Did you watch that impressive display of progressive liberalism on Super One last night?
Rehearsals for Joe Grima's Inkontri on the Labour TV station
That was an utterly disgraceful display on the Labour Party’s television station last night.
Joe Grima’s Super One Inkontri was a baiting exercise in which the host, aided and abetted by four guests, taunted, criticised and rounded on another two guests.
PBS chairman Anton Attard remained unfailingly polite, soft-spoken and mild-mannered throughout. Joe Azzopardi cracked towards the end, when he had five men literally barking at him all at once, with the host, instead of keeping order, joining in the lynching, at one point even repeating ‘Money! Money! Money!’ at Azzopardi.
Maybe he hoped his entire audience was made up of half-wits or 20-year-olds who don’t remember his progressive and liberal behaviour as a Labour cabinet minister.
Kien fih priza.
Five against two, on the station owned by the party to which the five are sympathetic (yes, that includes the chairman of the Malta Council of Science and Technology).
Shouting, screaming, table-pounding, bar-room brawl behaviour and the vilification of people who were not present, with plenty of references to individuals as DIK and DAK.
It was such an excellent example of Labour rabble-rousing from the nightmare years – and this on a television station Labour owns because the Nationalist Party pursued a policy of liberalisation in broadcasting – that when I returned to my computer after the show I found violent comments threatening me with rape and murder posted on this blog.
Labour doesn’t seem to realise that it is doubly incumbent on it to behave and speak responsibly because many of its die-hard supporters are ignorant and violent (and last night’s display demonstrated clearly that this is not a class issue, either), and all they need is the kind of inspiration they got on Inkontri last night.
Shameful – grown men making a thorough exhibition of themselves.
The host, Joe Grima, broke all the standard rules of good manners and professional behaviour byinsulting, denigrating and attacking two of his own guests, the broadcasting equivalent of inviting somebody to lunch at your house and then proceeding to gang up on him and insult him with the help of your other guests.
Dreadful.
Meanwhile, he failed to control others who included his own brother – imagine making your own brother a default guest on your TV show – who is still touting himself, sadly, as a former correspondent for The Financial Times. When is he going to take that pathetic show off the road?
Godfrey Grima pounded the table with his fist, slamming and banging and shouting like a violent kap tal-familja whose wife had stepped out of line, yelling in defence of the Labour Party ‘arma’ which his advertising company designed after conveniently winning a competition, and talking like going after contracts is dirty work, when it’s what, presumably, he has an advertising agency for.
Or perhaps it’s only he who is allowed to go after contracts – you know, like the massive, massive contract his agency got for the branding, promotion and all advertising and collateral of GO Mobile.
Or the PBS show he got – remember Darek Mal-Hajt? – after a couple of chats over supper with his friend, PBS chairman Roland Flamini. I should know, because I was there. It was a good show, yes, but it’s amazing how Godfrey conveniently forgot to mention that he practically lived in Roland Flamini’s pocket at the time.
Then there was Labour spokesman on broadcasting, Gino Cauchi, using that body language of slum-dwellers in a doorstep brawl, where they put up their chin, stretch up and raise their shoulders, look sideways without turning their faces to the the person they’re addressing, and say, in that particular kind of raised voice: “Ghax ma tridx tmurx tghid il-dak siehbek dwar dik il-mara…”
Brrrrrr.
And of course, there was the inevitable Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando, now Labour’s mejda tal-qubbajd, shouting fit to burst a blood vessel. He turned purple at one time, having started out yellow, and he even out-yelled that vulgar savage Grima.
Very smart, apart from all the shouting, to make such a public display of your virulent hatred for one or two people, Jeffrey. Really cool. Next time you go on television, be sure to pop some Valium first.
And that’s to say nothing of his deluded insanity in yelling that I and others are causing untold harm to the Nationalist Party.
I don’t work for the Nationalist Party, Jeffrey. I am not elected on the Nationalist Party ticket.
I write a newspaper column for The Malta Independent, and I run this blog. Alone. And unfunded.
You, however, are – nominally at least – a Nationalist Party politician and your behaviour is utterly reprehensible. Anyone with half a brain can see that, even those who vote Labour, which is why the only people who are telling you to KEEP IT UP – try popping some Viagra after the Valium, that should do it- are semi-literate.
