?You must be a little crazy? to achieve a great political vision, those attending the UBP?s Annual Banquet heard on Saturday night.

Former Newark, New Jersey City Councilman and community activist Cory Booker, who spoke at the UBP?s 40th Anniversary Celebration earlier this year, was brought back for a resounding encore at the Banquet, held in the Fairmont Southampton Princess?s Mid-Ocean Amphitheatre on Saturday.

Preaching his theme of embracing diversity and believing in the power of one to take action, Mr. Booker peppered his speech with humorous anecdotes ? all of which had an empowering moral at the end.

?What you all are doing is not logical,? he told the audience ? adding that throughout history others have been killed for standing up for their values.

That being said, it was such greats as Socrates and Martin Luther who stood the test of time while ?politicians who run after popular opinion come and go like the wind?.

?You must be a little bit crazy,? he said. ?It?s the only way we will advance.?

Calling on those listening to treat the world?s problems as their own, he said the essence of leadership was to ?be the change you want to see?.

?If you want a country with change, you must pay for it with your action ... I ask you to engage in this insanity. I pray this party shows the world you are nuts.?

UBP Leader Grant Gibbons promised the UBP would stay the course and continue fighting. Public service is a public trust, he said.

?Politicians have a duty to the people they serve to maintain the highest standards of integrity in Government,? he said. ?It seems we?re seeing less and less of that these days, and you?re not alone if you think Bermuda is headed in the wrong direction.?

Nevertheless, Dr. Gibbons said the decrease in morality appeared to be a world-wide trend.

?I think we?d all agree that we?d benefit from more exposure to great books, whether it?s the Bible, the Koran, or even Shakespeare, because they are full of stories whose simple moral lessons remain relevant century after century.?

Bermuda?s leaders must also lead by example, he said. ?How can we expect (young people) to value truth, fairness and compassion when our senior public officials lie and use their positions for political gain?

?How can we ask our young people to exercise self-discipline and good judgment when every day their public role models lower the bar??

With just 17 members of the UBP in Parliament, however, he called on the rest of the membership to raise their voices.

?Don?t accept the steady deterioration of Bermuda?s moral and social fabric. Don?t allow a culture of sleaze to destroy the Bermuda previous generations worked so hard to build.

?Sign petitions. Write letters. Attend meetings. Call in to talk shows. Hold the current Government accountable for their performance and their stewardship.

?After all, what Bermuda will be like in the future depends on the decisions and choices we make today.?

But yesterday PLP spokesman Scott Simmons hit back at Dr. Gibbons, saying the Opposition Leader must be suffering from ?political amnaesia?.

?Their moral destitution was exemplified in their marginalisation of working Bermudians and perpetuating fear and intimidation in Bermuda,? he said as the war of words regarding the lack of ethics and morals in Bermuda politics continued.

?The Opposition continues to show they are unfit to govern this Country with their disgraceful efforts to rewrite history and seek redemption from voters with schemes of so-called economic empowerment.?

Declaring the Government is progressing with ?relentless regularity?, Mr. Simmons finished: ?We will continue plotting a course that promotes economic prosperity for all Bermudians, regardless of ethnicity, corporate and academic inclusion, and upward mobility for our forgotten and disenfranchised people.?