Barrow is bogus

by glenntillett@yahoo.com

Hansard, the printed transcripts of parliamentary debates in the Westminster system of government used throughout the Commonwealth, is replete with examples of parliamentarians finding ways to call their colleagues insulting names but yet staying within Robert’s Rules of Order “for fair and orderly meetings & conventions.”

Most deliberative and/or legislative assemblies conduct their discussions using Roberts Rules of Order. Anyone who’s ever quarreled with anyone else knows that allowing members to hurl insults at each other leads to fractiousness, chaos and even violence. It is for that reason that Robert’s Rules demand that “remarks must be courteous in language and deportment,” that is that members in their speeches should “avoid all personalities, and never allude to others by name or to motives.”

According to information widely available on the ‘Net: “Henry Martyn Robert was an engineering officer in the regular Army. Without warning he was asked to preside over a public meeting being held in a church in his community and realized that he did not know how. He tried anyway and his embarrassment was supreme. This event, which may seem familiar to many readers, left him determined never to attend another meeting until he knew something of parliamentary law.

“Ultimately, he discovered and studied the few books then available on the subject. From time to time, due to his military duties, he was transferred to various parts of the United States where he found virtual parliamentary anarchy since each member from a different part of the country had differing ideas of correct procedure. To bring order out of chaos he decided to write Robert’s Rules of Order as it came to be called.”

On Monday of this week, Dean Barrow again violated Roberts Rules of Order and insulted all those Belizeans who have been clamoring for decency in the conduct of members in our House of Representatives, by making up a story about reading an Afghan book as a device to call former Prime Minister Said Musa a “jackass.”

I was not surprised by the patently transparent device or the choice of word because after years of observing Dean the Divider, you can detect a pattern. He is no Renaissance Man, but rather a cardboard cutout who preens and prances by plagiarizing others’ wit and wisdom.

It is one of the reasons Evan Hyde called him “Plastic Man.”

Last September in what should have been an off-the-record moment, United States President Barack Obama said of entertainer Kanye West: “The man is a jackass.” He had been asked what he thought of West rudely interrupting another entertainer during her on-stage, acceptance speech at an awards show.

For obvious reasons both the incident and Obama’s subsequent remarks were much grist for the international media mill and I am sure even Dean Barrow heard it.

And just a few weeks ago, Evan Hyde referred to columnist G. Michael Reid in the same way in the pages of his newspaper. This was also the subject of much discussion in that nexus where political and media affairs circulate to create discussion so again, I am sure it did not passed unnoticed below Dean Barrow’s lofty perch.

Barrow’s behavior in the House of Representatives continues to deteriorate leading me to continue to wonder if it is a side-effect of his pain medication. He is, by his own admission, suffering from a severe back ailment and vertigo, and both are painful and confusing disorders.

As a fellow sufferer I can empathize because I know how irritable back pain can make you. Vertigo I imagine, can be discombobulating to any intellect, especially one as purportedly prodigious as Barrow’s.

Take the time to observe our Prime Minister’s deportment, as obverse to his behavior, while he is in the House. I’ve concluded from my observation that words like erratic (wild mood swings), neurotic, (intense emotional outbursts), frightening (veins popping in face and neck), come to mind.

I do not condone name-calling, the deliberate derogatory labeling of others with the objective that you will somehow be elevated by their humiliation. Members of the House are leaders, and when they lead in that fashion there, it is translated into the streets here.

I note that on the ‘Net two of my friends came up with a few synonyms to describe Barrow’s behavior in the House on Monday, and I thought I would share them with you. They all obviously begin with the letter “V” and even if at first thought you don’t agree, I think there are a few other words that could be added to the list. The awkward thing for me, and I hate to admit this, is not only the fact that I agree they are all apropos, but that I too had to look up the meaning of the last one: vitriolic, verbose, violent, vituperative, vain, venal, vindictive, vicious, vile, villainous, verminous, the Vitiator.

Barrow is bogus.

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