HAS Bermuda Inc. become Fiefdom Unlimited? What we should all now want to know regarding the widening "Pay-to-Play" scandal is: Did Dr. Brown act with the Premier's knowledge or with perhaps his acquiescence?

Dr. Brown solicited funds from "perfect strangers" (as they have turned out to be) at a luncheon, like funds to be deposited into Dr. Browns personal account to enhance his political career, or what have you.

What of honour now that the situation has been exposed as "Pay for Play"?

Are we to see a reprimand?

Perhaps, dare we expect a full explanation as to the facts?

An honourable resignation?

Will "The Man" please stand up.

Let us wait and see.

Hollow rhetoric

IF the '60s-era rhetoric now being brandished about by Independence advocates ever had any legitimacy on these islands; its time has long since passed. These days, however, it rings as hollow as our limestone caves.

Quite aside from invoking Frantz Fanon, it occurs to me that even the use of words like "colonialism", "empire" and "mother country" are as glaringly inapposite here as the so called cash-crops that failed so miserably in the first years of our settlement.

We do not, and never have lived in what Pitt the Elder once termed "sordid affluence" nor are we bound by "gilded chains". In fact, we have remained free and prosperous through a tradition of self-governance and sovereignty.

To confuse figure-head Governors with colonial overlords is, in my humble opinion, much like mistaking windmills for giants.

But alas, Mr. Editor, it seems neither history nor reason can penetrate the Premier's . He and the cabal he leads now seem intent to "liberate" Bermuda, . Yet, despite the numerous platitudes; the Premier has failed to convince a sceptical public of his ambitions.

Is it any wonder that a new flag and anthem seem to be the most enticing benefit of sovereignty for most Bermudians? If poll numbers and attendance at Bermuda Independence Commission meetings are any guide, six months of the Premier's "education" has achieved precious little. Perhaps that's because his official justification of Independence remains as seasonal as the of the Iraq War. And as absurd.

Or, more likely Mr. Editor, it has more to do with his continued insistence that a General Election be the apparatus for such a decision.

It is precisely this fixation which has cost him any public trust he once had on the issue of sovereignty. The Premier's determination that Bermudians elect Independence, not simply vote for it, contravenes both international and domestic opinion.

Yet, while the Premier might have taken leave of his senses (political and otherwise), we may be comforted to know that the Bermudian public has not. Bermudians leave their course to fate; but know better than to stray from the path it has charted for us. They know, Mr. Editor, that the prudence and pragmatism that has guided us so well leads away from yellow bricked cul-de-sacs and red herrings.

Curiously, however, the Premier seems undeterred by his wavering popularity. For in recent months, the Premier has approached this issue with a brio scarcely exhibited in any other pursuit. It's hard to determine, Mr. Editor, whether the Premier actually subscribes to his own fairy-tale notions of sovereignty. Certainly the decidedly unpopular nature of this venture must have occurred to him by this point?

Still, he seems to view sovereignty as the machinery to deliver the divine solutions to our many problems; a panacea better suited to alchemy, not to sober-minded politics. It's an approach that is either Panglossian in its optimism or Machiavellian in its duplicity.

However, the Premier does his reputation and indeed, his country, no great service by continuing this. He's seen as a rebel with the wrong cause, a knight doffing common sense and girding plastic armour for a battle no-one else wants to fight, a revolutionary manqu? whose delusions of grandeur are surpassed only by his capacity for make believe.

At this juncture Mr. Editor, the Premier risks losing more than votes and credibility: he risks dispensing with the indispensable. The divisive nature of this experiment could, if left unchecked, tear asunder the delicate social fabric Bermudians have weaved. Rhetoric laced with racial overtones and arguments could succeed at turning this share of Elysium into a dystopia not even the Premier could excuse. All this for an exercise that is, at very best, quixotic.

Considering recent events, comparisons between this Premier and a certain fictitious would-be Spanish knight are not completely unfair. The Bermudian incarnation as certifiably misguided, with intentions far less noble.

If, perchance, the Honourable Premier happens to read this, I'd encourage him to direct his idealism towards activities that better serve the public good. Until then, I will, with much regret, continue to write letters like this one.

Lame-brained bleating

THIS weekend's was full of informed letters discrediting the lame-brained bleating of Alvin Williams on the subject of Independence. This will all prove to be useless as Mr. Williams is clearly both blind and deaf to anything resembling a fact. He is also firm in his conviction that anyone who disagrees with his out-of-date ramblings must be a racist, despite the fact that several of them share Mr. Williams' racial background.

I share the opinion of his critics. Mr. Williams is, however, entitled to his opinion even if it has long been thoroughly discredited by any number of serious scholars. What I cannot abide myself is that Mr. Williams' endless ranting and raving has become an intolerable, numbing bore. I used to read his column; I doubt if I will ever do so again.

What about the cuckoo?

BASED on the increasingly bizarre mutterings coming from both Alvin Williams and the Bermuda Independence Commission, neither the cahow nor the longtail is an appropriate bird for post-Independence Bermuda to adopt as a national symbol. How about an ostrich with its head buried in the pink sand? Or maybe the cuckoo?

And given the fact that the thinking and unpleasant rhetoric of both Mr. Williams and the BIC remains mired in the radicalism of the late 1960s, I have the perfect national anthem for an Independent Bermuda. It's from thesoundtrack - . Or perhaps the Rolling Stones' .

Clean up your act

I HAVE been a visitor to your island at least 12 times since 1978 and I must agree with Mr. Jim Woolridge as stated in your report by Colin O'Connor concerning "Woolridge fires broadside over mega-ships plan" (, June 10).

I have travelled to Bermuda by cruise ship twice and by air the rest of the time. Enlarging the cut in St. George's would destroy a beautiful spot.

I can remember when the Norwegian ship had to lay at anchor at the Dockyard. If mega cruise ships need to call at Bermuda provide all the facilities at the Dockyard. Bermuda certainly does not need to put these ships in Hamilton or St. George's.

Transportation from the Dockyard can certainly be improved to ferry your guests to Hamilton or St. George's at the other end of the island or provide a docking facility at the St. George's end that will not destroy what you have there. You would think that somewhere at the old United States naval base there would be some place to dock the mega cruise ships.

A few comments concerning your island: Like here in the US, drivers drive way too fast. I cannot for the life of me see why anyone would want to get to the other side of your paradise as fast as Bermudians are now driving. You only have 21 miles from end to end. What's the rush and where are you going to go?

As far as the increase in crime, Bermuda has one of the highest standards of living in the world. I would think that you can better capitalise on that and convince the residents to get on the bandwagon and clean up your act. I love to visit your island and have made friends there.

Don't destroy what you still have and rebuild what you had. Friendly residents, a safe, crime-free island and the most beautiful place on earth.