All’Olimpico di Torino, Juve(ntinove) batte Inter (17) due a uno. Gol (roccambolesco) di Lucio nella sua porta e risposta di Eto’o al priéo tempo. Gollasso di Marchisio seguito da megarissa causata da Supersega Balotelli nel secondo tempo. Da rimarcare la grinta di Chiellini e Caceres, la mancanza di convinzione di Diego e un Felipo Melo che deve ancora crescere. Buffon … madonna che furia. Ferrara voto sei e mezzo – un piccolo passo in avanti. Per ora godiamo.
In which J’accuse hopefully brings to a conclusion this week’s open discussion on the selection of a new Commissioner and tries once again to draw a number of conclusions and read a few signposts that have been dropped inadvertently by all concerned. read on… it’s a long one so coffee or tea is advised as a beverage of accompaniment.
In which J’accuse steals a guest post from The Running Commentary where Patrick Tabone offers an ex-employee’s apologia pro Joe Borg and his work as a Commissioner. Patrick Tabone, a former employee of Joe Borg in Brussels and at the Foreign Ministry offers a different perspective of the outgoing Commissioner that might force some people to think twice before insisting with the ‘gravy train’ allegations.
Read on for Patrick’s open letter to Daphne.
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In which perceptions of the how and why Commissioners are chosen by the Maltese government continue to be analysed and in which J’accuse concludes that Joe Borg’s biggest defect is having been too good a fellow.
It’s incredible how the spin regarding fat cats and Brussels seems to have no end. The nationalists will probably pay dearly in the future for nurturing this misconception about EU jobs – particularly important, representative posts. The quib that J’accuse has with what is happening is mainly a question about the criterion that is being used for appointments to high places within the EU constellation. The nationalists and their lapdogs seem to believe that it pays them to portray certain decisions as being money oriented – and good luck to them for that. What we do get out of Borg-gate is a couple of spin-off conclusions that are all the more interesting for deciphering the current political atmosphere.
A journalist friend of mine recently quoted that famous maxim “don’t believe anything in politics until it’s been denied”. There is a ring of reliability about that maxim – it is after all the first reaction of most politicians to deny the truth until blue in the face. The sentence is undeniably pregnant with generalisations of the conspiracy theory kind yet history (small and big, long and short) has a way of proving it right time and time again. There will always be a denial that is proven right but try as you may to think of an example where denial prevailed you will inevitably end up with a list of lies: from Nixon to Clinton the attempt at drowning the truth with vociferous and indignant denial is long.
It’s not really a lie in most cases. It’s a denial. A denial of the occurrence of a fact – normally couched in sufficiently vague terms that might (I stress the might) allow some leeway at a later stage. That does not seem to be the case with Lawrence Gonzi this morning. The Times’ press digest includes the following: “The Times says that the Prime Minister has denied that Joe Borg was kept in the dark about Malta’s nomination for the European Commission”. Considering how the lady with moles has already implied that Joe Borg was offered an information meeting which he declined to attend we can all see where this is going. No prizes for guessing who the mole was either – I believe Joe Borg has intimated his annoyance at how people directly interested in “gravy train” (their words) posts were directly involved in the decision making.
Where j’accuse deals with the recent discussions on the appointment of John Dalli, with the anger of Joe Borg, with the EU gravy train and with the meaning of working for the EU.
Yesterday evening I was invited to a special ceremony celebrating our cabinet secretary’s 20 years of service at the Court of Justice of the European Union (get used to that name : it’s the new Lisbon Treaty version as of today). Around a score or more employees of this venerable institution were being feted with commemorative medallions for having spent 20, 25, 30, 35 or two score (yes there was one) years working for the Curia Europea. It was a short and sweet ceremony involving the usual doses of champagne (Massard), wine (Latour) and as far as I was concerned ubersugared orange juice. It was nice to see a warm side of the institution as gave thanks for years of faithful service.
