MInaMIna is unfortunately a good example of the way of reasoning- or better non-reasoning- of many Italians. There is nothing to do to stop Berlusconi, they say. The real problem is that there is no way of stopping all these people. If only we could stop them, Berlusconi would go, but with all the papers and mostly the televisions controlled by him it's really difficult to open the eyes of Berlusconi's disciples- that's what they are, disciples, not conscious voters.
Berlusconi will go, sooner or later, but what we call 'berlusconismo' won't go. MInamina is also angry because Mr. Dickey talks about Italian affairs while he should mind his own American business. Of course, Minamina never noticed the part of newspapers and magazines called 'international affairs' or similar, that's what they are for, to talk about foreign countries, duh!- she probably doesn't read much... She probably didn't notice the newspaper La Stampa that dedicated today many, many pages to Obama, president of a foreign country.
Just one thing: don't believe too much in polls, sometimes questions are tricky, and never forget all the Italians who are absolutely tired of this man, who are disgusted and will celebrate a new Liberation when he goes. Never believe to all the minaminas who say that Prodi ruined Italy and that he was a communist. What??? They bought lies, they sell lies.
From Italy, with pain.
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Silvio, it's Time to Go
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Berlusconi's policy failures are everywhere. His attempts to improve education have amounted to little more than cost cutting. He's done almost nothing to tackle welfare reform. And despite his rhetoric on taxes—during the last general campaign he promised to lower rates—the government now predicts they will rise this year. During an earlier stint of his as prime minister, Berlusconi's police did help bring down one of Sicily's last powerful godfathers, Bernardo Pro-ven-za-no. But prosecutors in Sicily have so often tried to tie Berlusconi himself to the mob, although they've never made the charges stick, that this undermines his accomplishments.
Internationally, Berlusconi's personal demeanor and scandalous reputation are not just cringe-inducing—they are directly harming Italy's interests. Having caused an uproar soon after President Barack Obama's election by remarking on the first African-American president's "suntan," Berlusconi thought he'd try out the joke again after coming back from the G20 meeting in Pittsburgh last month. He brought greetings from the U.S.A., he told conservative supporters. "What's his name? Some tanned guy. Ah, Barack Obama," the prime minister quipped to uncomfortable laughter. "You won't be-lieve it, but the two of them went to the beach—the wife is also tanned," he added.
Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini, a longtime Berlusconi ally, is quick to defend his boss. "Italy should be judged by our merits and accomplishments, not our scandals," he says. But they don't make his job any easier. "I have to spend time explaining the real story," he says. "If you look at the front pages of the press you see the scandal in the headlines, but if you look at page four or five, you see how the world asks Italy's help in Lebanon, how America appreciates Italy's work in Afghanistan … But you know that good news is no news."
If only it were that simple. Italy still has the world's seventh-largest economy, and is a member of NATO, the G20, the euro zone, and just about every other club of powerful nations. But it punches well below its weight. Berlusconi's off-color jokes and reputation make other leaders uncomfortable. No surprise, then, that Italy is often left on the sidelines; to cite one important recent example, Rome has been excluded from the core contact group dealing with Iran over its nuclear weapons. Berlusconi doesn't help matters by claiming credit for initiatives where his role is marginal—for example, in the summer of 2008 he claimed it was he who sent French President Nicolas Sarkozy to Georgia to fend off the Russian invasion. Italy's military has served in Iraq and Afghanistan and suffered tragic losses. But it -left Iraq long ago and wants out of Afghanistan sooner rather than later.
Always inclined to put show over substance, Berlusconi works hard to make sure—through lawsuits, investigations, and political pressure—that good news is about the only news Italians ever see. When an estimated 100,000 protesters turned out on the streets of Rome recently to support press freedom, the event got little or no coverage on the TV shows most Italians rely on for news. And no wonder: Berlusconi controls all three state TV networks, the three largest private channels, the country's largest publisher, a weekly newsmagazine, and a newspaper owned by his brother. Whenever a state network airs a critical segment, he declares that state media should support the government, and he has fired journalists who crossed him. Those outlets he doesn't control are frequent targets of legal action.
The tragedy is that Italy—a nation of brilliant intellectuals and artists, talented public servants, and creative business leaders—could do so much better. A few names are now being touted as possible successors to Berlusconi: Fiat chairman Luca Cordero di Montezemolo; Gianfranco Fini, the progressive heir to the former Fascist mantle; the economics minister, Giulio Tremonti; Foreign Minister Frattini; and Mario Draghi, governor of the Bank of Italy. But after years of indictments, investigations, leftist infighting, right-wing race baiting, and Berlusconi's habit of sucking up all the air in the center, true saviors for Italy are in very short supply.
The ultimate blame may lie with ordinary Italians. Author Umberto Eco wrote last month that the Italian public has accepted Berlusconi, and will accept the gagging of the press. "So why write about this when most Italians know very little—because the media, so tightly controlled by Berlusconi, tell them very little?" Eco asked. "The answer is simple. In 1931, Mussolini's Fascist regime made all 1,200 university professors swear fidelity. Only 12 refused, and lost their jobs … Those 12 saved the honor of our universities—and of our country. That's why you have to say no, even when it may do no good."
And that's why Italy must say no once more. And tell Silvio it's time to go.
With Jacopo Barigazzi in Milan and Barbie Nadeau in Rome
© 2009
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