Oh, and Jeffrey, I see that you’ve now picked up the deceitful Labour mantra that I “attacked” ‘tfal ta’ tlett snin tal-mexxej Laburista“. This tells me more than anything else that you have slipped off the edge.
If writing that Joseph and Michelle Muscat should not have taken their twins to the formal meeting with the Pope, because it was not their place, constitutes a savage attack on three-year-olds, rather than very mild criticism of their future-prime-minister father and their public-figure mother, then you have lost your mind.
But then we knew that already.
What a revolting spectacle. All it needed was shouts of ‘Zommuni! Zommuni!’, and I’m surprised there weren’t any, that’s how bad it was. Did they take it outside, and have a brawl on the Marsa Industrial Estate?
They were meant to be talking about what is happening at PBS. How ‘bad’ things are there. If this is what Labour has planned for PBS next year, then zommu lili.
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Utterly disgraceful. Joe Grima did not have the guts or decency to call Lou Bondi to give his side of the story. This is only the beginning of things yet to come, if ever the PL is back in govenment.
Where can I watch this show? I missed it.
I did not watch the show, but reading Daphne’s account above, it’s like I was in that studio – I have to pick up my jaw from the floor.
Daphne, it was truly vile and brought out the true colours (envy green) of the Labour Party in its current incarnation – it is worse now because it says it has changed but demonstrates that it has not budged an inch – if anything it is worse.
What exactly does Gino Cauchi expect – that the Opposition Leader has as much exposure as the Prime Minister? The PM runs the friggin country whilst the Opposition Leader leads a leisurely life (turns up late everywhere) and criticises once a day.
I think yesterday’s Inkontri should be run by the Nationalists right through the election campaign – it was all about attacking the persons and not the content. If they get their turn I hate to think.
They should have been applauding Anton Attard for the courage he has shown in taking on a dinosaur like PBS and making it into a quality media house.
For a programme about balance in broadcasting they showed exactly how balanced they are at Super One.
Yes, I watched it, and I never got to find out what the topic of the discussion was, because it remained unclear.
I was afraid it was going to become a bar fight, very scary, very scary.
No wonder Joe Grima said he was going to get up and leave during the show.
Also what had Lou Bondi, I.M. Beck, Fr. Borg, you, what you write, and how much PBS spends on religious programmes to do with this topic, if there was one?
Prosit- You’ve said it all, Daphne, precisely as it was.
If ever we needed proof that these characters (I’m thinking another descriptive word but doubt if you’d print it) have even mildly mellowed, then we must be living in cuckoo land.
I seriously recommend someone posts the programme in its entirety on YouTube for distribution to one and all. Together with your comments above, the shameful and despicable spectacle we were subjected to should make a few doubters think very hard before supporting rabble like Joey (make that the two Joeys) and friends.
So very well put. I watched the show yesterday, because another member of my family wanted to watch it. I had my fill of them when they ran Xandir Malta, and now this.
Anyone toying with the idea of “giving them a chance” should open his eyes real quick and see what’s been there all along. They are the same as they always were.
In fact, being in opposition all this time has only made them worse. They could have used these years to better themselves, instead their hatred and jealousy have festered and they seem to be finding it harder and harder to contain them any longer, hence the shameful spectacle yesterday.
I cannot understand how decent, polite people accept invitations to such programms produced by Joe Grima. Have they not learnt the lesson yet?
[Daphne – Catch 22. Imagine if decent, polite Anton Attard refused to go because of the nature of the show. We’d be treated to a Stalinist campaign by the experts at Super One, on how the PBS chairman refuses to appear on the Labour Party television station.]
Apart from lessons in ethical behaviour, may I suggest to Joe Grima to listen some recordings of his programs on radio 101 during the Sant years, when he was rightly so, put aside by the MLP.
May I also suggest to the PN not to accept turncoats of convenience into their folds.
The best thing Alfred Sant did to this country was to rid the MLP of the likes of Joe Grima, AST and their similar, only to find them back in promnent positions 15 years later in a so called progressive and moderate party.
Dan Grima kien jghajjar lil Fenech Adami “bodbod” fil-80s meta kien ministru tat-Turizmu u Kultura.
Ghadu ma nesiex il-Kultura tat 80ijiet.
