Keeping Abreast of Equal Opportunities
Meet Mara Carfagna, alias “Mara La Bella” (”Beautiful Mara”) Italy’s hot new minister for equal opportunities.
Here is a little video of this member of the Berlusconi government showing off some of here ministerial assets:
Wicked rumours circulating in Italy have it that she and a certain forgetful billionaire are bosom buddies.
Ah, those all night ministerial cabinet meeting sessions must be hell.
All opportunities are equal, but some are more equal than others. Isn’t that how the old saying goes?!
Mafia to the Left of Me, Mafia to the Right
I’ve been pondering this for quite a while, and my Italian other half has more than said as much. When you think about it, it is pretty obvious - the Mafia is divided politically. Well, in a sense.
There appear to be Mafia groups which ’sponsor’ those politicians and parties who lean to the left, and other Mafia clusters who ’support’ those parties and politicians who bend to the right.
In support of this theory, which is not all that theoretical, I’ve noticed that the rounding up a Mafia bigwigs can take place at strategic moments. To me, from the timing of these arrests, it is almost as though someone is perusing an objective which is not solely tied to the elimination of organised crime. It is more likely that there is a hidden agenda and this someone wishes to remove, possibly, someone who has been providing political support - to the wrong party.
Alas, I can’t quite pin down which arrests actually took place so close to a momentous political event, but I will make a note of then here if I remember. I am not the only one to have noted this either.
Actually, one of these possibly politically motivated Mafia arrests has already taken place in the case of one Toto Riina, who was rounded up way back in 1993. Indeed, if you take a quick look at the ‘Controversy Over Toto Riina’s Arrest‘ section (scroll down the page) of the Wikipedia entry, you will notice how certain things had not happened when they should have. This would appear to indicate some form of arrangement, would it not?
There is no real reason to suspect that Italy is any different now, especially with its continual regurgitation of governments and politicians.
Now, while it may be possible to establish which families support which political factions in Italy, it is doubtful whether these families are actually true left or right wingers, and the fact that the allegiance of Italy’s politicians bounces from left to right so often, would mean that, even if they wished, the Mafia political supporters would have hard time remaining strictly right or left wing party devotees anyway!
No surprise really, the shrewd Mafiosi will blow in whichever direction the most power and influence is to be had.
Still, its curious to think that an organisation such as the Mafia should be so political, or rather, it is frightening to think just how far the Mafia has infiltrated itsself into the very foundations of Italian society.
Why Vote Berlusconi?
The word on the via (street) here is that Mr Berlusconi is quite likely to win the Italian general elections, which are coming up faster than a flashy Ferrari in your wing mirrors. However, if you work for Alitalia or one of the myriad of companies that feed off the collapsing Italian airline, you’ll probably want the B man holding Italy’s reins. Berlusco is very good at giving the impression he is Mr Italy, even if he well knows that by keeping Alitalia, Allitalian, he will also be safeguarding his own power base.
Meanwhile Vetroni, the only other candidate who appears to stand something like a chance against the multi-media marketing manipulating Berlusco, is playing things ever so gently.
Why? Because he knows that the only way he stands a gnats chance in hell of sitting in the prime minister’s seat is by continuing to scratch several hundred backs at the same time. Hence the muted election campaign. If he does not scratch backs, he will end up treading on toes. No win, no win, situation. And, should he achieve the unlikely, he’ll have to keep rubbing the backs of a lot of people for a lot of time, if he is to have any hope of keeping himself in power for more than a few nanoseconds. It’s the usual fragile virtually useless destined to fail Italian coalition style that Veltroni is aiming for. Same old same old.
However, the B man may not have everything his own way, as it is by no means clear who will grab the majority in Italy’s upper house, the senate. Confusion at this level will, as usual, lead to a virtually inanimate government, which, yet again, will lead to Italy’s one step forward, two steps back, style of progress. Another reason to back Berlusco.
People will vote for Berlusconi. They love his brusque ‘tell it like it is’ directness, which, to many Italians, almost appears to be something like honesty. And this is another reason why he won’t find himself short of votes.
Whether of course he will actually do any good for the Living Museum remains to be seen, but the image of gnats in hell springs to mind once more, oddly enough.
Wouldn’t it be ironic if Italy became the new Albania of Europe? No, I hear you bay, that cannot happen. All I can say is mafia, mozzarella, trash, and dioxin.
But the people will still vote for Berlusconi, at least until a real viable alternative emerges.
Funny thing is though, that despite the dodgy characters, there is an awful lot to like about Italy. At least for the moment.
There, sorry, I’ve dissed Italy a wee bit, but only after mentioning the Chianti Sculpture Park in my previous post, so I thought I could get away with it.
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