WAG THE DOG

Wag the Dog is a 1997 movie about a spin-doctor (Robert De Niro) and a Hollywood movie producer (Dustin Hoffman) who join efforts to fabricate a war just before the election in order to cover up a presidential sex scandal.

And this is what I have titled my article today. But first read the news report below to be able to follow the discussion hereafter.

I personally know Puchong MP Gobind Singh Deo and have great respect for him. Later he became my lawyer for my sedition trial. In fact, I did not approach him or employ him. He just walked into court with his father, Karpal Singh (pushed in a wheelchair), and informed the judge that he was representing me. He did not even discuss his fee or send me a bill for his services.

Anyway, in the news report below, Gobind asked whether Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak is remaining silent regarding the Selangor Allah word crisis because he is ‘unofficially’ supporting unrest in Malaysia.

Knowing Gobind, and the reason I like him, he is just throwing the cat amongst the pigeons, as I too just love to do. As a top-notch lawyer, he would know that a lawyer never asks a question that he does not already know the answer to.

I mean, when you examine your witness on the stand you already know what he or she is going to say because you would have rehearsed it beforehand. And when you cross-examine the other side you also need to know what he or she is going to say to make sure you are not caught with your pants down.

And you also need to know the truth in case the witness lies. Then, if the witness lies, you can pounce on him or her and tear him or her to pieces — better still if you have documentary evidence to prove that the witness is lying.

That would be how a good lawyer operates and Gobind is a good lawyer, trust me on this one.

Gobind loves to do what I love to do: provoke people. And you provoke people by throwing difficult questions at them that you already know the answer to — and which you know that person would face great difficulty in answering. If you tell the truth you get hooked, and if you were to lie you also get hooked. So damned if you do and damned if you don’t.

So, is Gobind’s question a question or is it a statement framed as a question? No need to answer my question, which is really a statement.

Gobind is not really asking a question. He is not even targeting that ‘question’ to Najib. So, if it is not a question plus it is not a question meant for Najib, then what is Gobind trying to tell us?

Hah! That is what is most interesting and if you have been following what I have been saying the last few years you will know that I have already replied to that ‘question’ a long time ago.

So what was it that I ‘replied’?

You mean you missed it? Well, too bad. I am in no mood to repeat myself so if you missed it then you will just have to wait until I get into the mood to repeat what I have already written about so many times.

Nevertheless, the smarter ones amongst you probably already caught my drift just be reading the title of this article.

Oh, and before you start huffing and puffing and blow the house down, reflect on another ‘wag the dog’ that I always talk about. Do you remember that I always say ‘the tail wags the dog’ instead of ‘the dog wags the tail’?

Yes, that ‘wag the dog’!

Have a good weekend!

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Is Najib tacitly supporting public unrest, asks Gobind

Eileen Ng, The Malaysian Insider

An opposition lawmaker has questioned Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s continuing silence in the face of rising racial religious tension.

Puchong MP Gobind Singh Deo asked whether the prime minister was supporting public unrest.

Najib’s failure to take a stand on the issue suggested that he condoned Umno’s roadshows to “educate” Muslims on a Selangor enactment which prohibited non-Muslims in the state from using the word “Allah” and 34 other Arabic words, said Gobind.

“What signal is Najib, as the head of Umno, sending to his members by remaining silent over such incidents and threats?” he asked, referring to the Malay party that is the prime mover of the ruling Barisan Nasional pact.

“Is it a sign of support for public unrest and strained relations among the people?”

Umno Selangor had lined up 30 roadshows to “educate” Muslims on the provisions of the Selangor Non-Islamic Religions Enactment 1988 (Control of Propagation among Muslims).

Gobind said it was “quite obvious” the roadshows would further rile up feelings of Muslims against non-Muslims.

This comes on the heels of a protest by Umno members last Sunday against the use of the word “Allah” by non-Muslims and the burning of an effigy of senior Catholic priest Rev Father Lawrence Andrew, who had insisted Christians could use the word in their Bahasa Malaysia worship.

“The prime minister must state his stand on the roadshows. He should stop them. If he does not, then it is clear he is encouraging racial tension.

“This will further mark his failure to live up to his 1Malaysia slogan, his promise to be a prime minister for all Malaysians and his call for national reconciliation,” he added.

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