That the PN has not yet rid itself of the negative aura that got it dumped out of power in 2013 is a given.

That since then, in the eyes of many, it has continued to take aim at its own size 9s, as evidenced by assorted errors of judgement such as consorting with specimens like Silvio Debono, is equally troubling for those who have the best interests of the party, and consequently the country, at heart.

If it wants to be elected when Premier Muscat exercises his prerogative, then the PN has to change the perception many have of it. It is as irrelevant as it is unfair that this perception is what it is, the electorate is not obliged to be logical or reasonable.

How else do you explain Brexit and Trump, not to mention Anti-EU Joseph Muscat becoming EU-Presiding Premier Muscat?

So boils need to be lanced and painful decisions taken, immediately if not sooner, and the people who matter know this. Simon Busuttil wlll give the lie to the idle chatter that he is weak, anyone with eyes in his head has seen this starting to happen over the last few months, and anyone who feels uncomfortable with this has been told in no uncertain terms that now is the time to stand up to be counted.

Or step aside.

But it would be stupid if accepting that this is necessary were to lead to "we the people" embracing even a splinter of the main plank of the platform on which perch so many of the people responsible for Muscat Joseph becoming Premier Muscat. The two parties are not the same and the solution, given the inescapable realities of the political environment, does not lie in enabling the "plague on both your houses" philosophy so loved by some.

Responsibility for the Panama Scandal, the Cafe' Premier Scandal, the Australia Hall Scandal, the Sai Mizzi Scandal, the Gaffarena Scandals, the wholesale "people of trust" appointments and promotions Scandals, the Serial Resignations Scandals, the never-ending serial appointment of Police Commissioner Scandals, the attempted appeasement of senior military officers scandal, the scandalous behaviour of senior Government and party figures, the scandalous attempted clamp-down on media freedom, the scandalous homo-phobia spewing out of an OPM-approved blog and all the other stuff of scandal that has dulled our collective sensibility, does not lie at the PN's door, for all that the regime's apologists and excusers try to point us that way.

These appeasers have just thrown their hands up in horror because Silvio Debono has extended financial help to the PN.

Many of these people also grumble because the PN is not well organised, but that is not the point.

Equally outside the point, for now, is the fact that the Labour Party had a well-oiled lift leading directly to the Fourth Floor of its HQ, a lift which contributed directly to the installation of its leaders in positions of power and influence in 2013, at least according to the gentleman who now occupies the position of Speaker.

The immediate point that many have missed, or chosen to miss, is that by petulantly stamping his foot and demanding his money back, Silvio Debono simultaneously confirmed the intention behind his self-less (!) philanthropy and the failure of his ploy.

Nor is it the point, for the time being, that Premier Muscat's party has coincidentally missed the deadline for filling its list of political donations with the Electoral Commission

The immediate point that many have missed, or chosen to miss, is that by petulantly stamping his foot and demanding his money back, Silvio Debono simultaneously confirmed the intention behind his self-less (!) philanthropy and the failure of his ploy. He expects us, at the same time as he betrayed his own motives, to accept without question or raised eyebrow that the neat parcelling-up and handing over to him of a rather valuable chunk of land in a prime site was done simply because Premier Muscat likes the colour of his eyes.

As someone put it so well recently, where are the Marines when you need them? It's astounding that clear evidence that the PN will not be bought is turned into a screen preventing us gazing with disgust on the spectacle of Premier Muscat's minions cavorting with bloated plutocrats and assorted well-oiled chavs, not to mention ladies of the night and their pimps.

But this is what happens when you live in the Post-Truth era, when PR hacks can put their feet up on the Oval Office sofa and churn out pressers replete with 'alternate facts' and convenient lies, all designed to erect a shiny facade obscuring what is really going on.

And while we're destroying myths and slaying dragons, let's have a bit less of this "the economy is going well so Premier Muscat deserves our undying gratitude" mantra, shall we?

An economy based on the construction industry being given free rein, on the sale of passports (where's the money by the way?) and assorted other bubbles (how long is the rental market going to continue expanding?) is short-termist, which fits the "let's make the best of our time in the sun" aspirations of the few but will not help the rest of us when the music stops.

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