You know our dear Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller needs to do some serious consultation before she responds to stuff she reads in the paper or anything that is critical of her actions for that matter.

When I read the Gleaner story about how Portia and her delegations have spent 10 million dollars on overseas trips, I thought the Gleaner was reaching a bit with that story. A head of state spending 10 million Jamaican dollars on overseas trips is kind of like saying I bought a Porsche 911s Turbo for US$30,000, it's a non-issue. In fact, if anything it's a steal.

We seem to forget that 10 million Jamaican dollars is like what, US$148,000? What can she really do with that except get room and board? You know if she had gone clubbing or had handsome, heavily muscled men giving her massages, we would have all heard by now.

Jamaican money is almost like monopoly money these days, and that kind of spending over a nine or 10-month period, for a head of state representing the country, is really a bargain. There are people who will argue otherwise, but in the grand scheme of things it really aint worth writing a story over. But that's just me.

Minister's mouth

So, when the first words out of the Prime Minister's mouth were that her husband gives her a credit card for her to shop with, I just had to shake my head. What the hell does that have to do with anything? Had she engaged her brain before she chose to respond she would have perhaps argued the way I did at the top of this piece or suggested that the things that she had accomplished abroad for which the country had spent 10 million dollars, was going to be worth 100 times that in terms of investment the whole issue would have died a natural death. All she has now managed to do is provide legs for the story to keep running and running. Newspaper illustrators and radio talk show hosts have been all over that story now that was really not a story to begin with.

What she has also done is make life a little more difficult for men out there whose girlfriends and wives can now successfully argue that if the Prime Minister of Jamaica can get a credit card from her husband to shop, then why shouldn't they? And how do you argue against that, if you're a man? I can see it now. Wife, after reading Portia's comments marches to her husband who is in the living room watching Premier League soccer. She hands him the paper and says "If Portia is Prime Minister and still can get credit card from Errald, why can't I?"

Irritated husband responds; "Well, dear two reasons, I ain't Errald and you sure ain't Portia." And you know, he ends up sleeping on the couch for the rest of the week right? And because women can be vindictive, he can't even get a sniff for weeks afterwards.

So you see, the PM really needs to think a little before she lets these things get under her skin, because as leader of the country the words she utters can have many unexpected consequences.

She should try to learn from what is happening up north and as bad as things are, Portia certainly doesn't want to be remembered in the same light as Bush.

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