https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-D54nRdWwik

Fully agree! I think Simon Busuttil’s saying he was going to vote ‘yes’ was the best way of depoliticising the issue.

It is quite a bit of a stretch to say that the only thing the EU vote was about was hunting. I was against the derogation but still voted Yes.

This is the same senseless reasoning as thinking that whoever votes PN agrees with Dr. Busuttil’s stand on spring hunting or every other single issue.

But I have seen these arguments from those whose opinion is whatever their one political TV station states. Thinking and then having an opinion is an alien concept to many in Malta.

Funny. I thought the job of the Opposition or indeed any political party was to score political points.

I will do the same whole-heartedly.

‘…Il-poplu wera li hu favur il-kacca fir-referendum tal-EU, u fl-ahhar elezzjoni….’

With such blissful reasoning and sense of awareness, no wonder we continue living in such “interesting times”.

It never dawns to some, that the hunting saga exposes the irresponsible manner in which mainstream politicians “tackle” an issue, and lie through their teeth – and it eventually leads to the citizens themselves to mitigate the damage, considering that the law only “allows” them an abrogative referendum ?

“Il-poplu wera li hu favur il-kacca fir-referendum tal-EU, u fl-ahhar elezzjoni”.

Idjoziji bhal dawn ma nnizzilhomx. Mela ghidli, sur Hammer, jien li kont favur li nidhlu fl-Unjoni Ewropeja u li jien kontra l-kacca (bhal eluf ohra), kif ridtni nivvota?

Mela l-ghazliet li kelli kienu dawn:

1. Nivvota kontra d-dhul ta’ Malta fl-EU, u xorta jkollna kacca fir-Rebbiegha.

2. Nivvota favur id-dhul ta’ Malta fl-EU, u jkollna deroga li tippermetti kacca fir-Rebbiegha.

Haga wahda hi certa. L-Edukazzjoni f’Malta falliet bil-kbir, meta ghad ghandna ruxxmata nies lanqas biss jafu jahsbu.

Here’s the thinking behind this one: Simon Busuttil is a chicken because he’s afraid to take a stand. Great, now I’m going to draw a headless chicken and call it the Opposition Leader.

What?

Why does everything in Malta have to be like a sledgehammer to the head?

Where’s the wit? Where’s the story-arc? Where’s the twist? Where’s the surprise ending which makes you burst out laughing and nod your head in agreement?

Fine, Simon Busuttil is a chicken but a build a story around it. In the massive space afforded to Tanti Burlo in Times of Malta, he could easily fit a four-to-six panel intricately- detailed comic strip.

Tanti Burlo is very clearly a talented cartoonist but if I came across a published collection of his works, I wouldn’t bother buying it because I have no interest in looking at reams of single-panel strips, none of which make me laugh.

The obvious thing to do, and this should have been done years ago, is pair him up with a good writer. It’s a well established model in the comic-strip world. If one can’t do both, one writes and the other draws.

Single-panel strips only work when there are speech bubbles to compensate for the lack of panels.

And the strange thing is that this is not one Maltese cartoonist’s style but all of them. Just take a look at the newspapers and you’ll see what I mean (Wizard of Id doesn’t count because it’s not Maltese).

I have a Daphne-themed cartoon somewhere (l-Orizzont) from many years ago that I keep for sentimental reasons and, true to form, it’s a one panel drawing of a black-cloaked, pointed-hatted witch called Defni (sic) stirring a cauldron.

Really? All that bile and hate and that’s the best they can come up with? Give me a bleeding story. Make me laugh. It’s like reading the last page of a novel to see whether the main character got married or got killed without bothering to read the rest.

Sorry, but it’s boring.

http://www.independent.com.mt/archive/newspaper-cartoon

http://www.stevebonellocartoons.com/editorial.html

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20031019/cartoons/nalizperla.138668

Compare the above to this

https://doltd.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/the-economist-kal-cartoon-1152013.jpg

or this

http://s1203.photobucket.com/user/jennlbennl23/media/Peanuts1996265.gif.html

or maybe this

http://hipsterhitler.com/ironic-invasion/

or even this

http://garfieldminusgarfield.net/page/848