Maybe it’s the extreme heat. Maybe it’s the silly season turned incandescent. Or maybe it’s the cumulative result of so much liberalization carried out much too soon.

The fact is we are having a heatwave that has nothing to do with Celsius and Fahrenheit.

We refer here to the stories that have been the focus of public attention over the past days. We do not mention the names because of the snowstorm of claims and counterclaims, denials and counter-denials.

Some of these stories, which would make interesting material for sociological research, took place among the arty section of our community while others took place, so it is rumoured, among the political class.

Together, these two classes form a sizeable part of our country.

Let us examine first those sections about which there have not been any allegations such as modeling, art, and the like. Are we so sure there have not been any comparable episodes in these sectors that have been hushed down and buried?

Human nature being what it is, there will always be episodes of lust and temptation, people being bowled over by their emotions and people finding they are the victims of somebody else.

As has been said many times over in cases of sex abuse involving men of the cloth, the most pernicious aspect is the abuse by people who find they have power over other people.

Does this absolve and excuse sex between consenting adults? Today’s society says it does but just an age limit is no guarantee there is no exploitation involved.

Things get a far more dangerous tinge when politicians are involved. It is one thing to gawp and scandalize where someone from the afore-mentioned arty group gets caught but it’s much, much more worse if politicians are in a mess of their own doing.

Human nature is what it is and the goings-on of other countries show us no country can say it is free of such goings-on. But politics and politicians have a special reverberating effect on our country given our political fixation.

In his Sunday interview last Sunday Prime Minister Joseph Muscat gave a blunt warning: "We will not allow anyone, whoever, to tarnish this government with corruption."

Dr Muscat did not specify who he was referring to, if he was referring to anyone at all, nor was the context referring to any case in particular.

His words were not received at face value, at least by a section of the country. It can however be argued these words sound rather hollow compared to what people know is happening at the top of the country.

We must admit we have never been in such a bad situation. The PN governments had their faults, made mistakes, were obstinate, but we do not remember so many failed marriages, liaisons, affairs, scandals. Or maybe such things were kept hidden from our gaze.

Such goings-on and the gossip around the country is an insult first and foremost to those on the Government benches and in Cabinet whose personal and private lives have nothing to do with such goings-on.

Even in these liberalized days, there is a limit and that limit has long been breached.