GET IT STRAIGHT, FOR ONCE

If you take a look under my Beck column, you'll notice a number of comments lambasting me for pre-judging Mr John Dalli.

If you actually read my column, you'll see that nowhere do I judge Dalli to be guilty of anything, though I do make comments on his contribution to a very negative image of our country and about the advisability, or otherwise, of Labour tying their colours to his mast.

This dichotomy (if you're a Lil'Elf or Peculiar Pundit for whom that word is too long, try looking it up) is typical of many people who read my blogs or my columns and leap to conclusions that are unsupported by the truth.

With the information I have seen, I don't know, and scarcely care, whether Dalli was in cahoots with Silvio Zammit in angling for a sixty million payout, or whether he is entirely innocent of anything other than turning a blind eye to Zammit's machinations (not that this is anything other than reprehensible) or whether he is entirely innocent of everything or anything in between.

That wasn't the point of my column, though. I wrote about the result of the affair as seen from the outside looking in.

On the other hand, I do know what I think of Dalli and the way he went, and still goes, about things. Just as a fr'instance, consider this. A former Minister of long standing does not, at least not in my book, go onto the Opposition's television station and indulge in whine-fests, well flavoured with sly innuendo and a good dose of arrogance.

Such an individual can only expect to be viewed with thinly-disguised contempt by those who value integrity and dignity.

It's no wonder Dalli, Debono, Pullicino Orlando and Mugliett all seem to have a common streak, which you don't need me to describe for you.

Dalli didn't improve his standing, as far as I am concerned, by the way he has behaved since his boss told him to take a hike and take it now. Scuttling off to Super One, Malta Today and New Europe, aren't moves designed to give off a dignified aura. When you see the results in the ranting of such paragons of analytical probity as Joe Grima on his Facebook page and, Heaven help us, maltastar.com, you can't but conclude that Dalli is not helping his cause at all.

With friends like him and his confessional buddies, Labour doesn't need enemies at the moment.