"What a comeback!", Jason Micallef exclaimed in jubilation.  The convicted felon Donald Trump had won the American presidential election.  Jason Micallef couldn't contain his delirious delight. 

But Micallef doesn't do simple joy, doesn't do happiness. Micallef does anger, rage and hostility.  He relishes vengefulness and spite.  His Facebook post was studded with accusations against "politicians of small fibre", "the bullying and elitist associations and organisations" and "traditional media organisations".

Taking a leaf out of the Far Right Micallef accused "those who control today's mainstream media" of being "full of agendas, of trying to frighten and terrify the people".  "The vote of the American people," Micallef warned them "told you that you make a lot of noise but that you're no longer credible and you don't impress".

Jason's sucker punch followed - "all this applies as well to what's happening in our country, because we don't exist in a bubble".  Micallef argued that as Donald Trump, who was demonised and persecuted by the evil mainstream media, pulled such a dramatic comeback, so could Jason's hero - Joseph Muscat.  And that was the real source of Micallef's ecstasy.  If Donald, convicted of 34 felony counts, could do it, so could Joseph who's only accused of multiple crimes.

Without prompting, Micallef made a public declaration of his loyalty to the great leader.  "I never shied away, together with my friends, from supporting and defending Joseph Muscat and his family, more than ever before in the last two years".

"And if Joseph Muscat ever decides to return to politics, as he has every right to, I will be amongst the first to support him - I am convinced that he'll find huge support, if and when he decides to do so," Micallef concluded.

Jason Micallef is not your common citizen.  He's a member of the Labour party executive.  He's the appointed special delegate for the party manifesto.  He's still chairman of the Valletta Cultural Agency. Micallef's words, his posts, his views matter.  He holds significant sway within the party which explains Robert Abela's conciliatory concessions to Micallef in return for withdrawing his name for deputy party leader.   Were Abela so convinced that he could make the party members vote against Micallef, he wouldn't be grovelling to him and offering him the special delegate post. 

Despite Abela's public hostility towards him, Micallef was still comfortably elected to the party executive.

Now Micallef is rallying the troops around Joseph Muscat, clamouring for his return, pledging his undying loyalty - not to the party but to the disgraced former leader.  Micallef didn't proclaim his fealty to Muscat privately, quietly - he did it publicly, loudly in a direct affront to the current leader who humiliated Micallef with his caustic comments - "when your time is up, don't come back". Micallef can nurse a grudge for ever - he won't easily forget Abela's sleight.  That's why he's defiantly challenging Abela's authority with his brazen act of treachery.

Jason Micallef epitomises the belligerent, arrogant and offensive branch of the Labour Party.  He is the face of the party that drives moderate middle-of-the-road voters fleeing from Labour.  He reminds that large sensible part of the electorate why a vote for Labour is so dangerous.

The country is still reeling from the massive Vitals-Steward scandal.  Joseph Muscat faces prosecution for some of the worst crimes - money laundering, corruption, bribery over a deal worth over 2 billion euro.  30 million euro of his assets have been frozen.

The US Attorney's office based in Boston has opened an investigation about Steward's business dealings in Malta between 2018 and 2023, citing fraud and violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

Inevitably Joseph Muscat will get caught up in that investigation, as will his chief of staff Keith Schembri and his star minister Konrad Mizzi.  That US federal investigation has the very real potential of seriously embarrassing Labour, especially those who continue to defend Muscat, despite the shocking revelations. Jason Micallef, still calling for Muscat's return despite his litany of charges, will have more to answer for than anybody else.

Sadly, justice, especially Maltese justice, progresses at glacial speed. Nobody's holding their breath that Muscat will be convicted in the foreseeable future - if at all. Everybody now accepts that Muscat and his spouse will continue to flaunt their inexplicable wealth despite their assets being frozen. Everyone shrugs when Muscat's wife brags on social media about their most recent extravagant holiday complete with family pics displaying their ostentatious wealth.

Everybody knows Labour is still protecting Joseph Muscat, still letting him use government Sa Maison offices, still funding his spouse's car, still letting him drag our country's name into the muck with his diplomatic passport.

The Muscats' over-the-top bling does nothing for Labour's socialist image.  Many in Labour would rather Muscat be quietly forgotten. They desperately wish he'd go away quietly and enjoy his luxury away from prying eyes. But Muscat and his meddling wife cannot live away from public view, they crave adulation, they thirst popularity, they breathe attention - and they'll do anything to hog the limelight.  And Jason Micallef is one of those useful idiots who keep forcing Muscat back into our present from a murky past - to Robert Abela's evident chagrin.

And that begs the question, why is Jason Micallef still part of Labour's executive? Why is he still Labour's special delegate? Why is he still heading the Valletta Cultural Agency? Why does Robert Abela have to grin and bear it?