I am utterly shocked and disillusioned by this “pastasata”.
Hmm what kind of TV you have Daphne, were you watching it live or you saw the summary on NET. My TV shown a different version, yes the banging was there the shouting was there (mainly by Peppi Azzopardi and Godfrey Grima where it clearly emerged that they have a personal grudge against each other). You wrote that 2 guests were ganged upon by the remaining panel, well honestly I have to say that the worst damage was delivered by one who was not even there and that was John Dalli, former Minister and Nationalist hero slamming the Goverment in a direct way….well that was precious. Daphne we all know that you are not employed (officially) by the PN and that you consider yourself in the entertainment buisness, and you are actually a good writer with impeccable English, but for the Love of Pete stop this hate campaign of yours against the PL change a little bit your style and regain some credibility.
[Daphne – I’m not the one with credibility problems, sweetheart. You’re a little confused.]
Brian, how about writing to Labour and asking them to change their style. It is the same party we know from the 80s. Only that it is restrained while in Opposition.
Brain you need to sort out the R of your TVs CRT.
well said Mr.gatt.The end is near Ms caruana g.
[Daphne – The end of what? Do please elaborate.]
Daphne, Im sorry to say you really disgust me. I never read any of your blogs until today as i like to stay out of such things. Instead of relying on what people have to say about you I decided to have a look for myself. You live a sorry life dear. I feel sorry for you and your family.
For the record, no im not labor.
[Daphne – No, you were just really motivated to read something other than Facebook for once and actually use your keyboard to type something other than tejt imoru PV 2nite. I’ve been around a long time, darling. It has its benefits.]
Daphne, I watched the first 10 minutes. I really couldn’t take it and didn’t get to the point of hearing/seeing JPO.
Godfrey Grima? He said he had never watched Xarabank (open declaration ) yet still had no qualms about tearing it to bits, presumably on the basis of what other people had told him about it. And he attacked Lou Bondi in his absence, clearly green with envy at his success.
[Daphne – Godfrey has hated Lou for years. We all knew about it. But now it’s spilled out into the open.]
I wish you could upload the programme just for all to be aware what the brand designer of the Malta Labour Party now ‘smartly’ called Partit Laburista is all about . They will certainly have no difficulty in understanding that MLP follows suit.
No mention of the dark days of run rabbit run on our national TV. Of course those were the days when Godfrey Grima was a ‘professional journalist’.
Could you please send me your email address?
Thank you
[Daphne – dcg@proximuspr.com]
Habib tieghi, Nazzjonalist imdejjaq u ddizgustat, wara li ra il-mandra tal-programm ta’ Joe Grima, dalghodu qalli li anki agunija jitlobhom jiehduh biex jivvota lin-Nazzjonalisti ghax il-bierah urew il-hdura u l-mibgheda li ghandhom go qalbhom.
Qalli ukoll li jekk jiehdu l-gvern f’idejhom ikissru kull m’hawn.
I couldn’t watch it all because it was utterly revolting.
I changed channel when Gino Cauchi said of Xandir Malta that he doesn’t care about the past but only about the present and we should forget what happened.
If Joseph Muscat wants us to forget what happened, then he should clear out his skip, because its contents just keep right on reminding us.
If Joseph clears his skip, he will have no candidates left to run in the next election.
The whole party is plain garbage, hamalli, injoranti u mimli nies vjolenti.
oh my god its people like you that make election time so horrible….. maaaaa all of you GO AWAYYYYYY. This is the last time im ever looking at your blog and reading peoples comments. Vera nies imdejqin!
[Daphne – Ah, here’s somebody who knows how I feel when caught up in an internet morass of misspelt comments from people who type with their thumbs and think with their nether regions. Exactly.]
What beats me is how decent people accept to appear on this scum’s show.
I watched it and was shocked. There is only one word that suits them fine – psataz
Disgusting, Sur Grima. Shame on Net for giving him air-space when he found hinself out in the wilderness some years back.
We are faced with a huge problem – it’s a fact that the PN needs some years in opposition to charge its batteries, which logically means that the PL will have to run Malta in the meantime. What a nightmare.
“it’s a fact that the PN needs some years in opposition to charge its batteries, which logically means that the PL will have to run Malta in the meantime.”
