Welcome to the New Bermuda, a twilight zone where our political leaders exist in a parallel universe, one where up is down, regress is progress and wrong is right. With consistency having no place in the PLP Government it’s become abundantly clear that Cabinet functions as little more than an auto and dining club, a fragmented collection of individuals with competing agendas, little cohesion and a lack of leadership.

The sole unwavering message emanating from the Cabinet Office is that the United Bermuda Party is the big baddie; PLP mantra has long dictated that the UBP are responsible for all that is wrong, nothing that is right, everything that will be wrong and most importantly all that the current Government have screwed up.

What’s striking in all of this is just how much Mr. Scott and his colleagues are emulating exactly what they decry; whether it’s the rolling back of democratic reforms and accountability, back-room deals or most remarkably the discarding of the Holy Grail of “one man one vote”. The PLP Government’s ability to hold entirely contradictory positions on simple issues, blissfully oblivious to the patent absurdity of it all, is impressive.

The PLP’s position on Independence is a useful starting point to demonstrate the extent of the cognitive dissonance which grips our current political leadership. For a party that claims to abhor all things British, their desire to shatter our flimsy but advantageous ties and go it alone is oddly predicated on retaining everything British. Juxtapose that with their fervent desire to entrench Bermuda in Caricom — oddly predicated on rejecting everything it stands for — and the issue becomes all the more unintelligible.

The PLP advocates that we cut ties with the UK — but retain the Privy Council, Queen as Head of State, EU passports and British citizenship ie: keep all our UK ties.

And it advocates joining Caricom but rejecting its raison d’|0xea|tre — the Caribbean Single Market Economy — which includes the free flow of labour, single currency and the Caribbean Court of Justice for example.

Therefore establish no meaningful ties with Caricom other than the Ministerial trips.

It’s little wonder then that no one outside of the ideological fringe find either of these positions coherent, let alone appealing.

But the PLP leadership can’t even remain consistent with their own intellectually inconsistent positions; whether it’s Dame Lois — the PLP’s guiding light and legal advisor to BIC — recommending that Bermuda cast aside the Privy Council, or Dr. Brown — the number two man in Government — recently expressing his desire for Bermuda to expand our role in Caricom’s Single Market Economy.

The Government is as predictable as the weather, hence the increasing public concern. Sadly, it’s not just around policy that Cabinet fails to demonstrate consistency or follow their own advice; it’s also evident in their interactions with those who they serve.

A good rule of thumb in politics is to not insult the intelligence or character of the electorate. Recently we’ve seen both. As leadership starts at the top, let’s start at the top. Several months ago “The Man” led his party straight into the gutter when he publicly insulted the intelligence of the 14,000 registered voters who’d like a direct vote on Independence. Generally that’s not a good idea, and you don’t have to be a PR expert like the Premier to understand that.

But it gets worse. The Premier’s favourite tagline is “Bermuda works best when Bermuda works together”. Sounds nice right? Except he doesn’t believe it, judging by the Colonel’s — who doesn’t care what you think — successful audition for a return from Cabinet exile.

On his officially non-political but obviously totally political radio talk show — the one where he routinely hangs up on callers — the newest PLP Senator uttered a phrase so heinous that it will no doubt supersede his previous efforts at infamy.

Back in August Mr. Burch, frustrated that his talk show callers wouldn’t fall into line like his regimental conscripts, referred to anti-independence black Bermudians as “house n***ers”.

Impressed, Premier Scott promptly invited the shock jock back into Cabinet; because Bermuda works best when Bermuda works together. Or not.

Again, that type of comment isn’t smart at the best of times, but it does seem to fly in the face of the Premier’s professed desire for unity and rational debate does it not? While Senator Burch may not care what people think, he’ll surely think twice about lobbing that slur again outside of Cabinet.

It’s an inconvenient fact for a Cabinet which strives to polarise Bermudians around race, but polling consistently indicates that not just a majority of Bermudians oppose independence, but a majority of black Bermudians do so as well.

Well done Mr. Burch. In two statements you’ve insulted and ostracised 48 percent of the voters who didn’t vote PLP in 1998, and now more than 50 percent of black Bermudians who you deem “house n***rs”. Nice. Welcome to Cabinet.

In fact, whether he cares what anyone thinks is irrelevant. What matters is that most voters will care what he and his colleagues think, and that type of offensive, intolerant and outdated mentality has no place in politics, let alone Cabinet.

A twilight zone indeed.politics.bm