Yet another top comment
Posted by H. P. Baxxter:
Joseph Muscat has just lost the initiative. For the first time in his entire life, things aren’t going his way, and he’s having to react rather than determine events.
We are right now in a very small time window where Muscat’s adversaries have got inside his OODA/Boyd loop. That’s when interesting things happen.
Manuel Mallia should know a great deal about this, because he is a big fan of boxing. Muscat is trying to make up for it by flinging all manner of distractions in our faces until L-Istrina, when he can appear alongside a smiling Simon Busuttil and the nation will forget about this incident and move on.
I am not advising Busuttil, but if I were, I’d have one piece of advice, and one piece only: don’t appear on L-Istrina. Because if you do, at some point you’ll have to appear alongside Muscat, and smile and shake his hand. This is not the time for Maltese congeniality. Justice doesn’t take a break at Christmas.
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Good point, Baxxter.
Nail it.
Talking of distractions. This morning (20 months after assuming government) Muscat accused the PN government of not publishing the result of an inquiry into the death of an immigrant in the summer of 2012 (9 or less months before the election).
Will someone explain to me how for the last 20 months this has been a bad reflection on HIS government, and that the government is the government is the government?
A stupid point by Muscat, but it goes down well with stupid followers. Overheard in Pawla Square: U iva, billi tana 60c! Il-PN mhux ewro kienu tawna, mhux xorta ?
The only decision Muscat ever takes is to whom he’ll pass the buck.
This one’s a bit complicated because he can’t pin it on Mallia or Louis Grech. For the first time in his life, he’s facing the fact that the buck really does stop with him.
I share the same opinion. The Opposition should not take an active part in the fundraising activity. We are living in dangerous times and the seriousness of these events bars such participation.
Busuttil should seek a separate audience with the President , and on L Istrina head for Rome for a deserved break
Ezatt. Il-politika taghhom hija bbazata fuq marketing u huma esperti fiha. Ghalhekk trid toqghod attent ghax tkun qed tghin l-image taghhom. Narawha galor fuq PBS fejn ghadna naraw l-istess ucuh fuq l-ahbarijiet b tendenzi nazzjonalisti jaqraw propaganda tal gvern. B`hekk il-propoganda titwemmen.
Problema hi li marketing qatt ma holoq prodott.
Jghid x’jghidu.
And I always thought that my friend Baxter, actually had something between his ears,
‘
I now find that all he has is hatred and he is even advising Simon to boycott l-strina with all the harm that this action will do on the success of this fund- raising event,meant for a most worthy cause.
I’m sure that Dr.Simon will not take this advise.
No wonder the P.N. is crumbling and falling to pieces, if they accept this type of advice from such persons.
There is no need for a boycott. He has to make it a point with the organisers to be on L-Istrina with his colleagues at a different time.
Au contraire, M. Loporto. Mr Baxxter (double x) has put forward very sensible advice (with a c not an s).
I think we should ALL boycott L-Istrina. The €100 I used to give to them last year went directly to Hospice Malta. I think I’ll do the same this year. I have no intention of letting Madam President decide where my charity goes.
Mr not M.
This is exactly what I feared.
Why should politics be allowed to harm such a worthy cause which is meant to help those who are in need.
You might think that your small contribution will not be felt, on the contrary even such a small sum will be missed.
Maybe in future years you will be in a position to spare a more decent sum.
I have never contributed to L – Istrina but my contributions go directly to Dar Tal-Provvidenza, Caritas, Hospice Movement and others.
I do not need any posing go-betweens or some mad-eyed plonker uttering: “Kif tista ma iccempilx.”
You can donate to charity any time of year, Mr Loporto, as lots of us do already.
The only possible justification for Simon Busuttil appearing in the televised charity drive is not to hand Muscat an opportunity to exploit. Ironically, that’s the self- same reason Busuttil’s involvement would be ill-advised.
It is perfectly possible to support a charity drive without apoearing alongside Muscat.
Silvioloporto: I started the comment in French. Therefore M for Monsieur.
You see, you learn something new every day.
I give to charity as much as I can afford. As to the Community Chest Fund being a worthy cause, that’s another argument. I have my sincere doubts.
The PN is not crumbling in any way.
I totally back Baxxter.
Christian spirit is shown in basic actions.
Simon Busuttil has nothing to prove.
Joseph Muscat and the Labour Party do, and that includes Marie Louise Coleiro, positioned as President, but who is not deserving of the post.
You can’t go around murdering people and then go to mass on Sundays as redemption. Well, there are loads who would and do, but that’s not the point.
Silvio, funds are best raised by people paying all of their dues.
Those who want to give to charity may do so without having to have their or their company’s name splashed all over the place. Then it really counts.
Ejja nghidu li kieku l-bullets laqtu lil Smith f’rasu u flok qatluh pparalizzawh u kien jigi bzonn l-Istrina – Silvio, id-donazzjoni tieghek qatt ma ha tkun bizzejjed.
Simon Busuttil would do well to steer clear of any situation which the Prime Minister will use as a photo op for his own purposes.
As for L-iStrina, my donations go directly to my charity of choice, rather than leaving it up to others to decide who benefits.
I just saw Eddie Fenech Adami, Simon Busuttil and Lawrence and Kate Gonzi on Net TV.
Quite nostalgic given that we now have to endure people like Joseph Muscat, Michelle, Manuel Mallia & Codruta.
Any responsible parent would never trust his children with the second lot.
