Omar and the Bean’s Talk

While I am trying to avoid discussing local politics on this blog, I do feel the need to address some matters relating to public health which are coming to a head in Bermuda of late – especially as we’re in the midst of our fourth wave.

As such, I thought I’d take some time and look at various aspects of what one may generally categorise as the anti-vaxx protest movement. This post itself restricts itself to simply replicating an interview that was held in the advance of the covid protest on Sunday, May 2nd, 2021.

In the run-up to this event, Mr. Marc Bean (leader of the Free Democratic Movement) was interviewed by Mr. Omar James of a local Facebook page “The People’s Group“. While the description of this group is that it is “dedicated to creating an open, honest, and accountable government that serves the public interest; and empower all people to make their voices heard in the political process” it is currently dominated by what I consider covid or vaccine skeptics.

While there are a plethora of covid or vaccine sceptics throughout Bermudian social media at the moment, the interview with Mr. Bean provides a useful starting point for reviewing this phenomenon. It does not cover all of the key points argued by these persons, however, it is notable in providing many of their key points and comes from someone who – whether you agree with him or not – is a community leader. Indeed, his interview was widely shared and celebrated by covid or vaccine sceptics, and it is likely that through it the interview will help solidify the narrative or ‘movement’. As such, I thought it would be useful to take a look at what is being said.

I need to stress a few things here:

1. This is going to be a long post. You might not read it all at one time, but feel free to read it in chunks. I debated writing it in a series, however I decided it best to keep it whole.
2. Originally I envisioned fact-checking or contextualising the speech in situ. However, that would more than double the length of the post, so I’m just providing the transcript of the interview here so I can refer to it in posts as needed.
3. I’m not interested in attacking Mr. Bean or the FDM in this or subsequent posts. Their utility is simply to provide a useful resource of themes common within this covid protest movement; those are the targets of my critique, not the individuals or organisations itself, with, I suppose, the exception of the formal protest organisation, the Bermuda Freedom Alliance. I’ll look to, in future posts, address some key issues raised, namely: (i) The Great Reset Conspiracy; (ii) Rights & Responsibilities; (iii) Covid Creation Conspiracies; (iv) Communism & Covid; (v) The Composition of the Covid Protest Movement. All of those are somewhat captured in this interview in terms of source material. So this post is more a foundational resource for future posts.
4. For abundance of caution, I am not endorsing anything in this interview. Quite the opposite.

You can watch the video here.

I have done my best to transcribe the interview. I am not a professional transcriber, however, I’m confident I’ve done at least a decent job, and you can compare the transcript with the actual video.

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OJ Greetings, everybody. This is Mr. James representing the people’s group. You can find us on Facebook, we don’t have a website just yet, we’re still in the early stages of our development as an organization, but we have a very special guest here today. The honourable and very respected Mr. Marc Bean, former Leader of the Opposition and current leader of the free democratic movement. How you doing today Marc?

MB Greetings Brother Omar, how are you my brother?

OJ I’m good, and thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to come and have a conversation with me. Um.. well, before we get started just for anyone who isn’t aware. Can you explain what the free democratic movement is all about?

MB Sure, first of all thank you for having me on your show. It’s a privilege and an honour. The Free Democratic Movement was formed, um, upon Premier David Burt’s call for a general election in September 2020, and it was formed based on core principles. The core principles are freedom and liberty and those core principles of freedom and liberty, uh, should be exemplified within governance structures in the form of transparency and accountability and truth and justice and righteousness – most important – and so, um, when you apply those principles within the overall, um, context of freedom and liberty, um, it’s something that we find was very much missing in Bermudian society. Now, consequently, seven, eight months later, i.e. today, persons who didn’t have a clear understanding  process you didn’t have a clear understanding of what the aims and objectives of the free democratic movement was about and what the principles, actually represented, I think now, today, as a result of our experiences within Bermuda, by this current government, I think that there’s a much deeper and greater appreciation of what freedom and liberty is, especially in the absence of the very same principles and our day to day lives. Bermuda right now is under a, an environment lead by the current government, that has erased and is erasing, um, freedom and liberty from the citizens of this country, so I know, I think, people can now appreciate what the Free Democratic Movement represents. And what we represent is a complete antithesis of what this current government is practicing within the country today.

