Just pity him
Though I don’t agree with Fr Joe Borg that Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando Smith should not be criticised, and most severely, for his behaviour, I think this piece is really appropriate, and I’m uploading it here.
Oh, and I agree that he is to be pitied. But I’ve long said that he has a serious problem and that it’s getting worse.
DON’T ATTACK HIM; JUST PITY HIM
Fr Joe Borg
timesofmalta.com, today
Someone asked me whether or not I will be rebutting the gratuitous accusations the Hon Dr Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando once more made against me. However, this time the honourable gentleman upped the ante by attacking me in the august chamber of the House of Representatives.
I thank him for the honour. He did not bother to bring forward any proof. The eminent politician probably believes that he is the truth personified and consequently producing proofs of what he alleged would be infra dig.
The Romans used to say that quod gratis asseritur, gratis negatur. A free English translation would be: Don’t waste time on bile spewed irresponsibly.
As a result I do not think there is any need for an answer. But I will give another reason for not answering, doing this in an attempt to persuade people not to attack Dr Pullicino Orlando for voting the way he voted in Parliament. People should refrain from attacking him even though they feel outraged at what he committed last Monday.
Dr Pullicino Orlando speech, to which I listened with the level of attention it deserved, reminded me of a verbal diatribe he indulged in some time ago in my regard. Let me share with you the incident.
During the divorce referendum campaign I accompanied Dr Arthur Galea Salamone, one of the leaders of the No campaign, to the Where’s Everybody studios for a debate with Dr Deborah Schembri. Dr Pullicino Orlando was there. I tried to do the decent thing that is usually done in civilised environments among gentlemen.
I approached him to shake his hands. As soon as he saw me approach he went into a fit. The man was beside himself. He started shouting and insulting me at the top of his voice. “Get out from here”, he bellowed repeatedly.
I stayed calm. “I accept your insults since that would compensate for Lenten sacrifices”, I said. “But can I ask with what authority you are ordering me out from a building you don’t own?” Chucking people out of building you don’t own is normally called arrogance. He did not answer except to screech more spicy insults.
He made veiled but vile allegations about me. Once more he did not attempt to provide a shred of proof. He is The Truth, remember? As a courageous politician he refrained from saying specific things. I guess even in his fit of frenzy he was attentive not to open himself to a court case.
What struck me more than the content of his invective was his demeanour. He was hysterical. As one colloquially says, he had lost it completely.
Then I understood why a member of the Yes campaign had told me that they considered Dr Pullicino Orlando as a liability and many in the No campaign considered him to be their greatest asset.
At one point Dr Pullicino Orlando gave me the reason for his hissy fit. In 2008 I had the cheek to take the mickey out of him in a short piece in this blog. I must have been a miserable and awful creature to have the gall to poke fun at such a noble gentleman. He decreed that I had to do penance for my writing.
Last Monday I listened to the same JPO. He was not hysterical but he showed the same level of anger, bitterness and vindictiveness in his speech attacking Richard Cachia Caruana. Last Monday I pitied JPO just as much as I pitied him when he attacked me in the studios of WE. A man who carries inside him all this anger and bitterness must be a man who is suffering a lot. His pain must be excruciating.
Don’t attack him, just pity him and move on.
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Way to go Fr Joe!
How long now before we have someone from PL on Inkontri telling us how much PL feels the ugieh ta’Jeffrey..
The Short Man syndrome is alive and well.
I disagree. He should be made an example of. A modern day Aesop’s fabel if you wish. I think kids should know about him, and hopefully the next generation will learn from his mistakes and in this way benefit from this sad pathetic individual.
Fr Borg is right.
His must be a very sad and tortured soul. Bearing grudges for decades for real and/or perceived slights is not conducive to having a happy, serene and fullfilled life.
Now look at this, including the comments beneath.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20120621/local/frank-portelli-convicted-of-failing-to-pay-workers-for-three-months.425365
The full picture is now clearer as the different bits of the jigsaw fit in.
Next time round the PN should avail itself of napalm, not weedkiller, when weeding out the chaff from the corn when selecting its candidates.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkOk7s8Rcao
It was JPOS’s turn to take the lime-light. And what better way than to up the stakes: Franco Debono abstained so he voted against.
The fact that the motion was against Mr Cachia Caruana just made the vote sweeter for him.
Beyond feeling pity for JPOS, I think that Mr Cachia Caruana has a basis to contest – out of principle – the vote against him.
He is a civil servant and there are constitutional bodies established to handle such issues, but surely not parliament. Also, the premise for the resolution was not proved – so the vote is sort of fallacious.
I think that by attacking him we woulld be keeping him in the limelight.
By pitying him and simply ignoring him we would be really disservicing him. After all, he covets the limelight and cavorts with anyone and anything capable of throwing him in the limelight.
I wondered whether his vote on Monday was an attention-grabbing strategy.
I had already said once before and will repeat it again.
Having spoken about these guys and vented our anger against them, we should now just ignore them so as not to give them more publicity.
Something that these types of people crave and yearn for – not having their name in print anymore will make them go crazy.
I do pity him. He is now being pulled by the nose, entwined around her small finger and basically salivating and doing the the bidding of his double-crossing missus.
As I have known him personally and been both his friend and supporter, I can only think that something has gone wrong in the upper area of his brain.
He is cunning, scheming and conniving.
You wouldn’t say hello to him on a lonely day except to take the piss out of him.
What has pity got to do with it?
Get a grip, Daphne.
[Daphne – Lost in translation, maybe: the pity I’m thinking of is contemptuous, not sympathetic.]
He really has lost the plot hasn’t he?
The only problem with Fr. Borg’s advice is that we cannot just move on from this sad specimen of a human being.
He has shown he is able of causing great damage not only to individuals but to the country.
He cannot simply be ignored. He needs to be committed – be it to any asylum or a jail. Either will do.
WARNING: PERSONAL ATTACK AHEAD.
Don’t pity him. Just attack him.
Both the party and the church prefer non-confrontation.
The risk is that many remain ignorant of important information so vital for people to make an educated decision.
The right to freedom of expression has been won with so much toil but it needs to be defended and protected.
Very well said indeed, Fr.Joe.
Well said, Fr Joe. I do not pity JPOS, I ignore him as I ignored him in the election booth the last time around.
Men who cry do not qualify for my vote unless I am asked to vote for an actor, a ham at that, instead of a politician.