Dear Source,
I am absolutely incensed that, at this time when the economy of the Virgin Islands is being gravely battered by the ripple effect of the Sept. 11 terrorist actions, one of our simpleton senators — Norma Pickard-Samuel — has the audacity and outright rudeness to condemn her fellow Americans who just happen to live on the mainland as being "slave masters" who "walk all over locals."
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Editor's note: See the news story "No Virgin Islanders for RLS Hospital CEO spot".)
How dare she! Just who does she think she is? The only requirement to apply for any job within the Virgin Islands is that the person be a legal resident of the United States. Brain-dead as she appears to be, it's pretty obvious to clear-headed thinkers that the person picked for the job should be the most qualified, not the most local. I mean, really.
With an attitude like hers and the power she wields — locally only — the Virgin Islands will never get out of the mess it's gotten itself into oftentimes because a local was given a job over a possibly more qualified fellow American.
That's like saying the firefighters from New Jersey shouldn't have gone to New York City, because the weren't bahn there. Or that American Airlines and Delta Air Lines shouldn't fly to the Virgin Islands, because they come from off-island. Or that off-island corporations like Pueblo, KFC, McDonald's, Marriott, Wyndham, Holiday Inn, Ritz-Carleton, etc. should not be allowed to operate in the Virgin Islands, either. How petty. How retarded.
From what I have seen over many years, one of our biggest and most damaging problems has been that the V.I. government doesn't hire the best, we hire the most local and politically connected — because "off-Islanders think they are slave masters and walk all over locals." Maybe it isn't that the off-islanders walk all over locals but, more likely, that they are professionals who have a job to do — and find that, once they arrive to do the job they were hired to do, they encounter anti-American bigots like Norma Pickard-Samuel. Maybe that's why they leave before they have completed their assignments.
Come on, Senators, get a grip on reality. Rome is burning, and you guys are fiddling! The economy is suffering, and some of you continue to supply and support the tools of destruction. You are no better than the traits you complain about. Stop shoving your head in the sand, and wake up! Do the right thing.
The people of the United States Virgin Islands need, expect and fully deserve nothing but the best. And it really shouldn't matter if you're from St. Thomas or Detroit or Guam for that matter. If the person meets the job criteria and accepts the compensation package, then that person should be considered. Hire the most qualified, not the most local.
Oh, and by the way, Madam Senator, stop already with the racial remarks. You sound like an old, worthless, broken record. And you're only alienating your constituents and fellow Americans. Remember: United we stand, divided we fall. It's all o' we!
Patrick Deery
St. Thomas and Miami
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