OJ Yeah, I liked it, I liked it, and, well, for some background on how this interview even came about, so, there was someone in our group that had posted, uh, you interview with the Royal Gazette, this was back in February; it was titled, uh, Bermuda went too far over covid-19, and I think, a funny thing about that article was, the first comment on that article, was actually talking about how everything was fine, and shops were open and everyone’s having a good time, but, since that time, as, you know, everyone as you know, this is April and now we’re on a second lockdown, and the government’s just, uh, imposed some new measures, that separates vaccinated people from unvaccinated people, so I think, the message that you just, the message that you just stated is really resonating with people, you know? And I think

MB Yeah…

OJ And I think like people really feel that their rights are being infringed upon, so I think that…

MB As they should…

OJ Yeah

MB Any right thinking self-respecting, um, person, whether male or female, would innately feel, when they, uh, their rights, are being trampled upon, and when they are not being treated fairly – and it’s something that is accentuated in an environment like today, where you have, you know, a so-called public health issue, being used as the pretext for removing these fundamental freedoms that we find in our constitution and every other civil society. Um, um, civil society, um, you know, um construct, and so people should feel very, very uncomfortable about it and they should be prepared to take actions to arrest what appears to be a clear descent and decline into the abyss, the abyss of social and economic chaos.

OJ Mm-mmm. I feel that. So, with the People’s Group, the organization that we’re trying to get off the ground, our mission statement is that we’re dedicated to creating an open and honest, and accountable government that serves the public interest. And we want to work towards that, because, another thing that you had mentioned was that you feel that, um, everyone, from the, the government, the backbenchers, the fifth estate, the media, and the voting public, were not doing a good job of holding the government accountable. So, that’s what we want our organization to be about, is holding the government accountable, so, like, do you have any advice for us on how we best achieve it?

MB Yes… Well, first I welcome you, and when you hold the government to account, make sure that it’s without partiality, so, regardless of which government is in power on the day, um, it’s incumbent when you’re the role of being, or providing, social and political analysis and commentary, that you try to present the facts and the truth as you see it, without bias. And so then you allow persons to make up their own minds. Unfortunately today, you find that many institutions have moved away from that integrity. And so I welcome and encourage you to, um, to raise or keep the standards very high and avoid some of the pitfalls that mainstream media has slipped into. Now, that slippage by mainstream media, some would say that might be just laziness. I don’t think it’s laziness, I think it’s, um, something, it’s cooperation and coordination on that part with the government of the day, with Government House and, and with other institutions, in particular international business, because these are the main groups that are advocating the, um, the status quo narrative of get vaccinated and basically bow down to the dictates of a group that want their desires to be implemented, against the wishes of others. So, you know, that’s something that is very concerning, and I think that you all should continue to, um, you know, hold fast to, to your integrity and principles, and make sure that you get the truth out to the persons, the people of this country, so they know exactly what’s going on, so they have the knowledge to make the appropriate decisions.

OJ Got you. So, you know, I don’t really think of this as like an interview, where I’m asking you questions and, you know, you answer or whatever. I want it to be more like, just a conversation, right, so…

MB No problem…

OJ So, yeah, so I mean, I just wanted to sort of discuss a couple of things with you. So, so, um, expanding on to what you just talked about, about people getting together and holding the government accountable, what do you think about this, um, this protest that’s been planned for next week? It’s, we know everyone tried, or someone tried to plan a protest a few weeks ago that didn’t work out, but this one looks to be gaining a lot of steam. So, do you have any, like, thoughts on that? Do you think, or, any opinion on it at all?

MB Sure, it’s something that I encourage. I encourage persons who are not satisfied with the direction of the country to join with the organisers of the protests and let their voices be heard. Hopefully that will be a catalyst for pressure, so the members of parliament and the leadership of this country will recognize that people are not satisfied, and you should use it as an opportunity to peacefully protest, and express yourselves within your constitutional, um, um, construct. You are free to say what you like, but remember that liberty isn’t licensed, but certainly take the opportunity to, to protest, absolutely. I think that should be the start of, of changes that persons must demand, in order for their rights to be upheld. But this current government and this current Premier, right, is a master of protests. He actually rolled into leadership, right, within the PLP and, um, and within the government by carefully calculated protests. One example is the pepper spray incident in December 2^nd. Many people would think that the pepper spray incident was something that emanated from either the British government or the One Bermuda Alliance government – that’s not true. I’m gonna let everyone know that the pepper spray incident is something that was coordinated and orchestrated, none other by your current Premier, David Burt, okay? So that’s an example of the sleight of hand that you will see in play and what you’re experiencing right now. What you see is not what you get. You have to be very much aware that, um, that you have leadership that is willing to deceive you, by any means necessary, in order to accomplish their aims and objectives.

