Grace Borg, who withdrew her candidacy on the Labour Party ticket a mere 24 hours after she  announced it, has said that the reason she changed her mind was because of all the “hatred” which was leveled against her, especially on the Internet.

Now if by “hatred” she means the way we poked fun at her long fingernails and the fact that we referred to her loudness, then I stand guilty as charged, as I was one of the first one to post these kind of comments on Facebook.

But, having met Grace when I interviewed her  several years ago, I am pretty sure she would be the first to admit that she is a person who speaks with a loud voice.  And she herself has often joked about her love for intricate nail art on her talon-like nails. She is, by her own admission, a vivacious, colourful character who carries herself with a “take me as I am” kind of attitude towards life.

So I was rather surprised that she was so taken aback, and even hurt, by the public’s  reaction.  Although Grace Borg was already a public figure, when she announced that she was going to run for elections then she entered into a very different kind of public arena. She was going to be asking for our vote so that she would represent us.  Politicians, even would-be politicians, have to be able to accept criticism, but above all, satire. And, as far as I could see, about 90% of the comments I read about Grace Borg were satirical. Sure, there were some hate comments (which are never acceptable), but I would say the bulk were simply jokes which would normally be used by stand-up comedians.

They were in the same vein as the jokes about Franco Debono’s constantly ringing mobile, his reference to parrots, his considerable ego, and now what seems like a sudden conversion to Buddhism.   Larger -than-life characters, especially if they enter politics, should really be able to take these jokes with a pinch of salt. And if they are really clever, they should be savvy enough to turn the joke on themselves in a self-deprecating way.  Watch any American or British politician handle the digs and barbs made by comedians and you will know what I mean.

Now, as my regular readers know, I do draw the line at comments which are below-the-belt and deliberately cruel, because they are the opposite of funny. However, there is a  considerable difference between hatred and satire, and while we need less of the former, we certainly need much more of the latter.

There is a definite line between the two and I think most people are intelligent enough to know at what point that line has been crossed.