There are politicians who would be much happier if Spain were a dictatorship of their ideological persuasion, and they no longer bother to hide it.<\/p>\n
This Thursday, the newspaper El Pa\u00eds<\/strong>, which for many years has been aligned with the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), published an opinion column by Daniel Gasc\u00f3n entitled \"The Usefulness of \u00d3scar Puente.\"<\/em><\/a> The author makes the following assessment of the rudeness, disrespect, and arrogance displayed daily by the socialist Minister of Transport on social media:<\/p>\n \"Being a troll\u2014to use David Mej\u00eda's description\u2014is the main function that Minister \u00d3scar Puente has in the Government:<\/strong> he is not in his position despite these characteristics, but precisely because of them. His outbursts only raise one question:<\/strong> are they a distraction tactic or, as is most often the case, the path that others should follow? His presence in office is eloquent proof of the institutional degradation of our country<\/strong>, and an example of adverse selection in our politics.\"<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n As usual, the minister has taken the criticism badly and responded by attacking the columnist from El Pa\u00eds<\/a>, even offering this assessment of opinion journalism: \"If journalism is in a catatonic state, opinion journalism is enough to make you cry<\/strong>.\"<\/em> A very cynical statement from a politician who receives a salary paid by all taxpayers and who dedicates a large part of his time to insulting those who don't share his opinions. A minister, let's not forget, who is politically responsible for the Adamuz train accident, which left 46 dead<\/a>. A terrible tragedy about which Puente lied by accusing two media outlets of publishing \"fake news\"<\/a>, when the information was absolutely true. And he still dares to lecture journalists.<\/strong><\/p>\n Yesterday, another columnist for El Pa\u00eds, Diego S. Garrocho, expressed his support for Gasc\u00f3n after the minister's attack<\/a>, stating the following:<\/p>\n \"If you dedicate yourself to writing columns, it must be an honor to be singled out by the most bullying and rude minister for something you have published<\/strong>.\"<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n The minister's response to this columnist from El Pa\u00eds was, indeed, that of a bully. \u00d3scar Puente responded to Garrocho by criticizing \"the fact that both you and he have a space in El Pa\u00eds,\"<\/em><\/a> a newspaper in which, apparently, the Socialist minister doesn't allow columnists who might criticize him<\/strong>. This is a display of the minister's anti-democratic tendencies and also the result of years of that newspaper's subservience to the PSOE, to the point that the party now believes it has the right to dictate who can and cannot write for that publication.<\/p>\n
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