It speaks volumes about the switchers who irresponsibly put these bunch of lunatics in charge. They bitch their vote around as if it was a ticket to fixing their short-term issues without thinking about their children’s and country’s long haul prosperity.
Dr. Busuttil should refuse to be seen next to Muscat during L-Istrina.
He should send a very strong message to Musact.
Sheehan to Control Room operator – “Tghajtu zewg tiri meta waqaf”.
Control Room operator to Superintendent on duty: “He gave him two tyres to stop”.
Superintendent to Police Commissioner: “He had a puncture so he gave him two tyres but he didn’t stop”.
Police Commissioner to Prime Minister: “He warned him not to drive with two tyres but he drove off”.
PM to Kurt: “It was a hit and run and he fired two warning shots”.
Who supplied the media with the audio. Was it the Department of Information?
That it is the most important point of the day!
Shaking hands is only decent, and it is supposed to be for a good cause.
It’s only politics.
We are still one nation and this is not war. Remember that there are families and friends divided because of political reasons. The party leaders should not condone such behaviour. They should be the one to step forward and show common decency to one another. Then go back to destroy each other on the political arena.
[Daphne – Who said anything about politics? This is not about politics, but about corruption and the undermining of the institutions which are there to protect us. Politics is merely the vehicle by which that is being done. And no, you do not shake hands with a person who you are currently targeting with justified criticism in the public interest. Hand-shaking is a conciliatory gesture and not a meaningless formality.
‘Show common decency and then go back to destroying one another in the political arena’ – what sort of reasoning is that? It shows that you think of the ‘political arena’ as something quite apart from real life. But it is real life. That way of thinking is the reason so many Maltese electors are completely irresponsible with their vote.]
L-Istrina is not a platform to make one’s point as valid as it may be.
You appear at a time when the Prime Minister is not there and you openly encourage support for the charity. It was Alfred Sant who did the opposite, if I recall correctly, and he lost ground on the day.
[Daphne – You miss the point. It’s not L-Istrina that’s the problem, but being forced into a situation of false bonhomie with the prime minister, which immediately UNDERMINES the criticism you are currently levelling at him while confusing the electorate by presenting the criticism as a stage act which can be interrupted by real-life backslapping over drinks.]
I totally agree with Baxxter, and I hope Simon Busuttil takes heed.
It’s not about L-Istrina itself, or about fundraising, or appearing with someone, or about shaking someone’s hand. It’s about the context. I’m sorry to have to explain such basic things.
Simon Busuttil shaking Joseph Muscat’s hand before a televised debate is one thing. And it would not be wrong.
Simon Busuttil shaking Joseph Muscat’s hand flanked by two smiling celebrities and more TV hosts besides, in a studio decorated with tinsel and glitter, with a band playing in the background, a choir singing, and the audience clapping away, is another. And it would be wrong.
I mentioned L-Istrina because it is the next big public event at which they are expected to appear together. It has become the sine qua non of Maltese public life (just like Xarabank). Simon Busuttil is not a slave to the media. Yes, the media. L-Istrina is the TV programme, not the charity. Anyone can give to the Community Chest Fund or other charities without appearing on L-Istrina, and the one does not imply the other.
Simon Busuttil is not a slave to the media, or any TV production company. He decides whose invitation to accept and whose to refuse. In this instance, he should refuse. He should explain his reasons and refuse.
Joseph Muscat is not just another politician, and the point of contention is not just a difference in political opinion. This is justice vs injustice. It is the Republic vs totalitarianism. And if we fail to see this then we really shouldn’t be allowed to run our own country at all.
It is clear to me that Muscat’s entire strategy now is to hold out until the Big Christmas Distraction. Then we’ll all meet on L-Istrina, make friendly chit-chat, shake hands, go home and forget all about it.
Agreed, all he has to do is make sure Muscat isn’t anywhere in the vicinity.
As for initiative, mathematical it’s over. It’s why he tried to keep Busuttil as close as possible the first six months.
As I said, it isn’t even two years. Sustainability in government is all there’s to it, and that’s policy.
Divorce, done, gay union, ditto, now what, a bridge?
He had one option; kill any idea of politics and their exercise. Problem is, that rests on his social misgivings.
We are not his prototype and the moment he’ll try, throwing money at everyone, he will be dumped.
This is where Busuttil can work his magic.
Those who in the PN, insist Labour ser jikrolla wahdu are mistaken and wrong.
The Community Chest Fund has been turned into funding the medicines that this government has removed from list and therefore are no longer available.
Hospital staff are advising these persons to ask the Community Chest Fund to fund their expenses for these no longer available medicines.
This is not what the Community Chest Fund was created for.
It was not made to bale out the government.
This already happened at the end of the President’s Fun Run. On that Sunday the President basically forced Simon Busuttil and Joseph Muscat to publicly shake hands in St George’s Square.
Then the following day Simon Busuttil metaphorically tore Joseph Muscat and his entire group of MPs to shreds in his historic Budget speech. On the following Tuesday Joseph Muscat tried to do the same to the Opposition. So what was the point of the ‘goody images’ of Sunday?
NET TV will be revealing another transcript soon.
One wonders what went on in the good old labour days of Danny Cremona and Lorry Sant et al that we never heard about.
No mobile phones and instant photography, no quick one-touch recordings or Facebook. No internet. Not even proper TV or radio.
If the last 20 months of labour government are anything to go by, what we do not know about the Mintoff/KMB shenanigans must be truly horrifying.