June 9, 2014

Dear Sir,

Mr Marc Bean must not tire of seeing his likeness plastered across the pages of The Royal Gazette on a daily basis. He would simply dismiss this as nothing more than an orchestrated campaign to discredit him but when you look closer at who wields the baton to give the orchestra direction and behold it is Mr Bean himself.

On one hand Mr Bean delights to point up so called demon direction of the government clothed in the works of darkness in what is supposed to be debate worth of our legislative chamber. He would have us believe he is the champion of righteousness and truth because he can recite scripture at a moments notice to underscore his superior position on what is right and all that is good.

On the other hand he vile, vindictive, tawdry, profane and low brow in attitude. He is fond of veiled threats of what could only amount to untoward actions to stick it to his political adversaries. Will the real Mr Bean please stand up, is it Jekyll or Hyde the voter want to know as this man would be emperor of this tiny jurisdiction.

His latest salvo of thirty pieces of silver condemnation of the OBA must have had us all rolling in the aisle with laughter when even without our glasses we can see Judas himself in the place of honour in their ranks! If the dropping of selected verses of the Bible is now the new weapon of political warfare it needs to be borne in mind that Mr Bean is not the only one that has a biblical side arm.

The Word of God should not be impugned and cheapened in this way, we must not just be hearers of the Word but doers also. The former premier paid the ultimate price for naiveties in Bermuda as to how in your face kill your political opponents works in this country.

If the leader of the opposition is to speak for the country, as he often tries to do, he needs to put his verbal offerings in the washer for what is acceptable for public consumption.

The Bible is a book of demanding standards, and if your inclination is to quote it in every day life that is a good thing. But, if your life as a politician does not other wise match it in behaviour, you then run the risk of being seen as a hypocrite of the worst stripe.

Our members of the legislature are not expected to be virtuous and without blemish morally, but it is entirely reasonably to have the bar set much higher than Mr Bean seems to be comfortable with. We need to demand statesmanlike conduct, and robust debate with cut and thrust, but the very base, and sometimes hateful remarks, emanating from the mouth of Mr Bean must cease immediately. He has the ability to be a much better man, and prove to us he is worthy of the consideration of this country for its highest office in local leadership. Insulting and nasty name calling will only result in him being thought of as a political thug.

Voter