Social media gives a very clear picture of the current state of Maltese society. This is particularly so when it comes to the way people think about politics, and politicians too. Some might consider this a laughable matter, but it is rather tragic that, in this day and age, there are people who are so blinkered in their thoughts that they end up defending what is wrong simply because that “wrong” was committed by someone belonging to the party they support.

The latest example came in the form of a photograph showing Tourism Minister Clayton Bartolo wearing a Manchester United jacket, posing in between the captains of the English women’s team and her counterpart from Birkirkara FC before a friendly match that took place at the Tony Bezzina Stadium in Paola.

What Bartolo did has to be condemned and criticised. There can be no justification for it. No doubt about that.

Bartolo was attending the event as a minister of a country, not as any other supporter. And to have a government minister wearing official apparel of a foreign team that is taking on a Maltese side is simply not on.

That the minister, then, preferred to wear a jacket with the Manchester United emblem when the team was playing against another that represents a locality, Birkirkara, which forms part of an electoral district contested by the minister made his action worse. Any Birkirkara resident worth his or her salt should never vote for Bartolo again.

It is no wonder that he was disparaged for his action. People were sarcastically telling him to go knock on doors in Manchester for votes and, frankly, they are correct to take such a stand. We do also hope that Prime Minister Robert Abela also told Bartolo off about the matter, and keeps it in mind when he is planning a Cabinet reshuffle.

The minister defended himself, saying that the Maltese, including Birkirkara residents, know how much he has worked for them and for the country. He did, eventually, say that he was sorry, but the apology appeared to be rather forced.

The minister’s work for the country was not the subject of the controversy, even though we have reservations about that too, such as his reluctance to say how much the Film Awards held last year cost and, with regard to Manchester United, how much the sponsorship contract Malta signed with the club is costing the taxpayer.

The point was that, as a minister, he should have never been seen wearing Manchester United apparel at such an activity.

While there were many who found fault with the minister’s conduct, there were many others who justified what he did. The “prosit ministru brigade” was out in full force to say that he had done nothing wrong. They were all out to defend what he did, belittling it and ridiculing those who voiced their dissent about the minister’s action.

Go figure.

This is the kind of crowd that is always at the ready to defend the indefensible, simply because the “wrong” that was committed came from someone on the political side they support. (But then, if they defended the action of past ministers who did much worse than Bartolo, and re-elected them in spite of the scandals they were involved in, we should really not be surprised that Bartolo found them as a shield.)

Let’s say it in another way. If the minister who wore the Manchester United apparel had been Nationalist, the people who defended Bartolo to the hilt would be in the forefront to attack that Nationalist minister who did what Bartolo has done.

It’s because they do not think of the “what”, but reason (if this can be called reasoning) on the “who”. The “what”, for them, is not important. For them, whatever Labour does is good, and whatever the Nationalist Party does is bad. That’s how they think.

Similarly, there would be Nationalist voters, who are now criticising Bartolo, who would defend a Nationalist minister if he was the one to have worn a Manchester United jacket for a similar activity.

This is the kind of political sickness that grips the country.

There are many people – too many of them – who are unable to form an unbiased opinion. They wait for the party they support to express itself on any given subject, and follow suit.

If Labour says that they should walk up and down Republic Street 10 times a day, they will do it gladly, and say how good it is for their health to do some exercise. But if it is the Nationalist Party which tells them to do so, they will oppose.

That is the kind of Malta we live in.