That we have significant sectors of the media that simply reproduce press releases and report news without even the merest hint of a raised eyebrow is a given - I'll probably have a longer look at this phenomenon in my Beck column next Saturday.

But to have politicians and ministers (and mini-ministers) doing the same thing - that is to say, adopting positions without even thinking about questioning them - is getting beyond a joke and more than slightly questionable insofar as calculating the value this adds to the national weal is concerned.

Consequently, when mini-Minister (OK, Parliamentary Secretary) Owen Bonnici latched onto that ludicrous initiative of Pullicino Orlando's to try to censor the Internet (that's all it is, if you squint at it slightly, because he's under fire for his choice of social intercourse) shouldn't he instead have made the perfectly valid point that, excuse me, JPO, the law already caters for cyber-bullying, we don't need amateurs like you wasting our time with re-inventing the wheel?

Pullicino Orlando's bosom buddy, that Debono bloke from Ghaxaq (well, he might not actually be his bosom buddy, but he sure dived in to help when JPO was involved in that little fracas in Rabat) allows cyber-bullies to play their little games on his blog without even a semblance of moderation. The only moderating he does is when comments are sent in that are critical of him (Debono) and he fails to let them through: at that, he's an excellent gate-keeper.

When it comes to snide innuendos, downright insult, rabid racism and all the usual good stuff to which morons resort when they have no arguments, then Debono's blog has an open door policy, from what one can see.

So there you have it: on the one hand, one of Labour's best mates is trying to sanitise the 'Net so as not to keep featuring in it, while on the other hand, one of Labour's other best mates is already in dire danger of falling foul of the law, if only the cops would get down to doing their duty.

Funny old world, innit?

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