The naefvete9 of Dr M? A portentous poser to the rebel-in-chiefDear Dr M, IN your repvrcussiee broadside against the unimaginative administration you left behind, let me be a wet blanket and slap you with this portentous poser: were you not lopsidedly naefve to think that your legacy and the world class attitude and tangibles you constructed, the ones that made us proud to be Malaysians, would not be left undone? I suppose your naefvete9 was understandable, given that you handed over power to a man you thought, as a religious scholar, reputed Mr Clean and faithful follower, would reliably maintain your sagacious work. You were after all pre-occupied with using him to neutralise Anwar Ibrahim. Nowhere did you ever comprehend his hapless disposition. In giving Abdullah Ahmad Badawi the power you once wielded like a fanatical amateur singer holding on tightly to a karaoke microphone, your well-honed instincts failed to detect ominous red flags, only because they were simply under the radar. You also failed to contend with and neither did you suspect the ambitions of Abdullah's unbaked underlings whose over-seized ambitions thoroughly outweighed Anwar's. Doc, If you too fall on the wayside (I hope not), I would blame it, by your own admittance, on your unshakeable but suspect faith in your appointments, even if your appointees are devils clad in Hugo Boss, Armani or Burberry. So, now you berate and remonstrate, starting from the time you contemptuously dismissed the Malaysian media as being controlled by a Hindu God and Muslim priest. That was an original phrase and I enjoyed the coinage. You know acutely well that the Kalimullah Hassan Brendan Pereira tag team perseveres to deconstruct you into submission. I'm not sure whether you put NSTP group editor-in-chief Hishamudin Aun in the same league, him under hammerlock a long time ago. I'd like to tell you that when he took over in January 2004 after the deserved firing of that appalling loose cannon with the hide of a ghoul Dollah Keok Lanas (I remind you again that you endorsed his terrible appointment as NSTP GEIC), Kali told NST editorial staffers in a closed-door meeting that he wanted to manage the NSTP for ONLY two years although he claimed he was offered a three-year contract. Oh, the slyness. As promised, Kali resigned as NSTP GEIC, only to surreptitiously and suddenly assume the deputy chairmanship. Nobody saw that coming. And a little later, a hastily conceived Editorial Adviser's title, thus extending his power to not just controlling the NSTP but also his influence over friendly rivals in the Malaysian media. Very soon, Kali may well become the NSTP chairman if Rocky's earlier speculation hatches into a disturbing reality. With that kind of comprehensive control in Kali's hands, I'm afraid that you are virtually on your own although many political, corporate and civil service chieftains privately sympathise with and support your cause, disgusted as they are with Abdullah's bumbling management of the Government and the economy, and disdainful of the Prime Minister's callow underlings intervening in his appointment book, and the affairs and business of running the Government. Doc, Your mission is made tougher (more so that you are in a very advanced age, an octogenarian) after several well-placed Cabinet Ministers, they who once owe their allegiance to you, were quoted (coerced?) as denouncing you of unnerving the Government and interfering with their work. The rounding up of these enslaved Cabinet Ministers looked as if they were part of a choir to warble denouncements in perfect harmony against you. Outraged backup singers top it up by conveniently sending mail to the NST's Letter to the Editor's page to complement the hatchet job. Then came that ridiculous conjecture that you would be ejected out of Umno, not that you don't know how being expelled feels. Personally, I didn't think the Umno supreme council had the balls and besides, they are not that stupid although they are capable of drowning in a bucket of water. You can ruminate from the Kali-Brendan muckraking Kali with his rambling New Sunday Times piece (NST June 11) and Brendan with his alphabetic assault (NST June 19) that their vitriol was injected with the Ebola spin treatment and you know how vicious that virus can be. Nevertheless, you have to expect the blunt opposition but if I know you well, you would expect your detractors to take you as a fool. I wouldn't, not even in my sleep. The path to greatness are littered with discards the likes of Musa Hitam, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah and Anwar Ibrahim; all falling ignominiously in the gutters of history after they thought that it was easier to take you on than it is to downsize Pas in Kelantan. I sense the puppet master stringing Kali and the media may aspire to knock you down with the same confidence as your erstwhile rivals, otherwise why take the trouble of doing all the thinking for the Prime Minister. But knowing you, you would sacrifice the pawns, bishops and knights first before you expose your invisible hand. Your over-exposed mouth is a different overture altogether. So, I wait with unrelenting excitement at the outcome of this simmering powerplay, some days it quakes and some days it explodes, which I think will climax in a volcanic eruption or tempestuous tsunami at next year's Umno elections. For me, that would the political wet dream of this decade.Sincerely,Your long-time fan, Bandit