Politics, goes an old adage, is two-thirds emotion and one-third intellect. And in the heat of elections, when the battle is soon to be lost or won, the ratio often seems to be nine to one.

Intra-party fights can be as vicious as broad-based elections, or even more so. Veteran political observers remember Pearnel Charles and Rosemarie Shaw being physically assaulted at the 1992 JLP conference. Now, when the unlettered masses, or 'the lumpen' as Professor Don Robotham likes to call them, get carried away and do foolish things, you hear people remark, "Well them just don't know better." But when highly educated people start acting in a totally irrational manner, all one can say is c'est la politique.

There has never been and never will be an ideal government. But this doesn't stop many from judging their rulers by a standard of perfection not found on Earth. Places we Jamaicans look up to as models of democracy and prosperity - Britain, United States, Canada - regularly show large majorities thoroughly dissatisfied with their politicians.

In contrast, many abysmally governed places freely re-elect leaders who keep them mired in poverty and violence. Between 1989 and 2007 for instance, the murder count in Jamaica went from 429 to 1574, and the economy grew by an official cumulative total of less than 10 per cent. Yet the PNP won four straight terms and only missed winning a fifth by 3,000 votes.

It was the kind of scene that takes place every day in Jamaica. A bunch of guys race across a field, one pulls away from the pack, holds out his hands in triumph, and slaps his chest in glee shouting 'A me dat!'. Then he celebrates by dropping a few dance moves to the reggae music that's always pounding in the background somewhere.

The Olympics may be the most unifying international force humankind has ever known. Over a billion persons watched the opening ceremonies in Beijing. And black, white, yellow or brown, who didn't feel a momentary sense of kinship with every one of the 204 national contingents parading by? All different, yet all the same human beings as us. This, too, am I.

"Ladies and gentlemen! It's the big rematch all Jamaica has been waiting for since March 2006 - the battle for the undisputed leadership of the People's National Party, Round Two! In the St Andrew South West corner wearing yellow, is the defending champion, Portia 'Grass-roots Girl' Simpson Miller! In the St Andrew East Central corner wearing traditional orange, is the number one ranked contender, Peter 'Dr Drumblair Establishment' Phillips! Let's get ready to rrruuummmbbbllleee!"

My late grandmother Annie used to regale me with stories about life when she was young. I remember her laughing description of how stunned people were the first time they saw a plane in the sky, especially a next-door neighbour who bawled out 'Lawd a massy! Judgement day come!'

Another thing that stuck in the mind was her puzzled reaction to the increasing murder rates of the 1970s. She just couldn't understand it. When she was young, she recalled, the rare news that someone had been killed was always greeted with amazement that one human being could actually take another human being's life.

Like businesses, countries have their competitive advantages, things for which they have a particular propensity. And what Jamaica excels at, or at least seems to expend most of its energy on, are music, sex and murder.

The last is a matter of record. To quote the January 31 Economist - "Jamaica is the world's most murderous country, followed by El Salvador, Guatemala and Venezuela." And we seem hell-bent on surpassing last year's rate of 59 per 100,000.

It's incredible really. Prime Minister Bruce Golding gets grilled for half an hour on the BBC on a range of critical issues facing Jamaica. And all people here can talk about is one sentence - "Sure they [gays] can be in the Cabinet; not mine."

The Tower Street Correctional Centre, downtown Kingston. More prisons are needed.

"United we stand, divided we fall" goes the old song. And past efforts to reduce our frightening murder rate have, too often, been undermined by public squabbling between entities that, in theory, have the common goal of making Jamaica safer for all.

Hard-core tribalists feel their party can do no wrong, and the other side no right. Criticism of their team or praise of the opponents - no matter how justified by the facts - is unmitigated bias.

But to non-diehards, it's usually no better herring, no better barrel. Wearing orange or green does not make a politician better or worse. The important thing is to swap them every 10 years or so. And honest commendation or blame must be based on actual performance, not party allegiance.