that the Commissioner may be fighting a battle at both ends of the playing field; especially on the end of the field where elected officials go to bat for their constituents, constituents who may have fallen afoul of the law themselves in many government departments. I must insert here, that this is a problem on both sides of the political divide.

I tried to give Mr. Miller one of the classic stories about political intervention, but he refused to hear it. So I beg your indulgence Sir, Madam. About thirty years ago a student was sent home for R.M.Bailey High School and returned in an chauffeured government vehicle. One of Sir Milo Butler’s daughters was Principal at the time. She told the police officer to take the student back to the person that told the officer to drop him off. She also stated that if the student was allowed to come back to the school of which she was Principal she would not stay as Principal. Mr. Miller must understand, that until we deal with the “old stories” we are going to see history repeating itself; to our pain and regret. It is my opinion that some of our elected officials in government  have always contributed to the crime problem and we who benefit from their “interference” do not see it as a problem. It may be the recognition of this problem that helps us to turn the corner on the issue of crime, but as long as those in the media who are responsible for accurately disseminating the truth, that is even in the “old stories”, do not fulfil their professional obligations with passionate clarity, the nation will be at a loss. Mr. Miller is very passionate about what he does but he seems to have a “jaundiced perception” on the issues that he thinks are either dead or settled.

We may call them “old stories” because they represent aspects of the culture that we see as normal, acceptable or necessary tools in the outworking of our political philosophies, and this is the stuff that every generation has to nail to the wall if we are to make sense of where we are in the present. I appreciate the work that Mr. Miller is doing but he seems to get rattled by “documented” historical perspectives. Talk show hosts need to have good memories, because their listeners seldom deal with problems that have their genesis in the present, as most politicians would want us to believe.

August 26, 2013