OJ So, that’s real deep, because, you know, a lot of us, so a lot of people in my circles, that’s what we talk about, you know? I always tell people that, with any politician, and David Burt in particular, you need to look, and don’t look at exactly what he does, try to look forward into the future, and think, what does this action that he’s performing now, what, where does he stand to benefit from that? That’s what I try to do when I look at whatever David Burt’s doing now. So, when I look back at things like last year, when he, when he said that they expected 700 people to die if, you know, we didn’t follow the rules and all that, and immediately I knew that was a tactic, you know, a scare tactic to try to get people to do what he, what he wants them to do. And, you know, fast forward a year, we haven’t had anywhere near  700 deaths, but we’re still in a state of lockdown, we’re still, um, having new rules and regulations that people don’t agree with, like, sort of imposed on us. So, where do you see things going from here, with the government’s covert response, and what do you think they stand to gain by that?

MB I see that the government is going to double down in their efforts to, to, basically oppress the citizens of this country. And there’s a good question, why? Why would you actually want to do something to people that you actually knock on their doors and canvas and ask for their votes, and they actually offer you gingerbread and invite you into their living rooms and, and, invite you to their parties and to their social events, but, all of a sudden you’re switched up and you want to, somehow, put the yoke of oppression on your own people. Why? Well, usually the incentive for politicians, and non-politicians, to do something against your own self-interest is usually based around financial; it’s a financial incentive, somehow, some why. Now, I’m not about to go and say that David Burt is benefitting in one way or the other, in terms of finances, but the questions must be asked, who could he possibly be serving in this regard, when the majority of the people of this country are against the lockdown policies, the shutting down of the economy, the destruction of jobs, the increasing of unemployment. Why would you actually do that? Who could be, who could you be benefitting? Well, I will tell you that the people that he is serving are not Bermudians. Okay, some might be, but David Burt, like the majority of leaders in the world today are serving a global entity. Right, and that’s just a fact. Okay, and what is ironic, and I think is disappointing but not surprising is that in the case of David Burt and the Overseas Territories, i.e. Cayman and Anguilla and Turks & Caicos, it appears that the leadership in these Overseas Territories are going above and beyond their counterparts within the Caribbean and other areas, to try and prove to these powers that be, that they have the ability and willingness to lockdown their own people.

You see, you have, I know of one, um, Minister of Finance who was bragging in another country, not this country, but was bragging and boasting about how he’s going, he’s anticipating that by the time covid is over, after politics, he’ll be able to slide into a nice cushy position in one of these very same international organisations, i.e. the IMF, your World Bank, the World Health Organisation, the Bank of International Settlements, the OECD. Right, so, politicians have self-interest, right, at the forefront of their decision-making, and in this case, I find it extremely, extremely, disappointing that the, the, um, Overseas Territories, led by Bermuda, are going beyond any other jurisdiction in trying to put their people on lockdown. And so, um, that, that is, that’s something that the people of Bermuda have to recognize that you have been put into a socially engineered bubble by David Burt. You seem to think that what you’re experiencing now in Bermuda is the experience of others, of other people in other jurisdictions. Even the United Kingdom, today, isn’t locked down the way you are being locked down, okay, so the question is David Burt, what is the reason for destroying the private sector in Bermuda, using, uh, covid, as the rationale for doing so.

Why would you want to destroy capital? Why would you want to destroy and displace labour? Why would you want to destroy entrepreneurial ideas, you know, and risk taking? Why would you actually want to turn Bermuda on its head and send it back to the dark ages? What motivation could you possibly have? Don’t tell me that it’s about health, because up until this day, you haven’t said one thing, one thing positive or instructive to the people of this country in regards to their health and their wellness and their well-being, so it can’t be about, uh, health. So it must be another motivation, and I say that that motivation is insidious. It’s dark and insidious.

