Vexed Bermoothes

Politics.bm recently posted that Bermuda’s recent self-destructive gunplay has its roots in our rancid political environment where “anything goes” in the name of political point scoring.  It’s easy to write this off as a curmudgeonly rant, except for comments like this from the new Commissioner of Police:

“They know they are supposed to fight with this group of people but they don’t know why … The flashpoints all seem to come from this concept of disrespect … They are not random, they are not for monetary gain, they are not robberies gone wrong or house break-ins. They are cold-blooded assassinations that come from a place of retribution and vindictiveness. We need to ask the community what is making these people feel like this.”

And indeed, this warped tone of fighting over respect and petty retribution has been set at the top. Much of the public dialogue in Bermuda is about respect for our politicians because of what they are … not about what they have done for the community’s benefit. From the massive focus on the trappings of power, to engineered fights in Parliament and in the media, to the constant racial baiting and “blame game”, many of our Government leaders seem to apply their most fulsome efforts towards demanding respect rather than earning it. The result is that our leaders come across as sneaky, divisive, and self-interested rather than devoted to building community.  In short, they are known for who they are rather than what they’ve done.

Tell me, which is more worthy of respect a leader who pays for “grin and greet” snapshots with famous people around the world, or one who puts the hours in on the street to build bridges and working with the common man?  So much of the grassroots power in Bermuda is expended on political games – demanding respect – rather than strengthening our  community … whether that’s back of town or the business sector.  Any politician who thinks that gaining “operational control” of the Police will keep the peace is admitting that he is out of touch with the community.