Oh, what a surprise: Giannella's puppet-on-a-string defends Michael Grech
I am a respectable man who is au fait with ethics and integrity
Predictably, George Hyzler has been allowed briefly out of Giannella Caruana Curran’s barred-and-padlocked cupboard to write an email message serving the attempted dual purpose of defending his office colleague Michael Grech while running me down. I suppose you don’t need me to point out that it is not only his purpose which is dual here, but also his bias.
The thing about email messages, George, is that they get – ah – emailed around. So within a day of you sending it out, I got it too. To save your little elves the trouble of circulating it further, here it is.
DEFENCE OF MICHAEL G BY HYZLER
The blog is based on a lie.
Michael Grech has no Government appointments and by no stretch of the imagination
can he be described as someone who has fed on “Government’s trough”. He is Austin’s
cousin and I can assure you that ever since Austin has been appointed Minister,
Michael/our office has not been favoured even once with any government consultancy
work. Quite the contrary, our office has lost some of the work that it had. [Daphne – In fact, George, people posted several comments on this blog suggesting that this might actually be the real source of his problem. I deleted them all, as he can’t possibly be that shallow.]
In all our “government-related work” we have been appointed by the private sector and sat
on the other side of the table.
The blog was based on another lie, that has now disappeared from the blog, that is
that Michael Grech had attended a party given in honour of Louis Grech, and that is
simply not true.
[Daphne – Michael Grech was not the person mentioned by Lino Spiteri. I never wrote that it was him, but that it was “probably him”, given that he was actively campaigning for Louis Grech and had been to several other support-raising events. When I ascertained that he was not the man who spoke so stupidly to Lino Spiteri, I removed the reference. I did not remove the reference to Michael Grech campaigning for Louis Grech and, hence, for Labour because this is the incontrovertible truth, borne out by an official Labour Party video in which he stars – wearing a red tie – and at least one television appearance. Your office colleague campaigned for the Labour Party: accept it, instead of going into denial and trying to excuse his behaviour or justify it. I know this is difficult for you, living as you do with somebody who comes from the ‘two hats’ school of thought.]
What is true is that Michael had exercised a right ordinary citizens enjoy in
civilized countries and publicly endorsed a candidate in an election for the
European Parliament.
[Daphne – My first impression of you when I met you for the first time some 25 years ago, George, was that you were shallow, lazy and not particularly bright, but probably got away with much because you had charm. Does any of this sound familiar? Now that your charm is but a distant memory, you’re finding that you have to use your intelligence in argument. Difficult, isn’t it? We’re not talking about rights here, but about integrity. But again, not to rub it in or anything, but you wouldn’t know much about that. Michael didn’t endorse a candidate. He endorsed a political party. For him to endorse a candidate without endorsing a party, that candidate would have had to be independent.]
Many other Nationalists have done the same. Manwel Mallia, John
Bundy, Salvinu Busuttil come to mind. Bocca in his column actually endorsed Louis
Grech as well, but did not say that he will vote for him.
[Daphne – I don’t know what Bundy did, but Manwel Mallia and Salvino Busuttil both encouraged people to vote for the Labour Party by voting for Marlene Mizzi. One assumes that they, too, voted Labour and for Marlene – otherwise why would they have told people to vote for somebody when they weren’t going to do the same themselves? Surely you are not suggesting that they are Janus-faced (perhaps we should drop that J?). Hence, they are not Nationalists, because Nationalists don’t vote Labour. Labour supporters voted Labour. You are what you vote.]
Michael never said that he has become a labourite or that he will vote labour in the
general elections. One may or may not agree with his point of view/action but
whatever the case, the viciousness of the blog and some of the bloggers betrays
worryingly sick minds.
[Daphne – Oh grow up, George. You’re 53 years old and you reason like somebody in secondary school. As for those “worryingly sick minds”, please don’t tempt me to say things that you and I will both live to regret.]
What is sad is that at a time when the Nationalist Party should be doing its utmost
to bring back to the fold anyone who may have voted against his own beliefs for one
reason or another, a nationalist party’s hired help is doing her best to vilify and
alienate them.
[Daphne – Push that line one more time, George, and you will find yourself sued for libel. You know very well that I am not “a nationalist party’s hired help”, and if you have any lingering doubts, I am sure that there are still one or two people you can ring who will put you straight on this. Or did you imagine that when I wrote about you and your irascible lover who pulls your strings I was doing so as “a nationalist party’s hired help”? How amusing the thought is.]
In my view it would be a grave mistake to make these people feel uncomfortable
within our party because that would push them that little bit further away and
straight into the arms of a very accommodating labour party in sheep’s clothing.
