Busuttil and Muscat: they’re exactly the same height

The sarky switcher/Labour mantra of the last four years has bored me to tears: Joseph Muscat is so much more imposing than Simon Busuttil is; Busuttil is nowhere near large enough to be impressive.

When I say in response that Muscat and Busuttil are exactly the same height, and Muscat is just fatter (as he was until the Panama Papers scandal broke), they are scathingly disbelieving. “U ejja, you’re just saying that.” No, I’m not – I say – I’ve stood next to each of them.

In their switcher/Labour minds, Muscat is a tallish man because, to them, his stature is significant in other ways – and vice versa for Busuttil. The mind plays funny tricks on us: those we admire grow, and those we don’t admire shrink. And then, when we see a photograph of reality, we are taken aback.