More Marxist brown asses, less ‘prosit ministru’s? Precisely

What are we skinning? National Book Council Chairman Mark Camilleri’s self-exposed spat with a member of Yorgen Fenech’s legal team, to whom he lobbed harsh words which led to an official call for his resignation, which has since been withdrawn.

Why are we skinning it? Well if we’re being honest, it’s mainly because “kiss my brown Marxist ass” is now part of our socio-political lexicon, for better or for worse?

Did Mark Camilleri actually say that, in public? Yes, yes he did.

Epic. Epic enough to warrant a resignation, apparently.

That’s only fair enough. Public officials should know to hold back. Yes, and that’s one side of the argument. But there’s also plenty of other sides.

Plenty of sides? A public official was using foul language – I’ve since checked up on it and saw that the Marxist bottom is the least of it – and that goes against a sense of decency that we would expect from them. Yes, but while a myriad other officials were caught doing similar or worse, none of them received such a rapid-fire call for resignation straight away.

That we know of. Yes, that’s also true. But this very fact also underlies why Mark Camilleri – for all his brusque way of expressing himself – is something of a breath of fresh air in the local political scene.

So being a sweary loudmouth makes you a ‘breath of fresh air’, now, does it? By itself, no. Which is pretty much all that the previous culprits of the same misdemeanour could boast of – Camilleri’s complaints often come at the tail end of important political points, and are rooted in his historical sense of what being a true socialist genuinely means.

But reducing all public discourse to an orgy of angered swearing would pretty much be like ‘Xarabank: The Revenge’, wouldn’t it? All that programmes worst elements writ large and made flesh… But the nub of it all is that Mark Camilleri is somebody who is – loudly and publicly – criticising the establishment while operating within its structures.

It’s true. Those figures are few and far between. Indeed. An argument could be made for Camilleri’s approach being the only way the local political scene can come to full maturity.

Hang on now, ‘maturity’? At best, Camilleri just showed us a display of adolescent passion: well-read and well-meaning, but poor on delivery. Well, Camilleri’s youth could be another notch in his belt… though what I really mean is that a coterie of ‘yes-men’ only ensures one thing: stagnation.

So you’re saying: More Marxist brown asses, less ‘prosit ministru’s? Precisely.

Do say: “While Camilleri may have committed a tactical mistake in airing the particularly salty conversation for all and sundry, his political conviction cannot be faulted. He was one of the few among the Labour camp to ‘break ranks’ and openly denounce Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schembri when the time called for it – to mention just one example – and his work at the National Book Council is, by all accounts, an impeccable record of rejuvenation and improvement. So attempting to silence him so arbitrarily certainly makes for a bad look on the government’s part.”

Don’t say: “Allowing for public officials to flaunt their brown Marxist asses for all and sundry is further proof, if any were needed, that the Neo-Marxist Liberal Wokeist Agenda has truly risen to the fore and that we’re all quivering under its multicoloured boot. Hope you’re happy now, libtards!”