By Bryant Trew

The Sherri J Talk Show:

SS: Did you refer to [her] as a political whore?

MB: No, I referred to their, their behaviour, all the young women in the OBA because I asked the initial questions.

From the alleged BBM:

“I spent most of my time burning Nandi and Toni. I told Toni in private that she is a 10 cent political whore who is shared by best friends.”

Having read the transcript to the November 14th airing of the Sherri Simmons talk show, I can only wonder what was going through the minds of listeners as the Opposition Leader repeatedly made one toxic statement after another. Did listeners believe what they were hearing, or did any part of their conscience lead them to doubt what was being said?

At what point in the spiralling descent did it become clear that something just didn’t add up?

I ask this question, because the interview turned into a mind-blowing circus of epic proportions within the first five minutes.

Sure, I’ve heard or read some truly offensive statements emanating from the House of Assembly. But, never have I heard this kind of incoherent political rhetoric. I honestly cannot recall a political leader ever embarrass every Bermudian in the way that Opposition Leader Marc Bean has.

It’s not just women who should be furious about this tragic sequence of events.

Every single man and woman, at least the ones who reject this kind of degradation of women, should be voicing their discontent.

Sadly, what we’ve seen is a train wreck of excuses:

(1) It couldn’t have happened with so many people around.

OBA MP Patricia Gordon-Pamplin read from a text message that makes clear that the statement was made, and that considerable time was spent delivering hostilities.

(2) He didn’t call her a whore. “Political whore” only meant to describe an immoral politician.

The inclusion of the phrase, “who is shared by best friends,” implies matters of a sexual nature. But if there was any doubt, the talk show transcript states, “…every single one of you young women are doing the same type of behaviour. It appears as if you are trying to get political advancement using the lowest common denominator.”

(3) The language was fine, because they had a private conversation.

As we all know, if this was a place of employment this kind of “private conversation” would result in the termination of that employee. Why should dialogue of this nature be permitted in politics?

(4) Some politicians just need to get a thicker skin.

The last time I checked, the year was 2014. It’s one thing to accept the cut and thrust of politics, but quite another to suggest that female politicians ought to suffer male chauvinism or get out of politics.

These excuses are precisely that — excuses. Women shouldn’t be sexually objectified. No one should have to defend themselves against unsubstantiated sexual allegations related to their political or professional careers. No one should be coerced by a threat to release information about his or her sex life, regardless of whether or not that information is even remotely accurate. The sum of this behaviour is harassment and abuse of power.

I wish I could state that the misogynistic behaviour was the only problem with the interview. Unfortunately it’s not: There’s an insinuation that someone in the political sphere is manipulating the gang situation; There’s an insinuation that CCTV security companies are manipulating evidence; There’s an insinuation that some unknown group has the “propensity to either use the police or the judiciary to silence people.”; And, there’s an insinuation that the OBA is trying to raise tens of thousands of dollars to finance a campaign to bring down the Opposition Leader.

Last, but certainly not least, an incredibly bizarre rationalisation was made to dismiss claims of misogyny: “They just tried to describe me as a misogynist. For those who don’t know what a misogynist is, a misogynist is a man who has a dislike or hatred for women. But, Sherri, wasn’t it two years ago they were accusing me of being homophobic? So how can I be homophobic and hate women? They can’t have it both ways.”

Given all of the above, we should now all be asking ourselves questions like: Exactly what is acceptable conduct?; How should our elected officials treat women?; How should our elected officials treat anyone?

Before attempting to answer that question, first consider that we are dealing with a pattern of behavior. The Premier has been accused of being a drug dealer, the OBA has been accused of being demonic, Ministers have been accused of accepting bribes, Terry Lister has been accused of everything imaginable; Now OBA women are being accused of, “trying to get political advancement using the lowest common denominator.”

My personal answer is: If this is considered acceptable conduct, then I shudder at the thought of what unacceptable conduct is. If Bermuda hasn’t already reached the bottom of the political barrel, and if we are not yet prepared to say “enough”, then I really and truly fear for our future.

Email:bryanttrew@mac.com