September 19, 2005

Dear Sir,

Not so long ago, most of the free world applauded the toppling of a dictatorial regime in Iraq.

So, why would the BIC suggest a system in an independent Bermuda, where the leader, whoever he/she maybe, would have: the power over the Governor General, Attorney General, Accountant General and Cabinet?

Power, power, power.

The leader will have the ability to do whatever he/she wants.

Is this the kind of Bermuda we envisioned?

Is this the kind of Bermuda we want?

KIM YOUNG

City of Hamilton

You answer to us

October 6, 2005

Dear Sir,

This letter is addressed to Premier Alex Scott.

At first I wasn?t sure how to react to the release of your accidental e-mail response to Mr. Brannon. Could it be that the leader of my country holds racist feelings towards his white detractors? No, not in this day and age. Was this comment taken out of context? I hadn?t read Mr. Brannon?s e-mail, and don?t know him personally, so maybe there was something else to this story. No, I won?t call the leader of my country a racist just yet, no need to jump to conclusions. I will patiently await his explanation for such seemingly prejudice remarks.

Well, thank you for your letter today. You have now removed all doubt. The leader of my country is a racist. Do you honestly expect the public to accept your explanation/defence of your remark? I would tend to agree the word ?look? on its own has never been associated with racism. But your claim that the word ?look? refers to a certain attitude and behaviour is ridiculous. To quote Shakespeare and Oscar Wilde out of context in an attempt to justify your comments is completely absurd. The word ?look?, if not describing the act of actually looking at/viewing something, refers to appearance. Nowhere in the dictionary definition of ?look? do the words ?attitude? or ?behaviour? appear, and I find it difficult to believe that you are in the habit of emulating age-old literary figures in casual e-mails to your confidantes.

Why didn?t you just say that you were sick of Mr. Brannon?s attitude or behaviour? Because that is not what you meant. No, ?look? (in this case) can only be taken to refer to appearance. So unless you were talking about middle aged men in general, or maybe people with blonde hair, you were referring to white people. The fact that this e-mail was most definitely not intended for Mr. Brannon and the rest of the Bermudian public can only mean one thing. You are sick and tired of taking crap from white people. Well, Mr. Scott, as the leader of a country you can expect to take crap from all sorts, especially when the country is facing a crisis, be it crime, housing, education, public works projects, tourism, or the possibility of an independent Bermuda losing the one thing that is sustaining this Island, international business.

Like it or not, you are my Premier, you are Mr. Brannon?s Premier, and you answer to us. That is how a democracy works. The citizens of a democracy must remain critical of a government, or the democracy does not exist. I find it amusing that you went on to accuse the media of being the cause of all the divisiveness in our society. The media is there to inform the public of the goings on of the day. Are you suggesting that the media be banned from making opposing views public? Will they be acting irresponsibly by printing this letter in a newspaper? Maybe you should take over the media, so that you can filter all the information that gets to the public. If this was the case, you might have been able to avoid the embarrassment of the lengthy list that was recently printed of examples across the globe in which a referendum was used to decide major constitutional issues spanning 100 years.

Mr. Scott, your tenure has been full of double talking, back pedalling, and excuses, and we are tired of it. Most companies on this Island have strict policies regarding misuse of company e-mail systems, particularly e-mails containing racist remarks. I know I can?t fire you, but I can certainly ask for your resignation.

SEAN PATRICK DURKIN

Devonshire

Impossible to believe

September 17, 2005

Dear Sir,

With reference to the Bermuda Independence Commission?s claim that it could find no instance in which a country determined its position or Independence by way of a referendum, I find it impossible to believe that Bermuda is operating at this ethical, moral and spiritual level. Further clarification of this statement is needed.

We are dealing with very serious issues.

A VOTING CLERGYMAN

Warwick