[Daphne – I thought he shared your office, George? How about if you simply sat him down and had a chat? If you can’t do that, then you have a very strange relationship with your colleagues. I think that what’s really bothering you is that you fear being affected by the flak and fall-out. Or maybe you just don’t understand issues where principles and integrity are involved. I believe this was precisely the last thing I ever said to you, five years ago, when you behaved like something generally found beneath a stone.]
The argumentation in the blog is also quite disturbing. Since when is anyone that
“enjoys” government consultancies (not Michael) prohibited legally or ethically,
from supporting the party in opposition?
[Daphne – Nobody’s saying that, George. Please don’t begin using the sort of sophist ‘arguments’ your lover’s father uses. They worked on juries of sub-literates. They work on no one else, and certainly not on me.]
What Daphne is suggesting is that such
people should not speak out against the party or else they should lose any
government related work and possibly their livelihood.
[Daphne – Oh George, that brain is so out of practice. As somebody who ‘speaks out against the party’ whenever she wishes, I am going to be the last one to suggest that others shouldn’t do the same, government work or no government work. However, as surely even you can see – though I doubt it, somehow, given the sort of company you tend to keep – there is a world of difference between openly criticising the political party X that you support and featuring on an official video release by political party Z telling people that you will be voting for that party and that they should do the same. That is not criticism of party X. It is rejection of party X.]
Apart from the sheer typical bad taste in which the rest of the blog is written, it raises serious concerns on the political maturity, or is it hidden agenda, of one who desperately seeks relevance by denigrating people.
[Daphne – I’m sorry, George, but you are hardly in a position to give me lessons in what constitutes good or bad taste. Your whole life is an exercise in poor taste, but so far I have had the good taste not to point this out. One of the utter blessings of being born socially secure is that I am not plagued by concerns about whether people like you – or anyone else for that matter – think that what I do or say is in good or bad taste. But you and lover, with your terrible fear of being assessed and found somehow wanting, cannot ever understand this.]
Unfortunately this sad excuse for a columnist will continue to enjoy readership because although feeding Christians to the lions is no longer fashionable people still love to see others suffer. Human nature is like that, and Daphne has made a living out of it.
George
[Daphne – “Sad excuse for a columnist”? Is this really a man of 53 talking, or a teenage girl in the school playground? “Daphne has made a living out of it” – hardly that, though those like you who wish that there were no columnists like me, so that they may carry on behaving like fools or charlatans without anyone pointing it out, see it that way. But even if it were the case, and I did make my living by throwing people like you to the lions, what can I say? It’s a lot better than making my living by trying to keep child-molesters, drug-dealers, wife-killers and general murderers out of prison. Sorry, but I really couldn’t resist that, and you walked right into it.]
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Daphne, which part of the blog is Georgy Porgy referring to please? I am not keeping up with all the entries and comments, so I must have missed something somewhere. Thanks
Salvino Busuttil is not ‘a Nationalist’. He is an opportunist with absolutely no dignity and a less than admirable track record. His presence on Marlene Mizzi’s video was a liability to her. How could she have failed to notice?
Salvinu Busuttil is an ego maniac…and preys on women especially those who might make him look good…either through looks or position. I am certain now that since Marlene didn’t make it, he’s dropped her like a stinking sock…unless she has something he still wants.
Meerkat:) Nothing can make Salvinu Busuttil look good. The raw material is definitely unpromising.
He likes to be seen with attractive women because it boosts his narcissistic ego. Like all narcissists, Salvinu Busuttil has a very poor opinion of himself and needs the constant reassurance of others’ attention and feeling that he’s being seen to be important and hanging out with the bigwigs.
Hence the embarrassing shenanigans of inserting himself into a press conference when he was clearly unwanted and had no place there, the attempt to enter an international conference when he was not listed as a participant, the demand that his airline seat be upgraded (“do you know who I am?”), and so on. For these and many other incidents he probably believes he was admired. If only he knew what is said behind his back and how many people duck and dive to avoid running into him on social occasions.
The sad truth is that he remains what he is – an unpopular, unattractive old man who has schemed his way through life and who is used rather than liked. That much, he knows only too well.
Until recently, Michael Grech’s bionote on the law firm’s website stated that he worked as a consultant to government on privatisation matters. That bionote has now been amended to say that he “has been part of the Firm’s team on privatization matters.”
The word ‘government’ has been removed, but Michael Grech’s muddy footprints are still there.
Who is the main party in privatisation, if not government?
It was probably their attempt at damage limitation. As the Maltese saying goes, “ma’ min rajtek, xebbahtek”. This does not, of course, apply to the more respectable member/s of the firm in question.
