Some interesting statistics.
Around 497 comments left since I went Wordpress. Almost 11,000 spamments left. Mad or what?
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When bad is good.
Vanna Marchi is a convicted swindler. She conned people out of money, in a rather despicable fashion, and was convicted and actually sent to prison (Info about this lady is here, in Italian, alas). Yet, this criminal has done her time and is now doing her very best to make a comeback as a TV personality, oh, and she has no regrets about her past actions. Such a nice lady. I’m sure her victims will be ever so happy to see her smiling face plastered all over the gogglebox here. Talk about rubbing salt into wounds (you’ll have to read the Wikipdia entry in Italian to understand this quip, sorry).
Yet, this is Italy, where any media opportunity is a good opportunity, and Marchi’s phoenix like re-birth is an example of just how low Italian media is prepared to go to up its audience share.
I, for one, was pretty disgusted to see this woman on telly again. Talk about promoting responsibility and honesty. Not. So much for Italian TV being a vehicle for the betterment of Italian society. By attaching itself to Marchi, it is screaming that bad is good. Nice move, if ever there was one. Great example for the younger generation, too. Bit of as shame that the upholder of moral standards, the RC church, has kept all nice and quiet about this situation, don’t you think?
The line between good and bad has become somewhat blurry in the Living Museum. Perhaps one could argue that seeing as ‘good’ and ‘bad’ both end in ‘d’s, then they must mean the same thing, only what it is that they actually mean, is a wee bit difficult to establish. Or am I just being petty?
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Law makers and law enforcers.
The continual state of antipathy which exists between Italy’s law makers, the policitians, and the law enforcers, judges and magistrates, in Italy, continues to amaze me. The Justice Minister, who you would think might act as an interface between the law makers and law enforcers, should possibly be called ‘Justice Minister, with special responsibility for protecting the interests of politicians’. This is what the current chap seems to be doing and his predecessor appeared to do the same. It’s an odd situation, to say the least.
At present two senior ministers, D’Alema and Fassino, and a few other high ranking politicos, have been implicated in the Unipol case. The source of the implications is the result of a phone-tapping exercise carried out by the law enforcers. Indeed, a Milanese magistrate has stated that the roles of the policicians, as evidenced by the phone-tapping, appears to have been more than just that of providing a little friendly advice. The magistrate is insinuating that the politicians were knowingly participating in illegal actions. Of course those implicated have denied any wrongdoing, but they have also engaged the assistance of the current justice minister who appears to be attempting to block the use of the phone-tapping in any proceedings. This in my humble opinion, seems to call into question the impartiality and integrity of said justice minister, who appears to be forgetting the motto ‘All are equal in the eyes of the law’, which can be found in every Italian courtroom.
Indeed, the questionable involvement of policiticans in various cases, seems to explain why so many of them kept remarkably quiet while Berlusco was on his way towards being elected into power. The pot calling the kettle black, is a phrase which comes to mind and which may explain the curious silence of those concerned. And Berlusco, who is probably no innocent, knew very well that nobody was going to engage him in a mud slinging contest, because they knew that he had plenty of mud to sling back if necessary.
In any event, it seems just about impossible to unseat those who hold positions of political power in the Living Museum. And even if some case or other does actually reach the courts, the time it takes to complete a trial here and the convenient time-barring system, ensures that prosecutions are few and far between. Even when they, rarely, occur, the sentences metered out are so lenient as to be virtually farcical .
The bluntness of legal teeth in Italy, with regard to the rich and powerful, is such that it is now wonder that so many are encouraged to walk on the wild side. However, if you are a common man who attempts to walk on the wild side, the law’s jaws can bite remarkably hard. Mr Grillo’s V-day is an attempt to overcome the apathy which exists here. The only trouble is that so many Italians are bored by the continual stories of the antics of politicians that they really don’t believe that anything can be done. Much that it pains me to admit it, I think they could well be right.
Making Italian politicians act with impartiality and integrity in Italy, is about as easy as telling Italians to stop eating pasta.
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