Statement
by Governor John P. de Jongh, Jr.
February
7, 2012
It is a sad, sad day in the life of our territory when gossip and slander wash away reason and truth and fairness and commonsense.
It is a sad day in our nation when reckless allegations can be published without substance or verification as part of the smearing of our President or his Attorney General. This kind of broad brush stereotyping was shameful in the days of Jim Crow and it is more so today.
But sometimes the truth must be repeated to serve as a benchmark against which to measure both what is being said and who is saying it. So let me state again -- as I did at the time of the first publication of the outrageous accusation that I have taken bribes -- that this is totally and absolutely untrue. If anyone has evidence to the contrary they have an obligation to us all to deliver such evidence to the proper officials. And in the absence of any such evidence all should know that spreading lies is lying -- and they are liars, spreading gossip and rumor makes them gossip and rumor mongers. That is all they are whether they do it on the street or on talk radio.
There will be those who seek to convert every lie, every rumor, every innuendo to their political advantage. All people of good will in these Virgin Islands, each and every one of us, private citizen and public official alike, has an obligation to work together to find the common ground upon which we must build our future. For if we do not find such common ground, the muck of what is currently being accepted will not hold a future, but will cause it to slip away as if in a mudslide or flood. I stand ready to work with all who will stand up for truth, with all who will stand up for fairness, and with all who will stand up to do the work of building, not destroying, our beloved Virgin Islands.
