Posted on 04/11/2008 2:24:02 PM PDT by knighthawk
According to the opinion polls Italy is again about to embrace Silvio Berlusconi as the country's leader. If the charismatic media tycoon wins this weekend's elections against the centre-left alliance of Romano Prodi, he will, after only a two-year absence, once again become prime minister.
Silvio Berlusconi was prime minister twice before. The first time he came to power was in 1994 when his right-wing Forza Italia party formed two separate alliances: one with Umberto Bossi's separatist Northern League, the other with Gianfranco Fini's ‘post-fascist' National Alliance. However, the ‘House of Freedoms' coalition fell apart after only a few months in power. The second time he was more successful, becoming the first Italian prime minister to stay in office for the full five-year legislative term. Since the Second World War there had been dozens of cabinets and no Italian government had remained in power for more than four years.
Infighting His second House of Freedoms cabinet, which again included the Northern League and the National Alliance - as well as several smaller parties - was also marked by infighting. The cabinet managed to survive the full term but Mr Berlusconi spent more time defending himself against corruption charges with laws, which made him immune from prosecution than he did dealing with the economy - which he left in an abominable state.
He managed to avoid prosecution after being brought to court twelve times on charges of fraud, bribery and tax evasion. His team of top lawyers often kept the cases going so long that the statutes of limitation had lapsed before they could be brought to court. Despite all the scandals half the Italian population considered him the kind of exemplary leader the country needed.
Grip The slogan of his new Popolo della Liberta (People of Freedom) party is ‘It's a good thing we have Silvio'. And despite the biting satires and jokes, again a large segment of the Italian population is buying his message. One of the reasons is Mr Berlusconi's continued grip on much of the Italian media. The Prodi government remarkably didn't do anything about this conflict of interest. Mr Berlusconi owns Mediaset, which means he controls a number of television stations.
The political correspondent for the Milan-based newspaper Il Corriere della Sera, Enrico Caiano agrees that "not so much" has been done about limiting Berlusconi's control of the media. He says that after 15 years in politics "the Italian people accept this situation" and don't seem to regard it as important. He says that if his centre-left opponent Walter Veltroni wins the elections Mr Berlusconi's media interests will not be one of his priorities.
Prototype Many young people and students are disillusioned with Italian politics. As always, Italy is experiencing a crisis. Piero Ignazi, professor of comparative politics at the University of Bologna, believes that Mr Prodi's centre-left cabinet achieved quite a lot in two years, in spite of the infighting between the various parties. He points to the fact that the Prodi government managed to decrease Italy's enormous national debt.
So why is Silvio Berlusconi the one who is reaping the electoral profits? Mr Berlusconi, who is continuously insulting his opponents, and would rather talk about sexy women and soccer than affairs of state? Mr Berlusconi, who is accused of maintaining ties with the mob? What makes him so popular? Professor Ignazi says the answer is simple: He's the prototype of the average Italian.
"Italians like people who smile and are easygoing. And can take care of their own affairs and bend the rules."
And who meets this profile better than Italy's national political braggart, Silvio Berlusconi?
If people want on or off this list, please let me know.
Very good. They made a huge mistake voting him out last time. He has the grit to fight terrorism, and is a friend of the United States (though the Dems probably hate him).
Imagine a political candidate/party controlling media outlets.
Glad this doesn't happen in MY country. /s
I wonder what is causing Italians to fall in love with Silvio again?
Of course Berlusconi has a much greater media empire and has much less competition from the internet in Italian language news and opinion media.
Italy: Internet Usage and Population Statistics:
|
YEAR |
Users |
Population |
% Pop. |
Usage Source |
|
2000 |
13,200,000 |
57,989,900 |
22.8 % |
|
|
2004 |
28,610,000 |
58,608,565 |
48.8 % |
|
|
2007 |
32,190,658 |
59,546,696 |
54.1 % |
“Italians like people who smile and are easygoing. And can take care of their own affairs and bend the rules.”
So true.
On my recent trip to Italy, I talked with some Italians about their politics. They have the same problems with their politicians as we have here in the States. At times, I thought they were describing the state of affairs in the U.S. They too, vote for the lesser of the evils.
Most do exactly as the quote says, take care of their affairs and bend the rules. And they are experts at bending the rules.
France, Italy, and Canada’s leaders, all with somewhat reasonable attitudes towards the USA. Hard to believe
Put me on the list.... and go, Silvio!
Big B nibbled some supposedly tainted cheese, and (clowning around) pretended he was dying from it.
Italy: Right-wing women the most beautiful, claims Berlusconi
AKI | 8 April, 2008
Posted on 04/09/2008 7:56:37 PM PDT by Straight Vermonter
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1999322/posts
Italy under EU pressure over dioxin-tainted mozzarella scare
AFP on Yahoo | 3/27/08 | AFP
Posted on 03/27/2008 4:55:02 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1992812/posts
Out here in the Inland Empire (east of LA) the Times is chewing it and they are even removing a lot of their boxes. The Local papers are doing quite well.
>>And they are experts at bending the rules.
There’s a great article by Theodore Dalrymple that I came across recently, that argues rather persuasively that Italy has surpassed Britain in living standards largely because of this fact.
The Uses of Corruption
Theodore Dalrymple
http://www.city-journal.org/html/11_3_oh_to_be.html
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