Oh grow up, Joseph Muscat
Muscat would rather eat this than eat with the prime minister
Joseph Muscat was challenged on BondiPlus as to why he didn’t go to the president’s farewell dinner and sent a Labour MP instead, when the invitation was to the leader of the opposition and not to the leader of the Labour Party. I could have answered that one for Lou Bondi: lack of breeding. You can’t pluck a man out of nowhere and expect him to know how to behave. And he’s a Mintoffian, which means that he has no truck with what he would think of as ‘sinifiteti’. Instead of owning up to how little he knows and how much he has to learn, and getting help and instruction, he does the Mintoffian thing and says defiantly that these things don’t matter, then spends the rest of his life parading around with a chip on his shoulder and an overdose of inverted snobbery.
And let’s face it, he hasn’t even got a wife who can help; by his own admission, she’s the one who insisted they go to Sicily. A smarter woman (not to say one who had been properly brought up) would have brushed off his dinner jacket – does he have one? – explained all the reasons why he should be there, then brought out her best dress and accompanied him.
All I can say is that Joseph and Michelle deserve each other: two self-serving, ill-bred wannabes, straight out of a British sitcom. Now listen to this: after a lot of beating about the bush and behaving as though he was in the Yukon rather than a hundred miles away, Muscat finally blurted out: “Maybe I just don’t like these formalities and prefer eating a hamburger and chips.” It’s the kind of chippy reasoning you’d expect from a hormonal teenager and not from the middle-aged leader of the opposition.
And please don’t tell me that he went to Sicily to eat hamburgers and chips. If so, he’s truly a lost cause.
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Mela il-pudil jaf jiekol man-nies. Duk jippreferi jiekol hamburger ghax jaqbada b’idu.
He has a dream: a restaurant where we can be free of forks and knifes, free of people looking at the way we hold our forks.
Well, it’s not the kind of behaviour you expect from the leader of the opposition. This certainly proves that he was hiding behind his family (some family values) to go to Sicily to avoid a part of his job that he doesn’t like.
I thought something really bad happened to him and then I heard ” Le ta cos I planned a holiday in Sicily….I have to go cos my wife will divorce me”.
And now he’s changed his story: “Le ta cos I’d rather eat processed cow pats than do my job”.
Grow up, Joseph and if you don’t like your job, resign. There are politicians within the PL that are more capable and more willing than you are, so nobody will miss you (or is that what you’re really scared of?).
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Breeding? Did you say breeding? X’ iz-zikk you talkin’ about, ruhi. Breeding ahna nhalluha ghar-rabbits, jewilla. Hallina hi, mela… Sqallija here I come for the best humberger in town! U halluna, se titfwawna seklu lura.
Just because Joseph Muscat dislikes formalities does not mean that he can behave like a truant schoolboy every time there is an official function.
I stand to be corrected but doesn’t the leader of the opposition earn an official salary with perks (including car) etc? Then IT’S BLOODY WELL HIS DUTY to attend official ceremonies, if not out of simple courtesy, which is obviously a word that is not in his dictionary.
Yes, he does. And yes, it is.
Can’t you just talk about global warming or something? Give the guy a break for heaven’s sake.
[Daphne – Look here, Steven. If you don’t like it, you know what to do. Joseph Muscat is not ‘the guy’. He’s the leader of the opposition. He doesn’t give people breaks. People don’t give him breaks. That’s the way it works. It’s politics, and public life. You know that saying: if you can’t stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen – and eat hamburgers.]
Give the guy a break? You must be kidding. This is only the beginning. I suspect that you, Steven, do not realise what we will have to go through IF, and I stress, only IF, this kiddo becomes PM.
Mintoff was competing for space with Madonna and Jesus behind the votive candles until some time ago, yet Joseph Muscat is still ‘the guy’. What an earthquake.
The Labour blinkers are on, I see.
