Admiral Veltroni v Admiral Berlusconi
Veltroni’s latest attempt to sink Berlusconi’s ship is a petition against Italy’s charismatic and controversial prime minister.
Think of Italy’s main political parties as having been two moderately large ships. At the same time, all the little Italian political parties were a bunch of mercenary gunboats who would side with whichever of the biggest ships looked strongest at the time. Read more
Ah, Election Time
You can tell it’s getting mighty close to election time here in the Living Museum. Berlusconi is on the attack. He’s using his usual ‘Veltroni is a commie’ jibe.
It’s a shame he can’t come up with something a little more original. You know, something like possibly: ‘Veltroni’s a Martian’, or ‘Veltroni’s been regurgitated‘.
Of course Berlusconi is targeting the age old Italian fear of communism, even if there are a good few commies in Italy. Well, Italian style communists, and they are not the same as the Lenin/Stalin lot. No, they are much tamer. But some are much more equal than others.
And there will be a mass exodus from Milan this Friday, as all those from down south who are working up here in north Italy head off home to vote. Postal voting is not possible in Italy - it would be too easy to fiddle.
The trains are all booked up. This coming weekend will not be a good time to travel in Italy, one imagines. Sunday night will be hell too, as this is when all the Southerns will come back to the north.
Just as well the weather is grotty at the moment.
How to Win an Election
The person who was formerly known as the richest man in Italy, Mr Berlusconi, has been making noises about acquiring Alitalia in an attempt to save it from the dastardly marauding French.
What a master stroke, right at election time too. He couldn’t have planned it better. Who knows how may votes this little stunt will garner? A good few, undoubtedly. Most of those who work for Alitalia for a start. Then there will be all the others who fear that their companies may come under foreign rule. Read more
Berlusconi’s Advice
Mr Berlusconi, the man who would be Prime Minister of Italy (again), and one of Italy’s potentially top five sinners, dropped a slight clanger on prime time TV, yesterday, I think it was.
In an interview he told a young worried female ‘precarious’ worker that she would be able to solve her financial worries by simply marrying a millionaire. He even offered his son as a potential partner.
By the way, ‘Precarietà’ is an Italian word used to describe those who do not have a full time work contract.
Veltroni, Berlusconi’s number one election opponent was, understandably, quick to turn this off-hand comment into vote catching capital. Veltroni observed, quite reasonably, that in a country in which more and more youngsters are worrying about their futures and their finances, Berlusconi’s ‘advice’ showed just how out of touch the media magnate was with Italy’s populous and its problems.
Meanwhile, and unsurprisingly, Berlusco has been playing his ‘advice’ down as being ‘tongue in cheek’. Trouble is that many Italian youngsters may now be rather wary of voting such a joker in.
Still, if Berlusco does manage to get Italy’s top political spot for a third time, if nothing else, he will keep the Italian people amused.
Oh, the Italian electoral circus - pure entertainment.
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