Sometimes I wonder what the Opposition do in Parliament. Benchwarmers.

Agreed – Franco is not to be trusted as a politician and should call it quits.

[Daphne – Ahjar toqghod attenta l-GF bla isem ta’ Franco, ghax tidher li ghandek il-hots ghalih int. Jew jaqaw int il-GF? Nispera, ghax kont bdejt nahseb li xi kultant Franco ilibbes rubber-doll u ideffisa fuq il-passenger seat tal-karozza, biex taparsi ghandu tfajla.]

Do you seriously believe that most people think when they vote? For starters, take a look at the Opposition benches…

He needs to compose himself and gather his thoughts before speaking.

He even interrupts himself mid-sentence by saying ‘U ohra!’ and starts banging on about something completely different.

It’s as if his gob were a direct extension of his frontal lobes. No sense of sequence whatsoever, and as a consequence very shallow arguments.

[Daphne – Unfortunately for him, he’s coming across as somebody who’s completely wired.]

Again, lil tal-hames distrett li vvutawlu: what were you thinking?

“”it isn’t right that there is nobody to oppose the PM’s authority…people need to criticise”, you say. My dear, perhaps you have failed to notice the existence of something called the Opposition, ”

Hidden in plain sight! Yes, one tends to overlook this detail.

Bondi doesn’t need to make Debono look like a mad hatter. Debono takes care of that all on his own, without any help from anyone.

He’s suffered, remember? And he’s made sacrifices.

So don’t steal his thunder, Alice-in-Wonderland.

“Being a highly intelligent, motivated and well-versed individual, who however suffers from an over-inflated ego which, coupled with an aggressive sense of entitlement, exclude him/her from ever having the opportunity to be taken seriously and prove their outstanding capabilities in contributing to society.”

Humility is unfortunately (for Debono) one of the virtues that are a prerequisite to establishing oneself as a good politician. There are other requirements, as a quick look at other highly intelligent and otherwise capable individuals, in Malta (e.g. Alfred Sant) and elsewhere, shows.

That said, I do believe that on the show, Debono made several valid points (about what could have been handled better by the current administration), and in some instances I found myself sympathising with him rather than his host, whose main aim seemed to be to focus on petty issues, and to try and make the former look like a mad hatter.

In my opinion, that could have very well backfired, also perhaps due to Debono’s excellent law ‘trade skills’.

On a similar note, although it takes all personality traits to judge an individual, I doubt that focussing on his lack of manners (repeatedly faffing around with his phone during a live show) will do much to weaken those chords he might have struck with a faction of the (unpolarised) viewers.

I agree that Franco Debono has taken a wrong approach to the problems Gonzi is facing in his legislature and has unfortunately prematurely killed his political career. Indeed, I admit that I’ve found of his antics humorous and I laugh at the silly things he’s doing.

However, the foundations of his arguments should be heard…it isn’t right that there is nobody to oppose the PM’s authority…people need to criticise.

An early election might not be so bad. It would be a consequence of Gonzi’s actions (indirectly) and Franco (directly) but not just Franco on his own.

[Daphne – To soothe my nerves which were worn thin by dealing with arguments such as yours – “Franco Debono might seem mad but he has a point” – I spent rather a lot of time this afternoon surfing the Charles Manson fan sites, and consoling myself with the sight of all those otherwise apparently normal people saying that he might have organised the murders of nine people but he was otherwise personable and could talk well, so he had a point when he spoke about global warming. People who can’t make the link between the personality/character and the argument – inexplicably, to my mind – are not just restricted to this rock. There are lots of them in America, where there are similar problems.

Now off I go again, to read that Charles Manson has a point, before I despair at bedtime.]