Joseph dejjem jivvinta, eh

Jahasra, don’t they realise they when they call him Joseph they detract from what’s left of his standing and credibility? When Blair became Tony, his political career was over. Bandying the name Tony about was a sign that people were mocking.

Yet here Joseph himself has asked to be known by his first name. His politicians have obeyed blindly, except for crafty weasels like Karmenu Vella, who has been around the block a few times and knows that the more he calls him Joseph, the more he weakens him.

He undermines him further by piling it on thick and using patronising expressions that you would normally use for a child, like “Joseph Joseph, eh! Qieghed jinkwethom Joseph!” (at the Labour Party conference last February – what a way to bolster your leader’s status).

Eddie? The context was entirely different.

That’s the mistake that Joseph makes. When that context changed, Eddie became Fenech Adami. And his people NEVER called him Eddie in public. He was always Il-Kap or the prime minister.

I can’t even begin to imagine any one of Fenech Adami’s ministers or shadow ministers, when he was party leader, turning patronisingly towards him, as they spoke from the podium at a party conference, and saying, “Eddie Eddie, eh! Qieghed jinkwethom Eddie!”

I can’t imagine anyone doing that today with Lawrence Gonzi at the party conference, either.

If Joseph doesn’t realise that ghouls like Karmenu Vella are asserting their authority over him by speaking that way, then he knows little of psychology and group dynamics.