UPDATED: Yet another lesson in how to shaft those who have helped you
The trouble with dishonourable scum is that they force you into a situation where you’ve either got to behave like they do and break faith with discretion, or sit there like a stooge and let their lies and insults wash over you.
It’s a tough call, but I don’t believe in letting people get away with things. It’s just a very fine balancing act to work out what you should say and what you shouldn’t, so as to avoid descending to their level and sounding just as indiscreet and dishonourable as they are.
Look at this, for instance. Joe Azzopardi has been subjected to a concerted attack by the Labour Party, Malta Today and Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando – everything nicely planned out, starting with Jeffrey’s ‘teaser’ interview with Josanne Cassar (how does it feel to be used, Josanne, or were you part of it?) – over the fact that he gave Jeffrey brief advice on how to respond to Alfred Sant’s accusations.
Despite all the accusations of political bias, favouring one party, and screams for PBS to take action, Azzopardi did not break trust with any third party (literally) he had helped and say ‘I did much more for those.’ In other words, he did not shaft others to defend himself.
You would imagine that in that situation, seeing that the person who has gone out of his way to help you is now under attack, and that you can change things by saying ‘Hang on! He helped me too, and I’m a politician with another party’, then you would do the right thing. Right?
Wrong.
Not only did Alternattiva Demokratika fail to derail Labour’s accusations and Jeffrey’s backstabbing by saying that Joe Azzopardi produced their electoral campaign TV spots for free when they asked him to do so, because they had no money, but now they’ve actually joined in the assault with their own accusations and insults.
I’ve just read this on Lou Bondi’s blog.
Et tu, Ralph
And now it is Alternattiva Demokratika’s turn to jump on the let’s-bash-Where’s-Everybody bandwagon.
Ralph Cassar, a prominent AD politician, wrote the following on Andrew Azzopardi’s blog about Peppi Azzopardi:
“You have to be in denial not to admit the inherent bias in TVM ‘discussion’ programmes, irrespective of what the PL says.”
What cheek. Ralph Cassar was in AD when they came to Where’s Everybody a few years ago and asked us to produce their TV campaign clips for free because they had no money. Peppi pleaded with me that we help them and I accepted.
Is there a gentleman left in this bloody country
No, Lou, there isn’t a gentleman left in this bloody country. That code of behaviour, in Malta, has fallen victim to the theory of survival of the fittest. Gentlemen get shafted by scum, and in a situation where there are far more scum than gentlemen, the inevitable happens.
UPDATED
AD chairman Michael Briguglio has since posted this comment on Lou Bondi’s blog. It’s one of the sanest views I’ve read in this insane controversy.
Yes, Where’s Everybody gave professional media-related help to AD for free in the past, and as long-time AD activist and current Chairperson, I am grateful for this.
As regards Ralph’s comment, my reading of the whole issue is that all TV programmes and presenters have their ideological/discursive orientations. I have absolutely no problems with this. If I had my own TV programme it would surely have my ideological/discursive imprint. Of course that does not make me a TV-host. Like all other professions, know-how is essential for quality.
What I disagree with is the fact that the Broadcasting Authority considers ‘balance’ as being guaranteed through the existence on Net TV and One TV. The Broadcasting Authority should, in the first instance desist from being dominated by PN and PL yes-men on its board, and in the 2nd instance ensure that civil society is given a fair chance of representation in the media. One should also acknowledge the role of audiences in selecting quality media.
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Well, when their previous chairman asked for our European vote to then pop over across the channel to ensure his parliamentary pension I’m not really surprised.
You have Jeffrey, I have Arnold.
I wonder whether he was amongst those who lobbied to change the law thus receiving the full amount even if the Prodi government lasted less than half a term.
It was a secret vote you see, proposed by the majority in which he sat. The law previously applied only to the senate whereas members of the lower house who weren’t re-elected weren’t eligible.
What cheek indeed.
I wonder what JPO is up to next. He is sharing his comments on Facebook with, so far, Robert Musumeci and John Bundy
He shared them with Cyrus Engerer, too, but they later disappeared.
Daphne, not survival of the fittest, one can still be a gentleman in that scenario. It’s survival of the incompetent and mediocre that makes people act that way, as they really have no alternative.
There are some. I consider the Prime Minister to be one of them.
Yes, and he’s also incredibly calm. Alfred Sant would have snapped and gone into public meltdown, as he did with Mintoff.