Burch was blunt, angry, offensive... yet deserves respect

There were solid principles at the foundation of almost everything he did and a genuine caring for Bermudians and the way our country is run.

These principles were then vigorously applied, executed quickly and efficiently with little regard for the way most humans think or act or feel.

His actions, as seen often over the years, were devoid of diplomacy, in which common sense was overpowered by a snit.

Motivated

There is always a tension between anger and diplomacy for anyone who cares about righting wrongs.

If you don’t get angry, nothing gets done. People don’t listen, don’t take the problem seriously and don’t get motivated to make the world a better place.

If you don’t do diplomacy well, friends and allies become irritated or disillusioned. Opponents become energized, not disarmed.

This is especially true in politics, where you need to negotiate and compromise, win friends and keep friends, just to get your concerns listened to, let alone acted upon.

You have to be able to entice support out of people who don’t automatically agree with you. And you have to keep doing it year after year, issue after issue.

This is especially true in a small place like Bermuda, where all of us are affected by and dependent upon each other, even when we don’t know it. The people you alienate will, sooner or later, be people you need.

The people the Colonel called “house n*****s” don’t forget and move on, even if he does.

They are not likely to labour through his interpretation of Bermuda’s racial history when he needs their support in developing a better and fairer society.

The people the Colonel suggested were imported prostitutes and immigration cheaters were, as often as not, the housekeepers to international business executives upon whom Bermuda depends.

The people he alienated in his blunt-fisted campaign against foreign land ownership were, most frequently, honest Bermudians with foreign-born spouses.

The balance between anger and diplomacy is difficult to achieve and the Colonel was rarely able to do it. It was strange in a way. There were many occasions when the Colonel was more charming, good-humoured and self-deprecating than anyone.

He could take the time to calmly explain the nuances of highly emotional issues.

But then, inevitably, something would bubble up to the surface and undo the good work.

Ideas

There have been many occasions since the PLP came to power in 1998 when it seemed inevitable the Premier — any one of the four under whom he served — would have declared “enough is enough” and let the Colonel go.

But he seemed to have a mysterious power to survive. It wasn’t entirely mysterious, though — it was hard work, efficiency, honesty and loyalty.

As any Premier can tell you, the problem with elected government is not the lack of good ideas or good will — it is the impossibility of actually getting things accomplished.

Any Cabinet table has a high percentage of political blowhards who lack the ability or inclination to get things done.

Whether the Ministry was Housing, Works and Engineering, Labour, Home Affairs or Public Safety, the Colonel was engaged, energetic and determined to get things done.

But the harm done to the goodwill and standing of his party, his Government and his country, was significant and long-lasting.

Premier Cox, in as much as she had a choice, was right to accept his resignation. It is noteworthy that she is replacing the Colonel with two men, not one.

 The new National Security Minister, Wayne Perinchief, and the new Senator Jonathan Smith are both smart, energetic and more even-tempered than we are used to.

The battle that engaged the Colonel the most — ensuring that Bermudians of all colours can prosper — still needs to be fought.

The new leaders need to fight as hard as the Colonel did — but with a lot less collateral damage.