Vexed Bermoothes

Over in Bizarro World, the PLP loyalists are claiming that the Premier’s actions to muzzle the Royal Gazette are comparable to candidate Candidate Obama’s evasion of Fox News during the U.S. Election.

That comparison is a farce.

Once elected, President Obama assumed a responsibility to deal with all media outlets equitably.  He certainly wouldn’t dare order Government personnel to cut out a particular media outlet due to his personal dislikes.  You see, the traditions of of free speech and freedom of the press are core values in the United States.

“Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost.”
Thomas Jefferson

As the Permanent Secretaries of the civil service have acted in unity to reject the intimidation of Kenneth Dill (and other civil servants), I hope that Bermuda’s news organisations act in union to reject the ongoing efforts to suppress the free press in our country.

It is hard to believe the PLP’s claims of commitment to accountability, to transparency, and to reform when so much effort is spent on spin, on coverup, and on power plays.  The PLP will need to decide:   are they they party of their traditional values, or are they the party of Ewart Brown?  Many will argue that there is a large gulf between the two.  The dissenters – as do those in the UBP – must decide whether to remain in a party or to seek a new parliamentary grouping.

It is very damaging to Bermuda’s future that, in this time when so many people around the world are looking at Bermuda to judge whether we are the Gold Standard™ we claim or the tax haven we are called, we suffer such a constant circus of scandals, mismanagement, and poor governance.

Clamping down on the media doesn’t cure those underlying conditions.  It allows them to fester.