Love a girl with an ABZ attitude.
Yes, and pity that not even men in the public eye have the balls to be the same.
Or brains. If you’re going to take the Cosa Nostra approach you don’t send your message by e-mail; you use scraps of paper (the Sicilians call them “pizzini”), which the recipients can stuff into their … mouth.
Game, set and match to Daphne.
Some people deserve each other. I wouldn’t want anyone mentioned in this blog sitting at my table. A bunch of shallow, grabby, parvenus.
[Daphne – What, not even me?]
As if Daphne! You’re welcome anytime! I was referring to scum like Georgy, Gianella, Salvinu and Marlene.
“Human nature is like that, and X has made a living out of it.” – The world’s worst criminal lawyer.
Hey Daphne! What a super thread – one of your best. Met this guy a few times over the years – blank eyes, uninspiring, thoughtless, useless – dumped a few years too late by the blues. Can’t wait for a rebuttal – however, will probably crawl back under his rock.
I would be more than glad if George went with PL too. But there’s already Manuel.
[Daphne – George and Giannella – GNG – are typically New Labour. Soooooooo Joseph and Michelle. The only reason they don’t switch is because of their immediate family heritage. You can tell why Labour people identify with them.]
Bad move, George.
Jesus, Daph! He really rubbed you the wrong way!
[Daphne – George is not allowed to rub anyone, still less me.]
Mela ha thallih Giannella….this was a rare outing…ma nahsibx li ha terga’ thallih wara din il-hasla. Daphne meta ha jinduna that he can’t pick fights in the playground with a smarter kid.
[Daphne – And one who’s almost a decade younger and a ‘girl’.]
A lot of people who should have known better made a big mistake in the EP elections. ONE week later and nearly all of them are backtracking right up their arse. Too late guys, you now have to pay the price.
I have to say I don’t think in terms of “paying the price” because that sounds vindictive even if it isn’t meant to be. People exercise their right to make a choice and when they express it publicly it is because they wish to influence others and provoke a reaction. This may well be negative and they have to come to terms with that possibility and with the resulting criticism. They have no right to label their critics as “people (who) still love to see others suffer”. How does that follow?
[Daphne – Antoine, these are people who can function only as part of a clique. They move around in a clique, they socialise as a clique, they buy things to impress the clique and only things which the clique approve of; they even travel as a clique. They do nothing as individuals and have absolutely no sense of individuality. To them, the clique and acceptance by the clique are everything. They have not grown beyond the schoolyard, and hence their thinking hasn’t developed beyond the schoolyard either. Daphne criticises Michael? Let’s rush out and gang up on Daphne and send her to Coventry (like Daphne gives a **&&&%” about their klikka). Let’s call her names for good measure. Let’s use schoolyard language and schoolyard reasoning.
I would say that a grown man who is able to promote the Labour Party on Super One TV and on a Labour official video is perfectly capable of defending his own actions and doesn’t need his friends and associates to do it for him. If Michael Grech has something to say to me he can say it himself. I may have been seeing things the other day, but I am quite sure it was Michael Grech who parked outside an office building at the same time as I did a couple of days ago, and who – instead of entering the building at the same time as I did and taking the opportunity to give me a bollocking instead of having his babyish friends email even more babyish round-robin offensives, chose to hang back and fiddle with his files instead.]
You have a point, Antoine. I will rephrase: ”Too late guys, you now have to pay the price…………….as indeed we all have to, because of the likes of you and other individuals who strategically sit on the fence to achieve their own goals”.
I would advise the posters on this blog to just sit back and enjoy the show – and remember the old Maltese adage Min jidħol bejn il-basla u qoxritha, jibqa’ b’riħitha
Perhaps you should follow your own advice, John.
That’s exactly what I am doing, Antoine.
You’re right about Salvinu Busuttil. The pathetic little turd is still trying to get into the political limelight and worming his way around the social circuit. He is universally disliked but has so little self-respect he’ll push his way into any situation where he thinks he may gain some sort of advantage, whether it’s being seen at lunch or on someone else’s promotional video. Pity he doesn’t realise that rather than raising his own standards what he’s doing is bringing down the average.
I once heard someone say “Salvinu Busuttil does not have any friends. He has people who use him.” I believe he was right.
Come come, what about his fruity girlfriend(s)? You have to admire the Sarkozian qualities of a five-foot-nothing chap.
@ Chesterfield
Salvinu drops names like crazy but then you realize that a) he’s just out to impress you for he is a pathetic excuse for a man or b) they’ve all DROPPED him for they have realized precisely that.
