It is perhaps understandable that Super One hackette Janice Bartolo refuses, or hasn't the capacity, to grasp that the interests of Malta and Premier Muscat's Labour Party are not one and the same. Her report of her opinion of the PN's opposition to the nomination of Leo Brincat is itself incontrovertible evidence that she does not even grasp the difference between journalism and party-promotion. To be fair, this malaise afflicts many people who work for political stations, and PBS.

Brought up as she clearly was, suckling on the teat of Labourite philosophy, she could perhaps be excused for not even beginning to perceive that party and country are different.

Not so Dr Alfred Sant, clearly enjoying something of a resurrection in the twilight of his political life, apparently having overcome the heinous crime of calling Mintoff a traitor which had pitched him squarely against Premier Muscat's visceral adoration for that looming figure in Labour's past. Perhaps it's the fact that Mintoff's nephew is railing against Premier Muscat on the Libyan Medical Visas scandal (Scandal #65 (?) and counting under Premier Joe) and that Mintoff's daughter has become less than breathless in her adulation of all things Labour that has taken the name Mintoff off the dashboard for the moment - all to the good, whatever the reason.

Dr Alfred Sant, as he was referred to without fail by Super One throughout his stint as Leader of what was to become Premier Muscat's Party, is a man of no small brain.

Multifarious degrees, all achieved by him without the need of people "contributing" to his doctoral thesis, are testament to his intellectual prowess: this is not a man you can call shallow or sound-bite driven, nor one who would say he would be doing something (publishing an audit, for instance) and then simply forget about it because he thinks we will.

Nor would he, one hopes, have tolerated shenanigans on the part of those around him of the type perpetrated by - well, you know who.

Don't think that this is some form of approval of the way he ran the country during the blip. Dr Alfred Sant was elected on an anti-EU and pro-business (or anti-VAT) stance that would have led the country into ruin had it not been for the traitor Mintoff, but the fact is that up to a few days ago, despite his somewhat neck-wrenching U-turn on the EU (the allure of Euro-Parliamentary even did for Nigel 'Scum' Farage after all) he had retained intellectual integrity.

The Leo Brincat affair has chucked all that into the bin, sadly the place where many political reputations end up, after their holders fail to see that it's time to fade away.

Dr Alfred Sant wormed his way, in an awesome, if somewhat occult, manipulation of the arcane rules that the EU delights in producing, onto the Committee that first vetted Leo Brincat's nomination to the Court of Auditors. It was his vote that swung it for his former Minister.

You'd have thought that this would have been sufficient unto the day, both to satisfy the demands of personal loyalty, an attribute to be given grudging admiration, and to set Brincat on his way to a decent pension when he hangs up his boots once and for all.

The EU Parliament, however, had other ideas, resoundingly nixing the nomination, though Brincat perversely chose to struggle on, hoping that the Commission extends two fingers in the general direction of the Parliament. That will be as may be, but the fact remains that the Parliament where Dr Alfred Sant sits chose not to agree with his take on the matter, and one would have thought that he would shut up about it.

Not so: needs must where the Devil drives, after all, and for domestic consumption, it became necessary to blame the PN MEPs for Brincat's humiliation, even if this flew in the face of the cross-party depth and breadth of it. DrAlfred Sant went biblical and fulminated, like a Greek God from atop his mountain, about teeth for teeth and eyes for eyes now that the PN MEPs had proved their treachery.

Not that Greek Gods figure much in the Bible, but you get my drift.

What twaddle: Brincat is not Malta, no loyalty is owed to someone who chooses not to stand up and be counted when it matters. In truth, loyalty to the country actually demands that nominations such as this are opposed, because they shame us, not do us any credit.

Anyway, Malta, in the event that Premier Muscat will finally have to choose to nominate someone acceptable, will still have a nominee to the Court of Auditors, and the nomination will be supported as it should be.

Dr Alfred Sant was not alone in his choice of extremist "my party 'tis of thee" reactions. Another Alfred, of the Grixti ilk, chose the same brand of response, excusing himself by stating that he posted his vituperation outside office hours. No-one, therefore, should doubt that during office hours, Grixti will be the very epitome of even-handedness and fairness of treatment for all who need his services.

Yeah, right, and a herd of sheep are winging their way past my balcony as I type this full-stop.