Dear Editor,
My hope is that the President gets it right with his latest word wizardry of “step on the accelerator.” I am going to give the benefit of every doubt to the President, even though I cannot reconcile this with his bearing and his standing, since he has been less than a convincing figure on most matters. To be sure, step on the accelerator has a certain flair and energy about it; I wonder if that came compliments of the US Embassy, for it has a distinctively American flavour about it. I should know, having lived with most things compressed into a pithy phrase, a catchy call, or a barb-wired battering ram.
I examine the four words marshaled on a string, and congratulate His Excellency for success in that regard; it could be a sign of great things in the making for 2023. I suppose he was talking about 2023, and not 2033 or 2043. Somebody should do a little verifying with the people that matter on that score. But I already have concerns about this bold presidential pronouncement of step on the accelerator. First, the accelerator may not be connected to anything of substance; hence, it is all kinetic energy spouted for no reason other than to fill space. Second, step on the accelerator runs into a severe headwind when there is no gas in the tank, or the fuel pump. Step on the accelerator, as much as it pleases (bore a hole through the vehicle floor), it is still no go. If the intellectual horsepower (gas) is not there, then nobody is going anywhere; step on it as much as is desired. But be careful, step too hard and then time has to be wasted fixing things to get back to starting base.
Third, the accelerator may be stepped on vigorously, but not much can be hoped for; not when the entire machinery around that foot pedal is rickety. The President ought to know of what I speak, and of which his UAE friends are most familiar, can enlighten. Fourth, I shall pretend that this step on accelerator of the President has connection, and it has gas behind. Then what and to where? When the direction is hazy, locked up in one man’s head, then that is a music sheet for misstep, mistake, and missing the mark. Step on the accelerator, Mr. President, has wonderful acoustics about it, but if the journey is undefined and the destination unknown, then there is only much spinning of wheels, and ending up nowhere. In other words, nothing but running in place, as if on a treadmill.
In closing, I notice that the President (or his people) have a knack for these jingles that are tested internally and found appealing. The problem is that in the real world, they are exposed for what they are, which is empty, not well thought out, and meaning nothing. For emphasis, absolutely nothing.
Sincerely,
GHK Lall