It’s too high a price to pay. Just be extra careful whom to vote for but there is no alternative to the PN in government, right now.
The PL and its supporters have only one goal in mind – to win the election, spend a few days celebrating and walk up those stairs at Castille. What happens after is immaterial, There will always be the PN to bllame for all that goes wrong.
The more I think about it, the more I think that what Austin said makes a lot of sense.
We need twenty more years of NP governments, warts and all, to give time to the current crop of misfits in the LP to either die off or be too old to even know where they are (like Mintoff).
Maybe, just maybe, there will be a different Labour Party, then?
Johnnie I think it is more appropriate to say that the PN needs some years in opposition to do the “necessary weeding” rather than to “charge its batteries”.
Weeds and all the PN is light years ahead of PL.
Totally right, johnnie! Maa x’biza.
Alfred Sant managed to control the mob, but I cannot immagine Joseph Muscat controling the hooligans after a labour victory.
He did not control the mob. It went into hibernation until further notice.
Jeffrey almost cried yesterday. Damn.
Joe Grima suffers from selective amnesia as he has forgotten when he went to the Broadcasting Authority offices during the golden days of Labour government and assaulted one of the employees.
As for Godfrey Grima, he has been for years trying to hoodwink us into thinking that he was The Financial Times’ official correspondent in Malta – why would they need one in Malta? – when he was just a stringer.
As if the FT would waste an official correspondent in a dead-end like Malta.
What a disgrace of a programme! Joe Grima “Missu jisthi”, how unprofessional. Godfrey Grima had the cheek to call Xarabank “baxx” but what the hell was his brother’s programme yesterday?
Can’t wait to have Pellegrini as chairman of PBS, Gino Cauchi and Joe Sammut (yes, now that he no longer takes care of Ghaddafi’s millions) back on TVM.
I’m sure that the national station won’t be biased. Oh, and let’s not forget our Lilly Gruber, Miriam Dalli, now freshly married to Karmenu Vella’s son.
Joe Grima is the biggest hypocrite and opportunist.
I’m sorry but that programme on Super One last night was one of the worst I’ve ever seen. Absolutely and unbelievably disgusting. However, the good news is that it was a great contribution to the Nationalist Party.
I just hope these kind of programmes continue to be made. This will surely remind people what kind of scum we have ready to take leadership of this country.
I only watched a minute or so of this one sided debate, with Joe Grima adding fuel to the fire (what can one expect from an ex Rediffusion toll collector turned Labour politician). I found Family Favourites on Melita more interesting than watching an oversized crapbag like Grima sink so low…and that says a lot.
I was zapping, saw Frans Girxi shouting, together with the Grima Brothers. Then I saw JPO….and continued zapping.
On RAI Due there was something more interesting about how a young monk escaped certain death from Count Dracula’s hands, well the translated BBC documentary did not reveal to us how.
Then on BBC Entertainment there was Mrs Bucket’s “Keeping Up Appearances”.
At 6am today I caught the repeat on One TV, and saw Frans Girxi attacking Anton Attard and Peppi Azzoppardi, so I zapped straight to NET and there were interviews with Karm Farrugia (Mintoff’s economist) and respected economists like Gordon Cordina and John C. Grech talking about the bread and butter realities around us.
Truly, I don’t give a hoot about what they were shouting about on Joe Grima’s Inkontri. What difference would it make on our situation if Peppi coached JPO on how to use TV. If anything the PN showed that it is professional up to the last detail.
How could you stand watching that trash? You really have stamina.
I was tempted to switch off but remained watching as I was enjoying the damage PL were inflicting to their own party.
When Joe Grima interviewed Charles Flores, a former head of news in the days of Xandir Malta, they claimed that the order not to mention the leader of the Opposition in news bulletins lasted for just 2 or 3 days. Blatant liar. It lasted for months.
This show should be shown to even wider audiences, to help concentrate some minds.
Is there some clickage available somewhere? I’m afraid I missed the whole thing.
One comment made by Frans Ghirxi really impressed me. He said ‘min kien imexxi Xandir Malta qabel kien goff u l-zbalanc (favur l-MLP) kien car pero issa kollox qed isir bil-fin.’ Then he said JIEN NIPPREFERI L-GOFF’. How can he say that.