Oh dear, I seem to have rattled the Tooth Fairy’s cage again
He’s agitating on his Facebook wall to have the police prosecute me and the courts imprison me for saying that our head of state shouldn’t be flying to Peru to do ‘missionary work’ with a bunch of people ‘heavily sponsored by Rocs’ and with others whose flights have been 50% paid for by the Community Chest Fund.
This is what he’s just posted:
IL-PULIZIJA OBBLIGATA TIEHU PASSI KONTRA DCG-
Imputation of ulterior motives to acts of President of Malta (Amended by: L.N. 148 of 1975; LVIII. 1974.68; XIII. 1983.5; X. 1996.3)
5. (1) Whosoever, by any means mentioned in section 3 of this Act, shall impute ulterior motives to the acts of the President of Malta or shall insult, revile or bring into hatred or contempt or excite disaffection against, the person of the President of Malta, shall be liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months and to a fine (multa) not exceeding two hundred liri.
Really liberal, God bless him: demanding the arrest and prosecution of a journalist for criticising the president. About as liberal as his statement that African boat-people should be towed back out to sea in the direction from whence they came and just left there to fend for themselves. But you know, before committing such a savage act, we’ll temper it by “waiting until the weather is fine”.
Where did the urban legend begin that Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando is a political liberal? On what basis was this assessment made, this common consensus reached?
Just because he demanded divorce legislation – when his motivation was his own desire for a divorce?
Scratch his surface and you’ll find a rightwing, xenophobic, small-minded, backwater bigot to rival any found in a small town in Germany. Or the American Midwest.
This is what a true liberal would do, Jeffrey, if he is in the perfect position to do so, as a legislator: demand the repeal of that embarrassingly atavistic law. But you’re not liberal, are you? Not at all.
Might I suggest you go to hell? I hear reports that they haven’t got a wide variety of objects there – only the one, so you needn’t stand with your back to the wall.
The only problem is that this one thing has three sharp prongs.
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There’s a pattern emerging.
Joseph screws up, Jeffrey starts to rant.
Easy.
You don’t really think that you’re above the law, Mrs. Daphne?
[Daphne – That much should be obvious by now, don’t you think? I never cease to be astonished, however, by just how many Maltese have an inbuilt authoritarian complex which is the polar opposite of liberalism. If a law is there, even if it contradicts fundamental civil liberties, then it must be obeyed, not challenged. It doesn’t surprise me one bit that Norman Lowell is so popular and that many Maltese felt more comfortable with Italian fascism than they did with British liberalism.]
Can someone please try to make this sorry excuse for a man realise just how pathetic and ridiculous he is?
Jaqq, what a turn off.
In my modest opinion, JPO should just SHUT UP and stop giving people reasons to make fun of him more and more. He’s reached an embarrassing state.
Dan xorob xi tazza te’?
Ironically, Pullicino Orlando has just placed himself alongside Turkey as not being “culturally European”.
Patethic JPO – is it possible that you cannot see the difference between criticism and insults? DCG was perfectly right in criticising the action of the President..as his reaction with respect to North Korea are Shameful, and frankly I think the President should either RESIGN or clarify his position immediately. I am uncomfortable living in this country with a President making such statements.
President Gorg is taking it upon himself to compete for the media limelight with the likes of JPO, Cyrus, Debono and Yana.
Who is advising him on taking part in such gimmicky circus acts?
… and Bishop Mario Grech.
I cannot understand your argument.
JPO is quoting a legal notice. You have in the past often referred to the law or the spirit of the law as a standard of social and political behaviour, but now you ridicule those who crave the law. Seems inconsisitent to me.
[Daphne – Standards of social and political behaviour do not come from the law, Farrugia, so it is difficult for me to imagine where or how I would have said that. Where laws are wrong, out of date, or in conflict with contemporary standards of behaviour, then they should be repealed. The duty of ‘liberals’ like Jeffrey is to oppose them, especially if he is in parliament and in the perfect position to do so. Perhaps I should put it to him in simple terms that he might understand: were the law which made adultery a criminal act still on our statute books as a dead letter, would I be correct in going on Facebook to quote chapter and verse and demand that the police prosecute him? The law against sodomy was on our statute books until the early 1970s. Should we have insisted that people be prosecuted for doing that? Of course not.
What I did say about the law and social behaviour is that, whereas in most cases laws are changed to reflect changed mores (divorce, for instance), in other cases you need the law to change social behaviour because it’s the only thing that will do it – laws or stiffly enforced regulations. I saw a minor example of this when walking along the rocks in Sliema the other evening: only a few years ago, it would be strewn with dog excrement. But now there are notices up everywhere and fines, and there’s none of that at all.]
I would be curious to see what the law means with “Acts of the President”.
I would surmise that it means those official acts which the President would perform in his official Constitutional function such as signing of legislationand so on.
Missionary work, down my way, does not have a Constitutional basis and hence one cannot say that it is an act falling within the parameters of this article.
Of course, the law days nothing about the act being official (as in arising out of the obligations/functions of his office).
However, no legislator in his right mind would have thought that our president would decide to go on a missionary work jaunt. Really and truly the spirit of the law is also a source of interpretation of the law and any different interpretation of this law, frankly, would be ridiculous.
I am not saying that the President is doing the right thing or should not be criticized for making inappropriate statements or decisions.
However, your web commentary titled ‘missionary position’ (an explicit sexual innuendo) is offensive to the office and person of the President because it subjects his office to popular derision. There are laws and regulations that chastise those who offend the person or office of the President.
[Daphne – Don’t be bloody ridiculous. The British mock their sovereign, the Americans mock their president (so do the French, the Italians…), and the Saudis can’t. I know where I’d rather be.]
