? William Hazlitt

IF ? as some suggest ? governments are formed in the image of their makers (the people, not gods) then Bermudians have almost certainly been given the Government they deserve.

A dismal spectacle, an unholy triumph of incompetence, this Government is not the creation of some foreign conspiracy. It is not the fantasy of an inimical or deceitful press. Nor is it a struggle against the remnants and ruins of a Government now seven years vanquished.

When governments fail (as this one has in such spectacular fashion) we need only look inwards. The unseemly truth of the matter is that this disaster was born of our own ills. While it's alarming that this little island could have given rise to a Government of such feeble ethics and woeful misrule, it's not at all surprising.

Now, I think Mr. Editor, and only now Bermudians are beginning to recognise the perverse culture now pervading through their chambers of Government. It's their own.

Ours is a people not necessarily given to the ideal citizenry. Not quite the diligent guardians of democracy; the attentive voters who monitor closely the workings of their Government and stand ready to hold it to account. Complacent and apathetic, Bermudians demand so much from their Government and then expect so little.

But it's a terrible thing to see the ethos of the corrupt in one's Government. A bloated sense of self-importance, a moral elasticity that will pardon the most shameless corruption, an utter contempt for the laws they are charged with making and scorn for the sorry fools who obey them are all the unmistakable trappings of the corrupt. If these unhappy traits aren't depressingly familiar to your readers, then perhaps they should consider the men they have entrusted to handle our affairs.

Enter Alex Scott. Imbued with a profound ineptitude and an unfailing ability to confound whenever he speaks, P. can claim responsibility for the greater part of the toxic disillusionment now girdling the island.

But it's unlikely he notices Bermuda's ongoing demise. He seems to operate in a world so far detached from the one the rest of us inhabit, it's unlikely that minor nuisances such as the housing crisis have any bearing on him.

Indeed, the gates surrounding the Cabinet building seem to guard a realm immune to the taxing demands of objective realities. When occasionally P. does venture into our world, it's usually to make some speech or statement ? in his usual grandiose magniloquence ? so hostile to the truth it's quite remarkable the man can say it without confusing himself.

But the men who seem most likely to succeed Scott hardly offer a more positive alternative.

Take, for example, Senator Burch.

Affixed with a seemingly irremovable scowl, he recently made an unexpected (and generally unwelcome) return to politics. Apparently he was the answer to the Premier's pledge to address "those elements within our community which seek to divide us".

Only a few months into the job, "the man who gets things done" has been doing just that ? with decidedly mixed results. He certainly has done more to inspire confidence than his hapless predecessor ? which is not exactly a distinguished accomplishment.

What little headway he has made to resolve Bermuda's continual housing deficit has been overshadowed by his almost reliably unpleasant nature.

Holding forth every Sunday on his radio programme, the Colonel serves his dual role as apologist / propagandist-general for the Progressive Labour Party.

While offering the most pathetic defences for his own failed Government, he spouts the same tired prejudices and hatreds of the United Bermuda Party which, he must know, has kept his party in power for an entirely undue length of time.

Occasionally (one can always detect the reluctance in his voice as he deigns to hear the opinions of others) he 'opens the lines'. Under subjects like, "What's right with Independence", he permits men of similar narrow-minded convictions to endorse his opinions by allowing them to embark on their own vitriolic rants. Those with opposing views are branded "idiots" or "house-niggers" and sent quickly on their way.

This anecdote may seem to lack relevance. But in many ways, it speaks to the character of the man who now presides over two of the most important Ministries. It's lamentable that this type of lofty contumely is not at all uncommon in the PLP.

Consider also Dr. Brown. Intelligent and generally well regarded he seemed to many the obvious heir apparent to Jennifer Smith's troubled throne.

Yet his intellect was rivalled only by his desperate ambition. It was a grievous fault, and he may yet pay grievously for it. For in the coup he engineered three years ago he played Brutus ? and his hands are yet unwashed.

Unfortunately for Dr. Brown, the desired outcome of his post-election rebellion (namely, his ascension to the office of his ) was not to be. Instead a compromise (in every meaning of the word) was reached.

We've had to live with the results. Thus, the image of the scheming conspirator, one who rationalised his desperate grasp at power with statements like "we misled you because we had to", could become the unpleasant legacy of a doomed political career. But it's not likely.

This, after all, is Bermuda ? a place where political norms and customs that hold sway elsewhere lose their sovereignty. But the Minister's thirst for power is one we will satiate at our own expense. For men who seek power or office on their own terms, without regard or concern for the public, rarely become more favourable after they attain it.

A man who would dispense, within hours of its delivery, the will of the people simply to pursue his own tawdry ambitions, who would divide the public by exasperating racial tensions for his own gain and who so clearly sees himself above the laws he was entrusted to uphold and defend is no more worthy of Premier's office than it's current occupant.

I suppose at this point, Mr. Editor, we should consider what might have been. Nearly two months ago, Dr. Grant Gibbons took his seat in the relative obscurity of the backbench. Somebody should have thanked him for his service. With his departure passed the hopes of many, including my own, that someone would soon make right the piteous disgrace masquerading as Government. Alas, when his untimely departure was announced it could not have come as any great surprise. It was all tragically predictable.

As an observer of Bermuda's parliamentary scene, I can attest that Dr. Gibbons is not the perfect politician. But in the House, his integrity and intellect are entirely without peer. He has the wisdom of a scholar, the civility of a statesman and the principles of a genuinely honest man. He shall be missed. He shall be sorely missed.

What a pity it has come to this.

As Bermudians go about their affairs alienated and disillusioned, the housing crisis continues unabated and a failed education system is dooming another Bermudian generation ? all of this as we pin our hopes on the many drab mediocrities who now comprise our ruling class.

Politicians need to become heroes again.

They need to defy the cynical expectations with which they are elected and act to inspire confidence and give reason for hope. And those who elect them need to become willing participants in this process and not reluctant onlookers. That's the only way things will change.

And change they must. For if things are to remain the same, the price will be dear.

Just consider what a mere seven years of apathy has achieved. The Bermuda Housing Corporation. The Bermuda Independence Commission. The near total loss of confidence in the Government.

And then there's Berkeley. It has been said by some that the site might become a lasting monument to Government ineptitude and neglect. Perhaps, though, it will closer resemble a memorial of sorts; entombing our hopes and aspirations that were so cruelly abused and then so mournfully abandoned.

@TIMES-18:Beyond criticism

I DO not know to whom we must attribute the very potent comment "power corrupts" but he must surely be looking down on Bermuda and saying "See! I told you so."

We the voters elected ? just barely ? a very eager but inexperienced group of people to govern our country. Seven years have proved, with two or three exceptions, that they are completely unqualified to do the job.

Why else would we, the taxpayers, have to pay a crew of so-called consultants to help them do the job we elected them to do? To add insult to injury, they have the gall to expect us to approve an exorbitant increase in salary.

The plain, unadorned fact is, that their power over the millions and millions of taxpayers' dollars has lulled them into feeling beyond criticism.

We know that Germany coped with the aftermath of Hitler, Russia coped with Stalin ? will we one day have to cope with a dictator?