I wrote earlier about a speech Labour’s Randolph Debattista gave in Sofia extolling the virtues of a war against disinformation. Just three weeks ago Edward Zammit Lewis gave a speech in Luxembourg preaching about the sanctity of judicial independence to ensure the rule of law. That’s while his Labour Party leader was publicly assaulting a magistrate for wrapping up an inquiry into the misconduct of his predecessor.
Here’s another one. Ian Borg, who’s chairing the OSCE gave a speech in Vienna this week about the need to promote media literacy. He said that “in an era characterized by rapid and often unchecked information flows, media literacy is not just beneficial but essential. This is especially true during this important election year, where an informed electorate, capable of critically assessing the information they encounter, strengthens the resilience of our democracies and enhances trust and confidence in our electoral processes.”
Has Ian Borg seen those protesters outside the court two days ago? Has he seen them say that God burned Daphne, that they’ll support “Joseph” even if he was guilty of the things he was accused of, that the Maltese court were behaving like the Romans and the Jews in the passion of Christ?
Has he seen how media-illiteracy has been exploited by his party to polarise the public against journalists, portrayed as the “establishment” they must all despise?
What is vile about these speeches by Debattista, Zammit Lewis, Borg, is that they show they know what a democracy should look like. It is just that they wilfully destroy it to preserve their power.