So, let me just sum up this way. Many persons, belatedly I would say, are now asking where is the voices, um, to defend the people? Where are the voices to defend the people? Where is the membership of the Free Democratic Movement? There seems to be a void, etc. etc. Well, I understand that, um, but, first and foremost, now, Bermuda is at the crossroads, because instructions and advice has been presented to the people of this country, by myself, and others, for years, and it was rejected, okay, so now we’re finding ourselves with our backs up against the wall. So, instead of gloating and saying ‘I told you so’, for the sake of our people and our children and our grandchildren, I’m going to give a simple piece of advice, that people can utilize now, to act upon, so we can bring the requisite changes that people so desire. And that is this. Democratically, you have 36 members of parliament. The Premier serves at the will and pleasure of a majority of that 36. That means that 19 members of parliament have the power to change who is the Premier. If you have 19, or 20 or 21 or above it, regardless of which so-called Party they represent, if they no longer have confidence in the direction of this country, then it’s their responsibility and obligation to get together, to consult with one another, get the numbers together, and go to Government House. When they go to Government House and they let her excellency the Governor know that they have lost confidence in the leadership of Premier David Burt, then the Governor’s obligation and responsibility is to then ascertain, um, whether or not these 19, or 20, or 21 persons is actually legitimate. She will more than likely have a discussion with each person; each person will have to sign a paper or form indicating their loss of confidence in the Premier, and then the next question would be, is there anyone amongst you who can command the authority of a majority in the House, that I can then appoint as the Premier of Bermuda. Some persons might be asked, well, who could that be? At this point in time, when you’re faced with a despotic leader, it is incumbent to focus on removal of that leader, and then allowing the democratic process to, to, to come to the fore, to determine who then can replace that person. Now, that could be a democratic process, constitutionally, as I’m speaking, or even, subsequently to the delegates conference of the PLP. But because of the handling of this, covid response, over the last year, I don’t think the responsibility to determine who will be the next leader should rest solely, respectfully, in the hands of the delegates of the Progressive Labour Party. So this is what I will say. Now that you understand that the members of parliament that you voted for, and you put into power, and you have blessed with a $3,000 to $10,000 a month salary to do God knows what at this point, you need to start holding them to account the same way David Burt is holding you to account on a day-to-day basis in Bermuda by putting you in lockdown. In other words, you have an obligation to call up your member of parliament, knock on their doors, and ask them how soon it’s going to take for you to act to remove this man as the Premier, because if you do not act, if you choose not to remove him democratically, then not only will we remember this in the next election, we’ll take steps – okay, you can take steps – to force by-elections, and ask these persons to remove themselves.

See, one thing I do know about, my political, my former political colleagues, they are human too, and sometimes they just need a little encouragement, okay, to stand upright and a reminder to represent you first. It’s encouraging, if you are tired of [the] governance in the country today, well, you can have a change of government in the next few days, but you have to put pressure on, remember, your respective members of parliament, and make their lives just as uncomfortable as your lives are today. What comes along with politics, this isn’t Mickey Mouse business, this is a matter of life or death, so if you’re going to ask me, Mark Bean, what is the direction that we need to take, then the people need to put on their shield and buckle and have the courage as, of men and women of valor and stand up for your children and grandchildren and force these so-called members of parliament, who call themselves honourable, to represent your interests to the end. And accept nothing less. Okay, that is your, that is your right, okay, that is your right, and it’s their privilege. And that is the message that I want to get across to the people of this country. There are others who are now, some, sounding the same clarion call that something is wrong with our country, and you know what is wrong with our country. We see a dictatorial approach being pushed on the masses, thinking and acting as if the people of this country are simple, while you’re only as simple as David Burt, as he thinks you are. If you don’t want to be simple, if you want to stand up for your rights, let him know that enough is enough! Let these members of parliament know that enough is enough is enough! Let her excellency the Governor know that enough is enough! Let the police commissioner and his command, and theirs under his command, know that enough is enough! Let the Colonel at the Bermuda Regiment know that enough is enough!

