On Saturday morning, the blogosphere lit up with comments about Beppe Fenech Adami's revelations about that Debono person and the latter's reaction. Unsurprisingly, because the Lil'Elves seem to have got their asses into gear, the vast majority of the comments gave credence to Debono's side of things.
Sorry to go against the grain, people, but I believe Fenech Adami. Debono, on the evidence, is a self-obsessed specimen who has convinced himself that the world revolves around him, that the sun shines out of his rear end and that his take on reality, whatever it may be at any point in time, is the final word on what that reality is, even if it changes from moment to moment, depending on what is convenient.
I have, luckily for me not often, been on the receiving end of Debono's rants. In my case, one of them was when he wanted to use my influence at The Times (don't ask me what influence, I'm simply a contributor) to get his name mentioned in law reports. He buttonholed me at Court and went on and on about the subject, oblivious to the fact that I wasn't interested.
I also know, for a fact, that many of his hobby-horses are lame ducks. One example will suffice: he keeps on and on about how he is a premier criminal lawyer and how he reached these Olympian heights without "connections".
Well, the simple truth is that Debono is one amongst many advocates at the criminal bar who do a decent job on a daily basis. He is no better, and no worse, than his colleagues, none of whom seem to think they have some sort of God-given right to have the media trumpet their achievements from dawn to dusk. Most of these advocates, to boot, don't have the connections of which Debono seems to perceive himself as unjustly deprived and they've made their name, where it counts (i.e. with their peers) by dint of hard work.
Can Debono say he's done the same?
Debono's only distinguishing characteristic, apart from having written a doctoral thesis which deserves analysis as to its author's capacity to write sentences that are complex to the point of incomprehensibility, is that he has the Government's survival in his grasp, but this is through no merit of his, simply a matter of happenstance.
If Debono's mood has swung to the wrong side of the spectrum by noon on Thursday, even this characteristic will disappear and he will become what he is rapidly confirming that he should be, an utter nonentity to whom Fate gave a fleeting opportunity which he squandered with political treacherousness of the basest level.
No wonder the MLP are bleating about stopping personal attacks: the more attacks that Debono attracts, the more the MLP are getting tarred with the same brush, given the gleeful opportunism with which they've climbed on his bandwagon.