In defence of what has been perceived as J’accuse’s inertia on the recent scandalous business in the media and on the net.

We are not blind. We have not been so long deprived from access to the net as to not know what is going on. We are not surprised and if we may paraphrase the hidden hand behind Genesis, J’accuse saw what was going on and he saw that it was not good. Quite frankly it’s not good at all and those who have dirtied, or are still to dirty, their hands in this latest record-breaking phenomenon of mud-slinging are performing a major disservice to journalism, to blogging and to themselves.

We do not sit on a high pedestal in judgement – we cannot – because first of all we have constantly and consistently refused the “argumentum ad hominem” (arguments based on the person) as a tool of political or social discourse. We will not because there is nothing political about the discussion. J’accuse has long insisted that personal status should not be considered in the discussion of a person’s political opinions and outlook. This might have been an opportune moment to highlight the inadequacy of judgements made on marriage status, couple trouble, upbringing and responsibility of offspring and “gift of life” choices – but it would be like shooting on the Red Cross. Such judgements fail on numerous counts, but most of all – like the electoral provocation for voters to judge on the basis of taste – they have managed to deviate the general discussion from that of politics and policies. Unable to formulate serious discussion about a choice between policies we have been reduced to discussing which politician has the best sexual/social life – and which one has constructed the best family unit. It was inevitable that at some point the focus would shift from politicians to other public personas.

We also refuse to sit on a high pedestal in judgement because we should never be able to do so. What measure will we use to judge the private lives of the saints that have been brought to a very public attention? And to what aim would we be judging them if not to stoke the useless fires that have been lit in the first place? True, we have been told before by some of those under fire that chosing to be a public person includes the risk of having to face this kind of heat. At what price and for what reason? We can admit that certain allegations doing the rounds, if substantiated, would have serious repercussions on the lives of politicians. It’s been an ugly battle that has shaken the foundations of this home-grown omertà. Again, for the first time since the Arrigo case – “public knowledge” became really public only when it was a useful weapon in the cross-fire of mud-slinging argumentation.

Omertà

We cannot, and will not, sit in judgement of the private facts that have been unearthed over the last week. In answer to those who have badgered J’accuse to “join the fray” as though this was some kind of World Wrestling Federation special we can only say look elsewhere. What you are reading here is Malta’s oldest established (and with the demise of Thermidor) most popular political blog (my very carefully chosen bold). J’accuse deals in politics not gossip and pink news. Voyeurs and voyeuristas will happily (and unfortunately) find their own share to feed on elsewhere on the net – facebook or otherwise.

Which leads J’accuse to the final consideration. As the dust will settle sooner or later, an important reflection we have been making for some time now will probably have hit more people in the face. This massive mess has unearthed (as if it was really necessary to show it) an intertwining of interests (mostly private) between sections of the two parties – the PLPN. The unaccountability and lack of transparency of the two parties when it comes to funding, commercial and other interests was already worrying as it was. The need for a clear, tangentopoli style, sweep of our way of doing politics is (hopefully) now written in black on white. That it should surface after a tiff between the dominant “marketing” wing of the parties should say much about where such a sweep should start.

It’s about time we get back to the boring, unattractive business of real politics.