Bermuda is too small to be turned into a one-party dictatorial State, and you continue down this path at your peril. I warn you, the powers that be, Bermuda is too small okay, we all know where everyone lives. It’s too small to go along this path of oppressing the people of this country, destroying businesses, creating divide and rule between those who get vaccinated and those who didn’t get vaccinated. It’s time for us to break off the shackles of oppression, and the oppression, unbelievably, isn’t Henry Tucker, it isn’t the One Bermuda Alliance, it is not, even though they’re complicit, it isn’t the United Bermuda Party. Lo and behold as I think about Dame Louis Browne-Evans and Freddie Wade and Arnold Francis and Walter Robinson, I declare that the Progressive Labour Party today has been hijacked. This is not the Progressive Labour Party of my forefathers! My forefathers, your forefathers, are the Progressive Labour Party, are rolling in their graves today! They would never ever accept such behavior, and you shouldn’t either. That’s my message to the people of this country.

OJ Mark…

MB Fight for your rights.

OJ That was some heat, and that was big – I could applaud [clapping] for that because I couldn’t have said it better myself; I couldn’t have wrote anything better. [Both laugh] No, I’m serious; I mean, what people don’t understand is that we have the power to vote them in, we have the power to get them out. And if enough of you feel that way, then we need to start standing up for ourselves and…

MB Exactly!…

OJ  …and holding them to account…

MB Correct – put them under the same pressure that the people are feeling today…

OJ That’s right!

MB You can’t go exercise outside of a mile of your house; you can’t go to the beach – are you joking? But at the same time, you can’t even get no work, but these politicians are sitting up comfortably. No. Listen, let me tell you something Omar, in the real world, as they say in Jamaica no go so bredren. There’s no way that can go down in any other country with right thinking people. There’s no way they can tolerate such behavior. You can’t allow some oppressor man. I don’t care what colour he is, I don’t care what he sounds like, you need to stand up and be honourable to your forebearers – do you know what they sacrificed? They sacrificed everything! To allow some joker to come along and dictate and destroy the people of this country? Come on bro, come on now, come on now. I’m going to, hey listen, that’s unacceptable, that’s unacceptable. So, if people want to hear a voice, then there’s, that’s one of the voices. But the people need to have the courage themselves. They need to show, as soon as you show that courage, speak out, our so-called leaders are going to flee. Mark my words.

OJ That’s right… So, before we roll out of here, right, I just wanted to get your opinion on, sort of, um, other countries and their response to covid. Because, in the States, for example, where they have a lot of these covid responses handled at the, at the local level, so each State has its own response…

MB Yes..

OJ You have two States, I’m only using this example, Florida and California. California is completely locked down, similar to Bermuda, but I don’t think it’s as bad to be honest, and Florida is completely open, and they’ve been open for the whole time. So, I’m looking at the numbers, and this is from a source that’s completely unbiased and doesn’t lean in any, either, direction, it’s just looking [on screen is a graphic; it doesn’t have a URL, but has ‘Health, Pharma & Medtech . State of Health’ with the figure title reading ‘Death rates from coronavirus (covid-19) in the United States as if April 26^th, 2021, by State, per 100,000 people.’] at the numbers. And the death rate for each country [sic] is pretty, I mean for each State, it’s pretty much similar. Florida’s ranked the, with the 23^rd highest death rate in the, of the 50 States, and California is 25.

MB Yes, so, what that tells me is that the so-called science that they’re depending on is fraudulent. It’s not real, okay. A lot of things that they’re pushing out there is just fraudulent. It’s not real. And, and, so I know that I spend a lot of time in Florida, and it was just the other day that we had Spring Break and then, the mainstream media was speaking about how, you know, there’s going to be massive covid outbreaks, you know, by the spring breakers, young millennials, who had descended upon Florida in March, once they realized that they could go and party and, to their chagrin, you know, to this day, there’s no reports of any deaths or any, um, negative consequences of this, you know, period in Florida, you know. So, it really makes you question, you know, what, what is the purpose of David Burt’s putting, you know, locking people up or fining people for having house parties, or even meeting at Camden, or anywhere in Bermuda for that matter, you know, under the guise that, you know, people are being irresponsible. This very fascist, Marxist mindset, like pointing and making you feel guilty for just being alive.

OJ Yeah

MB But then when you look at Florida, you see that, you know, you’ve got hundreds of dollars, you’ve got thousands and thousands of young people, right, up and down South Beach to West Palm Beach, and there are no reports of any so-called deaths from covid. Okay, so the science, it reveals that the science that they are speaking of is a media science. If you went into a country that had no media, covid wouldn’t exist.