Steven. I cannot agree with you more – however in my view and only in my view t this blog is a lost cause unless you happen to be a diehard one eyed Nationalist who has abosolutley no imagination other than to congratulate other diehard Nationalist. It explains nothing. There is no debate – nearly always total agreement and self congratulation on a group level. See my recent piece under the other the segment – sorry-but-i-have-a-subsequent-engagement. But more to the point see Daphne’s puerile response with tons of insults about my lack of height and intelligence but absolutely no substance. Given Daphne’s comment above about people in public life no one should ever ever give her a break.
[Daphne – Oh b****r off, you insignificant little twerp. Why don’t you check out the comments beneath the post Ir-Rok Opra Gensna? Those were not insults about your lack of height, but observations. Generally, men can cope with being short in a society where almost all men are short. They grow up to become prime ministers, presidents, politicians and so on (and some would say that lack of height is a subconscious motivating factor there as well). But when men are super-short, I mean really midget-sized, then even in a non-Teutonic place like Malta that’s a MAJOR psychological problem, and unless they are particularly well-adjusted individuals, they grow up to be Raphael Dingli. Or do you have another explanation to offer for your chippy resentments and twisted bitterness? Just wondering why you’re in Australia and still carping about me.]
I’m not a die-hard Nationalist. I just don’t want Ronald McDonald as my prime minister. I would prefer George Abela, for argument’s sake.
Not only is this man utterly unaware of protocol or good old manners, he also feels it is acceptable to display his unfortunate lack of breeding on national television. This should come as no surprise in a country where overweight women with lisps wearing lycra dish out style tips. However, Colgate smirks, Bortex suits and improbable statements do not a statesman make.
Bortex make excellent suits for some of the best labels. And the new shop in Mosta is brilliant. The trouble is not with the suits, but with the shape, size and height of Maltese men, which is anything but elegant.
Daphne – why are you so ugly – physically repelling? Is it because you are Maltese?
[Daphne -I am not even remotely ugly, Raphael. Nobody in my family is. It is genetically impossible. And the men aren’t midgets, either.]
Daphne, please check this out.
Maybe we have found our exported Adonis…all 64 inches of him
…and, that is from head to toes, OK?
…and he calls you ugly?
Raphael Dingli
http://www.google.com/s2/profiles/116707068749458412226
Manager at Dept Of Education & Employment; Student at school of everlasting joy
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Greetings to others : Hi all, I will respond any letters from any females form anywhere if you supply a photo, please note I am 5’4″ and seeking friendship and more !!
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Time : Thu Jun 12 18:25:09 1997
Name : Raphael Dingli
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Signal is : testing it’s communication power
Greetings to others : Hi all, I am looking for female friends & maybe more..!!
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[Daphne – “I am 5′ 4”. Yes, right – though I might have been wearing six-inch heels back in 1997 when he was a friend’s house-guest. But I’d say even your 64 inches is pushing it. Thanks for this. It’s nice to know he’s been trying to find a shag on the internet for the last 12 years.]
He is not aware of the tasks and duties that go with his job. He’s so busy being a Labour party hero, he’s overlooked the fact that being leader of the opposition is a whole lot more or, as an elf once put it, another cattle of fish altogether.
Do they even serve hamburger and chips in Sicily? The number one reason for visiting Sicily is for the food for heaven’s sake, and that twit wants to eat a hamburger while there. Can anyone imagine the menu for an official dinner he might host?
[Daphne – Tumpana u bicca majjal bin-nepkins tal-karta.]
With a ‘BERGER’ as a backup?
The only place I can think of that would probably sell hamburgers in Sicily would be Mac Donald’s, if there is an outlet there in the first place. He probably wanted to refrain from using the name, as in “Nippreferi mmur niehu hammmberrrrgerrr Mekk Donaalddds.”
I am sure that the caterer would have gladly obliged and provided Joseph and Michelle with a triple hamburger and a froga tal-makku, had they the decency to attend the prime minister’s dinner in honour of the out-going president. No wonder the president shunned Labour’s concert commemorating Freedom Day. This hillbilly needs to be educated, pronto.
