30 August 2011

When Guido spoke about Gaddafi's grandma

Let's talk grandmas, shall we?
As Labour's past relations with the Gaddafi regime have become the talk of the town, I recalled a classic bit of elegant political humour on the matter.

Such humour is so rare in Maltese politics and the situation right now is so tense that I thought I'd pass it on to lighten things up a bit.

Before the 1976 election Gaddafi addressed a Partit Laburista mass meeting. When it was Dom Mintoff's turn to speak he turned to the Libyan dictator and with messianic fervor told him, 'In-nanniet taghkom huma n-nanniet taghna', (Your grandmas are our grandmas). The crowd roared.
 
On the following Sunday the PN held a mass meeting with Guido de Marco was one of the speakers. At one point during his speech he said that he wanted to respond to Dom Mintoff.

After his typical pause he said: 'Perit, ismghani ftit. In-nanna tieghi nafha b'mara sew. Issa in-nanna tieghek inti taf x'ghamlet.' (Let me tell you, Dom. I know that my grandmother is a woman of virtue. Now only you know what yours has been up to.)

Brilliant, simply brilliant

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

kemm imxejna l quddiem grazzi ghall gaddafi fdawk iz zminijit imma . . .

Joe said...

Jien nghidlu paroli fil-vojt miz-zewg nahhat.

Anonymous said...

That elegance is beyond comprehension for many. After all, it requires more than an elfin command of language and refinement of thought!

isabele said...

I agree with Anonymous 2 - however I fear even his/her answer falls into the same description.
May I make a suggestion . Instead of choosing User Name "Anonymous" why don't you choose Name/URL. You'll still be anonymous but it will make the comments easier to follow.

Anonymous said...

Labour's relation with Gaddafi became talk of the town?

Maybe you should go out a little bit more.

Only you, DCG and Mument are talking about Gaddafi and his regime's friendship with Malta. Maybe you should stop turning this blog into a history blog and start talking about recent history, such as Gonzi's meeting with Gaddafi and his invitation 6 months ago.

Or else, stop making a mockery out of the situation and grow up (gozitan midget).

ray said...

I see Anonymous 3 is so frustrated with the situation that he starts calling Lou Bondi names. Typical laburist.

It may be that Gaddafi is not the talk of your town. But surely it is in your partit tal-lanzit glasshouse. Maybe you should donate triple what you usually do (if you do), your party will surely need more from locals now.

Anonymous said...

@ Anonymous 3 - I'd like to talk about recent history. Specifically, I'd like to know what Joseph Muscat received from Gaddafi when he visited him in 2008. I'm not talking about a free ride on a plane with gold toilet seats. I'm talking about what he got in return for his agreement - not legally binding, but politically compromising.

Now, don't try to wriggle out of this one. Joseph Muscat is your next prime minister, so you can't say he's history.