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Something unusual happened in Parliament last Friday. While politicians of every stripe have been invoking U.S. President-elect Barack Obama's name, listening to the debate on Friday I felt some

infusion of Obama's courage and strength of character. In that spirit, I want to acknowledge and encourage what seemed to be going right.

With some justification, the beginning and aftermath of the debate on the Motion to Adjourn garnered most of the media's attention. I confess that some of the comments made were among the more ludicrous I have ever heard uttered in that chamber. However, it was the middle of that debate that was the really good news.

It is only because I want as much as possible to sustain the rational and elevated tone of the debate that I will not comment on the speeches that launched the debate other than to note how much easier it seems for MPs to start and join in a verbal fight than to make substantive contributions to the people's business. I am convinced that one way for much of the rancorous aspects of any debate to be toned down would be for the Speaker to tighten up on so-called "Points of Order".

More often than not these days, MPs jump up claiming bogus points of order - that is, where no breach of House Rules has actually occurred - and then proceed to introduce content on the debate topic, both of which run counter to good Parliamentary practice.

I do, however, want to focus on the MPs who made speeches Friday night that were most worthy of being called Parliamentary.

Dame Jennifer Smith made the shortest speech of the night, promoting a racially inclusive view of voters. Dale Butler followed with a speech that effectively de-fused the volatile tone that was threatening to consume the debate. Randy Horton then called for a raising of the standards of debate.

Ashfield DeVent invited his colleagues to replicate the inclusive tenor of U.S. President elect Barack Obama's election effort which had resulted in Bermudian students, black and white, working on his campaign. John Barritt reminded the Chamber of the adage "You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar," and encouraged MPs to delve below the surface of Obama's victory to adopt the core inclusiveness he exhibited.

From listening to the debate (as opposed to reading about it) I

believe MP Barritt's contribution best demonstrated qualities of

leadership needed by the parties, the House and our country. He

recognised and reinforced the good words from other MPs on both sides of the House, he articulated the problems while refraining from blame, and focused most of his attention on the solutions.

MPs El James, Wayne Perinchief and Kim Swan reminded MPs that they had support from, and therefore had to serve equally, black and white

constituents.

Deputy Premier Paula Cox in closing the debate asked Members to reflect on what had been said and encouraged them to practise what they had been preaching.

I have deliberately included only those parts of the debate that indicated by their tone or content that the speakers were genuinely attempting to apply, not just refer to, the essence of the Obama phenomenon. Our MPs strive for and thrive on our attention. It's quite possible that the more we give attention to what they do right, the more right they will do.

The best possible view of our times is that we are in a time of transition.

If that is indeed the case, it may be hard to see and sometimes painful to endure. Still, judging overall from Friday's debate on the Motion to Adjourn, I believe we are experiencing the birth of something good.[[In-content Ad]]

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