The president did the right thing, morally and constitutionally. Nothing do to with the PM’d dinner.
Would he also have been allowed to wear his track suit at the prime minister’s dinner?
“All I can say is that Joseph and Michelle deserve each other: two self-serving, ill-bred wannabes, straight out of a British sitcom.”
Daphne, you must have been reading my mind.
The problem with Joseph is that when he is not in front of the microphone he says things which may be unacceptable to the floating voters, but expected by his Super One supporters. When he does not attend he is stating: “ma rridx niekol kirxa maghhom” (I don’t want to have anything to do with them). This satisfies his supporters and would not worry much the floating voter. [Daphne – Oh yes, it does. It’s the seemingly little things that are the greatest clue to a person’s character.]
Joseph had an uninvited guest at Birgu. Why wasn’t Dom (the main protagonist) ever invited for the commemoration of this great day by HIS party? Was Alfred Sant there? How is it that the MLP leaders are always at each other’s throats? [Daphne – They aren’t. The only ones at each other’s throats are Mintoff and Sant.]
Ah, but wasn’t it Muscat who popped out of the wood-work waxing lyrical about a “new” way of doing politics? “Ma rridx niekol il-kirxa maghhom,” does not sound very conciliatory.
The invitation wasn’t issued by Law-renz to Joseph in their roles as private individuals. It was an invitation by the Prime Minister to the Leader of the Opposition (and doesn’t he just love those Proper Nouns?) in honour of the country’s president. Whether or not kirxa was served – metaphorically or literally – and whether or not the president ‘understood’ that that the LOTO had a prior engagement is entirely beside the point.
This l’etat, c’est moi attitude is more than a little irritating. It is NOT in Joseph Muscat’s gift to take up invitations when it suits him. It is part of his job, whether he wishes it to be or not. If he wants more free time with his family, he could give up making crap speeches to an adoring public that would applaud him whatever he said or did.
It’s what he would call a win-win situation for him: hIs adoring public would vote for him even without his speechifying, those who have doubts about him would not be exposed to his nonsense and may consider voting for him, he’d have plenty of time for the official duties which he is paid to fulfill, and plenty of time for his family too. In fact, he’d have so much time on his hands, he could spare some to brush up on his knowledge of what really is expected of him in the public role he voluntarily took on.
Ok let’s say that they are not bosom buddies. KMB is still against EU membership, Alfred Sant wants to convince us that he was always right, and no one knows where he stands with Dom, and Joseph wants to give us the impression that he is friends with the three of them.
How can we entrust the running of our country to Joseph Muscat when he and his henchmen did not even take heed of the weather forecasts and take with them a simple umbrella, just in case,
Imagine this chap as prime minister at a dinner in honour of Queen Elizabeth or the pope. Or Obama might turn up here. Or Barroso. Or Mugabe. Or….
Hahaha Daphne, you almost killed me with this one. I’ve been very busy this past week and have not been following your blog as I usually do. I have just gone out to buy a burger from McDonalds and there was Joseph Muscat with his wife and kids….eating a hamburger. And then I come home, switch on my laptop and decide that I should check what you’ve been up to lately, and I see this. I almost choked with laughter. What a coincidence!
Was Michelle smiling and waving at everyone with one hand and holding the burger with the other?
If the guy prefers hamburgers and chips to formal occasions maybe he should have shied clear of a constitutional role – is this going to happen every time a formal dinner crops up?
I’m beginning to think that maybe he’s desperately trying to learn how to hold his fork in his left hand.
Jesus what a bunch of nonsence! You are living in a world of your own. Wasting so much time on such a thing make me believe you have so much time to waste!
If you listened carefully to that programme, Joseph stated that he was advised about the dinner only 6 days before the event. Now, I immagine that the preps for such an ‘important’ event were made much before. So I ask, why didn’t they give him the invite before not leaving it only for the last moment. I am more than sure that Joseph would have attended ‘bil qalb’!!!!