OJ You know, I think… I’m not a conspiracy theorist, if anybody is watching. I believe covid is real, but I believe that the truth about covid is something that… people in the position of power take and they bend it to whatever will they want; if they want the numbers to help them oppress people, they’ll bend it that way. If they want the numbers to help them achieve some other gain, they’ll bend it in that direction. That’s what happens.

MB Let’, let’s, let’s put to rest any idea of conspiracy theories [or theorists] right, and let’s just talk, let’s go straight to the horse’s mouth. On October 19^th, 2019, at John Hopkins University, hosted by John Hopkins University Health Sciences I believe, sponsored by the World Economic Forum, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, you had a scenario planning exercise called Event 201. I would encourage everyone who is listening to this video to go ahead and Google Event 201. And when you sit down and listen, with your cold beer or your glass of wine, you know, you and your boo-boos, whoever, just take a listen to a scenario plan of a coronavirus outbreak. Alright, this was in October 2019, and the so-called coronavirus actually broke out of Wuhan, China, in December 2019. But you know what is eerily accurate? The predictions of this scenario plan. Don’t take my word for it – listen to it and you tell me how accurate that scenario planning exercise is in terms of how we are living today. Right, and, let me emphasize that this is an event that was sponsored by the great Bill Gates and his lovely wife Melinda Gates [NB – the intonation and facial expressions at this point make clear he is being sarcastic in my opinion], and their foundation that does so much great work around the world and the World Economic Forum, who’s president is Mr., Dr. Klaus Schwab and, and the World Economic Forum, if I could remind you that this is where David Burt went in 2016-17, and returned with his FinTech mandate that most people in Bermuda today are wondering about, well, what is the purpose, etc., etc.. Well, that is part of a much greater strategy that Mr. Schwab himself has termed the Great Reset and the Great Reset, basically is, seems, it appears to be a, a globalist approach to Marxism and fascism, where you have big business in, in cahoots with governments and a few other big entities, and it’s, uh, not about giving freedom to the population. It seems to be the population is on increasing, increasing, global control. And so, if you want to know what the agenda is, going right back to your first question, that’s what it is. And that’s who David Burt’s serving. Okay. And so that is the problem that we’re facing, today, is that we are under the control and under the influence of persons whose interest is not Bermuda or Bermudians. And I dare say whose interest don’t seem to be humanity. And so, if you want to know, or let’s debunk all the conspiracy theories, just go to the horse’s mouth, the person who’s putting his money where his mouth is, Mr. Bill Gates, who sponsored Event 201, and that would explain to you exactly where we are at and what to expect going forward in the future. The Free Democratic Movement is an entity that represents an antidote, the antithesis, to this overall centralized, globalized movement to reduce humanity to serfs and to take freedom and liberty and the spiritual birthright away from them. That’s what we represent. And, let me, let me end by saying this to the same powers that be – I’ve got a little message for you: In this big scheme of things, right, in this, in this battle right here, you lose. Alright, I’m just forecasting, before you get ahead of yourself and think that you’re winning, you’re actually losing this match, alright? Give thanks.

OJ Mark, thank you so much for stopping by, it was great chatting with you, having this conversation.

MB Yes bredren.

OJ Anybody listening, stop by the group on Facebook, People’s Group, we are open to everybody, no matter what your political slant, no matter what your opinion is, you’re for things, you’re against it, you like the government, you hate them, it doesn’t matter, just come and have a great conversation and, hey, look up the, um, Free Democratic Movement if you’re looking for a third option in the next election and, you know, check out Mr. Marc…

MB We wouldn’t… the FDM, the FDM is, is alive and well, quality more important than quantity, and we certainly would not be a third option at the next election, um, we would be in a position, by virtue of us being steadfast and consistent to our principles and our policies, people will be able to trust us, which is more important than anything today – that’s the most, that’s the ultimate political currency, and that is trust that comes along from truth and honour and, uh, as a result of that combination, we are confident that, at the right time, we will be well positioned to assume governance in this country, but it’s a governance that’s meant to arrest the, the, uh, the negative impact and this, this spiral that the country is, uh, within, at this point.

OJ Thank you so much Marc. Everybody have a good evening.

MB Bless.