“Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad”

Some adjectives used by the journalists from The Malta Independent, the Times of Malta and Malta Today, who covered this tragic farce put on by a dissolute 53-year-old drunkard and a corrupt pensioner with a serious canvasser problem: “strange”, “surreal”, “bizarre”.

Pullicino and Bartolo did not have quite the effect they intended. Context is all, chaps – the last time you tried to pull a stunt like this, you were working for the Opposition and Gonzi was Prime Minister. It’s a little different now.