Ever since the shameful collapse of the last Prodi government, in which I had originally invested some hopes, I have taken the view that the best thing that I as a free man can do in the current Italian political situation is to refuse to vote. Voting for Berlusconi was out of the question, and after the Italian left had proved both utterly ( Read more... )

In the last few weeks, Italy has seen an important set of local elections - including the governments of the largest cities, Milan and Naples - and a set of national referenda. The results seem to have marked the moment when the long-expected collapse of Berlusconi and his party begin. All the referenda were lost, some humiliatingly: the ( Read more... )

I don't like Berlusconi. ( Read more... )

Even his supporters must have been bewildered when he saw fit to do a State visit to Belarus and come back praising its chieftain Lukashenko - the last deep-red, genuine, twenty-four-carat Communist tyrant in Europe. In case you weren't aware, reds-under-our-beds is the standard Berlusconi electoral tactic.

It does not seem possible that Italian politics could become more repulsive and heartbreaking. Berlusconi and his enemies are playing a destructive game that does nothing but harm to the whole nation. The opposition is using the magistracy quite openly as a tool to attack the government, and its press organs are less than a step away from open ( Read more... )

If you lived outside Italy ( Read more... )

I have refused to vote in the Italian elections, holding that none of the candidates on offer were worthy of even reluctant consent by a free man. Or by anybody free to choose. To have to choose between supporting Veltroni, Berlusconi or the lesser lists is a choice that demeans a human being, and I will not make it. Until the Italian political ( Read more... )

Like for instance this afternoon. Watching a direct broadcast of the Pope's visit to Auschwitz - one of the most significant and spiritually demanding events of his pontificate - only to have it overlain by a continuous stream of chatter from broadcasters who showed not the least understanding of anything that was going on and kept treating the ( Read more... )

Unfortunately he was interrupted before he was able to do much towards this praiseworthy goal, and is now facing some time at the expense of the Italian taxpayer.

Happy new year.