stations have produced a few amusing moments amid the difficult political news of the past few weeks.

They are, of course, a misconceived exercise in futility. At least one station is admitting that the polls will not be accurate. Why do them? Clearly to entertain.

That does not mean that they are valueless. They have provided some smiles so they are entertaining and that is what broadcasting is mostly about.

The row over whether VSB or ZBM had the idea to "poll'' first is amusing. It is also entertaining to watch Telco stand aside and allow both companies to pour in, and we suspect waste, their money.

Telco quite rightly did not discriminate or provide a first come exclusivity.

It demonstrated admirable control in the very even-handed way it took the money. That's quite correct even though it might annoy whichever station thought it had the jump and was going to stage the great "poll'' coup which would tell the public nothing useful.

Come to think of it, that sounds like most television programming. Telco was quite right to state its case. It sells telephone services to those who ask for them and pay for them, as the general manager said: "We provide facilities for those who want them. We don't discriminate in anyone's favour''. OK? The polls may also be very amusing for people who now have a chance to play games with Independence by registering their "vote'' with whichever station.

Perhaps it would be fun to register pro at ZBM and con at VSB. Telco will at least laugh all the way to the bank. Then you can rush next door to your neighbour's phone and ring ZFB. Oh, they are not in this game. Well, maybe they will be soon.

Of course the whole exercise may be futile. It has been suggested that the possible answers supplied by ZBM do not correspond with the question. As nearly as we can judge, the question which includes "with all the other issues facing Bermuda'' is so loaded that little else matters.

As for the VSB question, "Are you in favour of an independent Bermuda?'', the answer surely is, "Yes, of course. We all are. Bermuda is cussedly different and independent. We would not have it any other way. But if they ask if we are in favour of Independence it may well be another matter for about 65 percent of the people. But then, given these "polls'', those people who care might have voted a dozen or so Telco enriching times.

"Polling'' like this should be treated as fun and it would be funny if it were not so pathetic. The truth is that it is also dangerous. These "polls'' cannot and will not be accurate but may well mislead some of the people no matter what they pretend to show if that is not made very clear. Surely even ZBM and VSB will not suggest that the "polls'' represent anything at all except the result of a game.

Independence for Bermuda is a serious issue and it is not the immature game VSB and ZBM would like to make it. Considering Independence is not entertainment and it should not be treated as such.