@ HP Baxxter
Sarkozy is a giant of a man when compared with Salvinu. No comparison
They’re not girlfriends. He just pretends they are.
He’ll take someone out to lunch to, say, discuss a ‘job offer’ and he’ll make sure it’s some place where he’ll be seen. Then there’ll be ‘meetings’ (again, over lunch, usually) to discuss ‘terms’ and then he’ll somehow contrive to be seen in a public space acting familiar with the person concerned. It’s all geared towards creating a self-image based on how he imagines himself seen through other people’s eyes.
There’s nothing ‘Sarkozian’ about him – apart from the fact that he’s ugly – still less anything admirable. It’s a pity, really, because if he had any character he could actually have achieved something positive instead of creating a bubble of self-deceit.
Oh dear! I forgot to ask George to find out during the next pillow-talk opportunity what became of those priests who stood accused of sexually molesting boys in their care at an orphanage. One of them was selected precisely because he had no tongue – his mother had bitten it off – and couldn’t properly report the abuse. The last we heard of the case was that George Hyzler’s woman was looking after the molesters’ interests as the wheels of justice s-l-o-w-l-y turned, and then the next thing we knew there was a complete ban on the release of any information to do with the case and so nobody knows what’s happening/has happened. We’re curious, George. Go on, tell us, do – did she get them off? Something else I’d like to know: when one spends money that comes in fees from, say, a cocaine dealer, does it feel – you know – ever so slightly sleazy? I’m not referring to anyone in particular, of course. But you might have friends who know.
Attenta Daphne, qed tilghab man-nar. Dawn it-tipi ta’ nies li ghamluha ma’ tant nies kriminali, isiru jaslu ghal kollox.
It bothers me too when someone who I think is guilty of doing something gets away scot-free. It bothers me especially when I know they had an excellent lawyer and that’s why they managed to win the case.
But having access to a lawyer is a right. No matter how evil we are we all deserve to go through a fair trial and have access to a lawyer.
[Daphne – It’s also a lawyer’s right to turn down a case. Unless we are to conclude that criminal lawyers are automatons and not human beings, we have to assume that there are some cases individual lawyers might wish to turn down for personal reasons, safe in the knowledge that there are many others lawyers who would be only to happy to pick up the brief and so this person is hardly at risk of going undefended. I, too, work in a field in which I have to represent clients. There have been many requests which I have not accepted.]
Sure, rich people have access to better lawyers than poor people (maybe some sort of reform can take care of that), but as things stand people are free to choose and employ the best lawyers available to them.
[Daphne – And those lawyers are free not to accept the brief, though of course you may have put your finger on the reason as to why some of them don’t.]
And so it follows that lawyers make themselves available for such a demand.
[Daphne – Not all lawyers, and only if the client can pay. The argument some criminal lawyers use, that they have to accept clients, is pretty much turned on its face when they drop those clients for failure to pay.]
If I am a lawyer, like Gianella is (or your husband, for that matter), [Daphne – My husband has never been a practitioner of criminal law. He works in another field entirely.] why should I turn down a case if I am asked to be the lawyer? If I do so wouldn’t I be breaching the commonly accepted code that one is innocent until proven guilty? And anyway, isn’t part of being a lawyer having to represent people you know are guilty to ensure that justice proceeds smoothly?
[Daphne – A lawyer cannot defend a client properly unless he or she is told the whole truth about what the client has done. Hence, criminal lawyers know at the outset whether their client has killed, dealt, maimed, whatever. Their job is then to mitigate the damage to their client, and not to ensure that justice is done. That’s the job of the prosecutor. It sounds odd, but that’s just the way it is. Clients don’t pay you so that you can ensure that they get what they deserve for stabbing their wife 50 times and pouring bleach on her body. They pay you to ensure that they get away with as much as possible. Yes, there’s a lot of heroism in defending the innocent. I would say there’s a lot less heroism in defending the guilty. But as you said, that’s the way it goes. It’s an essential part of the process. And like cleaning out the drains, somebody has to do it.]
In other words, don’t lawyers have a duty and a right to defend anyone who is being brought to justice? And isn’t it unfair for people like us, who are not lawyers, to judge them for having certain clients?
[Daphne – Not at all. This is democracy. Discussion is part of it.]
George Hyzler clearly hasn’t seen this video from 5’04 onwards:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GajsxB6-FzQ
@Mandy : “George Hyzler clearly hasn’t seen this video from 5′04 onwards:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GajsxB6-FzQ ”
George may have not seen the video but I am pretty sure he has seen the view from the window behind Michael Grech in the video, because to me it looks like the same view from one of the windows on the top floor of GVTH law firm in Old Bakery Street, Valletta, George Hyzler’s very own office block.