You have the wrong idea that the best politicians are those who pose ‘illamtati’ in front of cameras and photgraphers. These things, I believe, are the main cause why the young genertion is constantly repelling local politics. I am 35 and am fed up of seeing smiling faces of politician on TV, while the population is experiencing a decline in their standard of living. So yes, I believe that sometimes it wise for politicians to be seen lessformal and more in touch with reality. Ans yes, maybe with a burger in hand………
[Daphne – This man has a vote.]
You’re making the very mistake that you accuse politicians of making – assuming that your experience is reality and that everyone else’s is, what, a mirage?
What you call a lack of formality among holders of public office is actually the habitual breaching of protocol and dereliction of duty. That sort of behaviour does not put anyone ‘in touch with reality’. It puts those people in a class of their own. And please don’t assume that necessarily means an admirable class. Rolled up sleeves do not denote hard work any more than tracksuits indicate a penchant for exercise or jeans and T-shirts take years off one’s age. Worn inappropriately, they say something else altogether.
No, the sight of a politician – any politician – flashing a burger is not inspiring. The last time I remember anyone doing something similar for a publicity shot was when John Attard Montaldo tucked into a hot-dog at the launch of a sandwich bar – a stunt that speaks for itself.
There are no two ways about it. Holders of public office are holders of public office and not ‘il-popolin’. Doing away with the demands of protocol and the duties of public office does not change that fact any more than wearing a suit conveys gravitas when the contents of that same suit lack any.
remember barack obama in the hotdog shop just a few month’s time ago??
[Daphne – The difference, if you will excuse the crudeness but there’s no other way of putting it, is that Obama didn’t look like he was giving his subway sandwich something that costs $20 when bought off a crack whore.]
Alan, Barack Obama is a responsible person who fulfills his obligations and duties. He had a hot dog in his spare time, whereas Joseph Muscat blamed his passion for Big Macs and his family for not doing his duty. It’s funny how you compare Joseph Muscat to Barack Obama, because Obama is a self-made man who licked nobody’s arse to get to the top (wheras Muscat licked to the point he was nicknamed Poodle)
If only the younger generation would repel Joseph Muscat. Just immagine…
I see you’re obeying him by calling him “Joseph”.
” I am 35 and am fed up of seeing smiling faces of politician on TV”
You must be having a hard time with “Joseph” then, because he’s always baring his teeth in a most irritating way.
@ Alan
There is a time and a place or everything. Barack Obama understands that, Joseph Muscat hasn’t a clue. That’s the difference.
erm, shouldn’t he start worrying about his cholesterol level? All these burgers.
[Daphne – Way back in June, Michelle gave her first interview and made sure that she was cooking stuffed aubergines when the interviewer arrived, telling her that she wants to make sure that Joseph eats healthily. Bet those aubergines really put a smile on his burger-loving chops.]
During a news broadcast this morning, it was said that when our burger eater – leader of the opposition – heard some educated youngsters say (Bondi Plus?) that it was his duty to attend public functions, he called them “xjuh”! How’s that for maturity of judgement?
I will take a page out of the Opposition’s book and suggest that two euro thirty three cents should be deducted from his salary for “juvenile” behaviour not consonant with his office.
[Daphne – Yes, it was on BondiPlus. Because the young panel who were with him on the show were speaking properly and arguing intelligently, he found it odd. Apparently, to be properly young you have to say ‘man’ and lather your hair into gelled shapes like that cartoon dork on STR82DPoint.]
I read Alan’s piece and I cry… I cry because I know that there are a great number of persons who actually reason like him. Alan, you missed the point about Dr. Muscat’s absence completely. Even if he was informed on the day he should have left everything and gone to the meal because it is important for him to be there, because it is his duty to be there as representative of half the nation and because it is no big deal to come to Malta from Sicily and return the next day if necessary.