These laws are also found in liberal countries like the UK in order to afford the head of state (the Queen) the proper respect and dignity. Being liberal does not entitle oneself to being disrespectful.
[Daphne – Farrugia, you are completely cut off from British culture if you believe that 1. anyone has ever been prosecuted for mocking the queen; 2. it is possible to be prosecuted for mocking the queen; 3. the British would tolerate the prosecution of anyone for mocking the queen. Every other joke, rude reference or absurd conceptual painting seems to be about the queen. I imagine you’re not of my generation, and so don’t know the lyrics to the Sex Pistols’ God Save The Queen.]
“God save the Queen, the fascist regime . . .”
Good to see you recognising an Islamic state for what it is, Daph . . . finally.
[Daphne – ‘God save the queen – she ain’t no human being…’]
Farrugia, you haven’t the foggiest about the British mocking their royals, lords, and elected representatives, as Daphne rightly pointed out. Take a quick look at these few examples taken from the weekly programme Mock the Week, aired on the BBC no less:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o60W286cm-E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzivucbNePY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVeBmhc9v-U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmYluz3wKVg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-V2DcXSg-DI
If you have time, watch a whole programme of the hundreds uploaded on YouTube and get a taste of what true liberal humour is really like.
‘Scratch his surface and you’ll find a rightwing, xenophobic, small-minded, backwater bigot to rival any found in a small town in Germany. Or the Amnerican Midwest.’ ….or within the P.N., might i add.
Daphne, can you please indicate which Facebook account you refer to from the following?
JPO I
JPO II
JPO III
JPO IV
JPO V
JPO VI
JPO VII
JPO VIII
JPO IX
JPO X
Hmm. JPO I would be the original. JPO II would be ‘The Return’. JPO III would be ‘Reloaded’. At a stretch, JPO IV might be ‘Resurrection’. But the rest? Straight-to-video, B-movie releases?
The Times reports how Jeffrey rants that the government does not have a mandate to support Turkey joining the EU. (This view is shared by his hubby Joe Grima.)
Turkey is not expected to join the EU anytime soon. Apart from promoting a populist position, Jeffrey’s lack of diplomatic tact is proof that he was never MP/minister material.
Turkey is slowly becoming one of the Middle East power brokers, irrespective of whether they join the EU or not. Jeffrey’s short sightedness is astonishing.
I hope that there is no similar clause in the American constituttion because half of the U.S.A would be in prison.
Ahjar jikkalma naqra Jeffrey. Ilbierah hareg jattakka meta kienet ghada l-anqas bdiet diskussjoni fuq ONE. Qisu qieghed go xi gagga u kultant jifthulu l-bieba.
Well Norman Lowell was prosecuted partly on the strength of this law so it is apparently taken pretty seriously by the intelligensia.
‘Scratch his surface and you’ll find a rightwing, xenophobic, small-minded, backwater bigot to rival any found in a small town in Germany. Or the Amnerican Midwest.’
Pity you didn’t do so before voting for him…
[Daphne – Yes. You have no idea how much I regret it, though I had some small compensation in being able to tell him so to his face in a crowded courtroom. He’s disgraceful. He let down so many people and betrayed their trust that it’s breathtaking.]
Perhaps you did it subconciously due to the massive campaign launched by the PL against Jeffrey…:P
One good reason to boycott the Turks:
Jo Meli
Today, 09:56
Jeff just PRESENT this private members’ motion in Parliament and if need be also a REFERENDUM on this Issue so that the Maltese and Gozitans have their say on the matter.
US Maltese must not forget the Great Seige of 1565 and the Gozitans that of 1551 when the whole of Gozo, save for the elderly and infirm, was taken into capitvity by the Turks !!!
NO TO TURKEY IN THE EU !!!!!!!
Oddly enough, I was speaking to a couple of colleagues from Turkey (quite bright and highly knowledgeable chaps) and they tell me that the Siege episode is glossed over in their history books. There were, apparently, more pressing events including the last 100 years of the Ottoman empire.
On a personal level, I think the EU stands to gain from granting the Turks membership even though some part of me is stigmatised in their respect (just a cultural thing though). Aside from their rich culture and artistic/intellectual accomplishments, we’d see some serious political stability in a region that has experienced over 3000 years of war and useless bloodshed.
If we could forgive the Germans and the Italians for bombing our shores senseless just under 80 years ago, then surely we could embrace our Turkish brethren for landing on Sliema (or thereabouts). We know that some of the Turks are of local descent so in practice we’d be embracing our long lost brothers.
However, my idealism is not shared by many.
Well, once I met a very nice Turkish girl who swears that they were taught at school that Turkey actually won the Great Siege. The Turkish state does have a penchant for historical revisionism.
This comment gets the prize for the most absurd and ridiculous. To refer to what happened almost FOUR HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS ago to justify Malta’s position on Turkey’s EU entry is unbelievable.
I’m sure that everyone and his dog agrees with you.
We should even add:
1. boycott France for having occupied us;
2. boycott Italy for having bombed us;
3. boycott Germany, you know why.
Let’s not forget that the Arabs were here as well.
In short we should boycott everyone – after all, this is Malta and we don’t need anyone. We are the centre of the world and most of all we should be thankful because we have Jeffrey.
What other countries would pay to have people like JPO.
I’d rather boycott Mintoff for having f**ked us. But alas….
Jo Meli, I will put this as delicately as I can: you’re an idiot.
It looks like the rehabitation of Mintoff by the MLP, is stimulating the old socialist / autocratic attributes in Jeffrey that were suppressed for the last 30 years.
I’m confused… Are “Botox Jeff” and “The Tooth Fairy” both JPO?
To start an argument: in 1565 the Turks thought fit to end their siege because the weather was getting a bit rough and they thought of retreating.
And they wanted to be home for Christmas.