Fair enough.
The way I see it is this: by having excellent criminal lawyers who can get even guilty people scot-free, our police have to do a better job to nail somebody. This makes it less likely for someone innocent to be sent to jail.
But I agree with your point about having the right to refuse clients.
Wouldn’t it be nice if our excellent criminals lawyers, upon accumulating a certain amount of wealth, got a job as prosecutors? You may say I’m a dreamer …
I hope that this election loss will become a blessing in disguise for the Nationalist Party.
My question is: do we need an inclusive Nationalist party or a ‘purist’ Nationalist party? I am afraid that all this bickering is an amusement to the clown on the other side.
The PN should have a better job at selecting its candidates. Did it need to have a pro-hunting and and anti-hunting candidate at the same time? And what about Cini? Do you think that unionized workers will vote for their union representative, they only vote according to their traditional or rather family beliefs.
The most successful candiates were Simon Busuttil, Louis Grech, and Edward Scicluna. The PN should have looked for another candidate with this background and not concentrate only on Simon Busuttil, even though he is the best of them all (when it comes to EU matters).
Daphne,
Dr. Lawrence Gonzi may have compromised his integrity when he cozied up to Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando in the run-up to the elections. Austin Gatt should not therefore have to shoulder blame for the Nationalist Party’s poor EP results.
Another thing. Joseph Muscat isn’t the nephew of an ex-archbishop of Malta. He doesn’t fly the flag for the Church. He can say things that LG does, and the nuances are not going to be the same.
So far, none of the political commentators have shown that they really understand what is going on in the hearts and minds of voters. Perhaps people have taken your advice and are on Prozac.
My advice: Try being nice. Be nice to George and Jason. Let it go. Try using words like zbrixx. Take up croquet. Learn to play the violin. Keep smiling.
There are far more important things going on outside the petty, petty world of Maltese politics. You’re wasting your talents, old girl.
[Daphne – I have a life that people like you know nothing about, because I am not part of your and Michael Grech’s clique, and it is very far removed from your own – so don’t presume too much because you know almost nothing.
The prime minister did not cozy up to Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando, before the general election still less afterward. However, I find it interesting that your appearances on this blog so far have been for the express purpose of defending Michael Grech’s anal stupidity, while this latest appearance has been to criticise the prime minister for something he hasn’t done. Don’t reveal too much of your hand, will you? You might find yourself straddling a fence-post in a rather uncomfortable fashion.]
Well Michael Grech is right Louis Grech is by far the best MEP we have. I bet some of you would have voted for him if he was a PN candidate. I voted for him and would still have voted for him no matter which party he represented.
Yes but he’s not a PN candidate is he, Grace? Don’t you think that the political party in which one militates counts for something? Louis Grech represents the PL with all its baggage from the past and the shallowness of its present.
I prefer to believe that PL got such a majority because people chose Louis Grech, Edward Scicluna and Marlene Mizzi. PN did not have anyone better than these three. Let me assure you that both parties have things to be ashamed of in their past. It might surprise you to realize that we are living in the present and we should be looking towards the future not the past.
Ahjar joqghod attent x’jghid fuq Bundy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MMNHjs1lLE&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fgroup.php%3Fgid%3D59477158458&feature=player_embedded
Perhaps champagne socialist Michael Grech should be informed about the tyrannical 16 years of socialism, before endorsing a PL candidate.
Were it not for those 16 wasted years, so soon after Independence, Malta’s GNP today may well be twice the EU average and not 30% below. Perhaps he should read up and find out about Borg Olivier’s vision for Malta, which was so badly derailed by Dom Mintoff.
Rather than George trying to justify his actions, it would have been better for his father Bertu Grech to send an e mail of apology for his son’s misguided actions.
[Daphne – His son is an adult. We can’t be held to account for the actions of our adult sons and daughters. I’m sure he’s not exactly loving it.]
Without going into the merits of the case… what is it with this country? Why is there an urge to rope in a colleague, a wife, a husband, a friend etc; to take one’s defences? Why cannot the injured party simply take the bull by the horns and reply himself/herself directly?
[Daphne – Because you’re talking of people who haven’t yet left the schoolyard, so that’s precisely how they behave.]
Daphne, “people who haven’t yet left the schoolyard”
They must be spending too much time in the schoolyard and not enough time in the classroom.
Thank you, Daphne…I haven’t laughed so much in a while. Well said….and thanks again!
Dear George,
In the merits of this blog, “You have been weighed, you have been measured, and you have been found wanting. In what world could you possibly beat me?”