You are speaking about a person who potentially could be your next prime minister and you have no qualms about this because you are short-sighted. Let’s imagine Dr. Muscat is now PM and six days before he is going for a nice holiday with the wife and kids something major happens in Malta which requires him being here. Will he leave again? Are you convinced he will not? I think you need to look at the hamburger/dinner incident in this light and the comments and sarcasm in this blog too.
I also cannot agree with the statement that the young generation is in some way repelling politics. This is not only a generalisation but has no factual evidence. It is very normal that the younger generation is less interested in politics but that does not mean we all are. In the latest election it was the young vote which most probably swayed the result and that should mean something. What is bothering most young people is the way in which certain people cannot rise above petty partisan politics and discuss maturely and do what is best for the country.
What the young generation cannot tolerate is people who take them for a ride, first telling them the EU is evil personified, then being elected MEP and getting a nice big salary for doing so and then returning to Malta like Moses from the mountain telling us that with hindsight he might have been wrong about the EU. The MLP or PL has not yet learned its lessons. The PN even in government learns its lessons (I’m not licking but it’s true) and time and again has shown it knows what the people want and can adjust to give them what they want and need within the limits of the country.
Take the last election. When the campaign started Labour was clearly ahead but they ruined everything because they do not know what Malta wants and as the Maltese say ‘ikejlu b’xibirhom’ thinking that all Malta has the same mentality as the Labour diehards, luckily not!
If Labour want to become Malta’s next government to serve us (not just to be in government) then they need to do the following: a) either get a seasoned, moderate leader or at least get Dr Muscat to act like one; b) get rid of the militant, Mintoffian factions; c) make a clear break with the past and stop trying to glorify it (a comment which really bugged me recently was one by Dr Muscat in parliament, I think, when he said that that Dr Fenech Adami had, like the presidents who preceded him, continued to enhance the role of the presidency – so Eddie did what Agatha did?); d) start thinking like a government-in-waiting rather than an opportunist wanting to gain a couple of votes, and e) start working on their electoral manifesto from now so that when election time comes – as it inevitably will – they will be prepared and not make a fiasco like last time round with the reception class idea. Recently I was following a parliamentary debate and the Hon. Carmelo Abela said that reception class idea was a great idea but which was rubbished by PN for political reasons. Even here it is clear Labour learned absolutely nothing. The reception class idea was a bad idea, it was not thought of properly and even when they tried to explain it they were not getting any support. But it’s not their idea that was crap but that the PN rubbished it.
I’m sure that not all prime ministers, presidents, ministers (and their partners) are keen on classical music but they still turn up for official or important concerts. Who knows what JM would do?
[Daphne – Go on BondiPlus to say that he stayed home to listen to a Killers CD.]
We could write whole volumes about the whys and wherefores, and our hibernating political analysts, if there are any, should wake up (and the smell the…all right, all right). We must be the only country in the world not to have political science publications, written by historians/political analysts (not journalists, and certainly not journalists employed by either of the two parties) dealing with anything from the last fifty years.
So it does not surprise me that Labour never learns. Any criticism is met by the standard reply: “Of course you say so, you’re Nationalist.” Case in point being the whole debate about Gensna on this blog. And we were debating a musical, not an electoral programme. So there you go. Since Muscat became leader of the opposition he hasn’t accepted one smidgen of criticism, hasn’t changed anything that was suggested from outside his party, and has adopted a cavalier attitude towards his critics which may even surpass that of Alfred Sant. On top of that, he’s young and unbelievably unstatesmanlike. Possibly the only European politician who comes close to that is Berlusconi.
Berlusconi isn’t young. Joseph Muscat is half his age, but he isn’t young, either. So what did you mean, exactly?
I meant like Berlusconi in the sense that he is incredibly unstatesmanlike in his words and behaviour. It jars with the European idea of proper behaviour by a politician.
Whoever says that Daphne is ugly has no idea or tastes about women.