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Author Topic: The Demise of Berlusconi
kuri
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posted 07 October 2005 11:11 AM      Profile for kuri   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
Berlusconi has dominated Italy's political landscape for more than a decade. He went into politics as a response to charges brought against him, first for corruption and then for the questionable dealings of his company, Finninvest. And in doing so, he created a new type of political animal: the media mogul and soccer team owner as a prime minister who convinces parliament to pass laws that protect him against criminal prosecution. His television stations and newspapers became his public relations department. His goal was to manage the country like one of his subsidiaries -- from above.

But now that he's losing his touch, how long will he last and who will replace him?


From: an employer more progressive than rabble.ca | Registered: Jun 2003  |  IP: Logged
skdadl
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posted 07 October 2005 12:31 PM      Profile for skdadl     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Does anyone know some good Italian imprecations we can hurl at this truly awful person?

At one point, we were trying to turn "Berlusconi" itself into an imprecation. When someone does something egregiously, brutally dreadful, we are supposed to say that he just committed a Berlusconi, or he berlusconied.

Italian politics is still immensely complicated, at least to me, an ignorant foreigner. I really wish them well, though.

And I love the closing image of that article -- Berlusconi alone on stage, choking on his own limp joke -- to the sound of total silence from his audience. Very just.


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lagatta
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posted 07 October 2005 12:42 PM      Profile for lagatta     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Very interesting article about one of my unfavourite politicians... what a slimy old pol... But the very thought of "ex-fascist" Gianfranco Fini wielding state power is very frightening indeed!
From: Se non ora, quando? | Registered: Apr 2002  |  IP: Logged
Cougyr
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posted 07 October 2005 12:44 PM      Profile for Cougyr     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
Originally posted by lagatta:
But the very thought of "ex-fascist" Gianfranco Fini wielding state power is very frightening indeed!

More proof that Globalization is dead. Around the world, people are telling governments to pay attention to home.


From: over the mountain | Registered: Nov 2002  |  IP: Logged
kuri
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posted 07 October 2005 03:06 PM      Profile for kuri   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
Originally posted by skdadl:
And I love the closing image of that article -- Berlusconi alone on stage, choking on his own limp joke -- to the sound of total silence from his audience. Very just.

I thought so too. Berlusconi seems like the David Brent of European politics to me. (I'm pretty sure fans of The Office will see this comparison as just.) So that image, well, it seems totally appropriate.

Lagatta, do you know much about Fini? I don't know much at all about him, but the label "ex-fascist" for someone who only moved a small amount on the political spectrum rings false to me.

The ties to the Opus Dei movement aren't actually reassuring either, having read about their involvement in the Franco regime in Spain.


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Rufus Polson
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posted 07 October 2005 04:50 PM      Profile for Rufus Polson     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I like the closing image. The article as a whole I don't like so much; I find it kinda typical of the mass media. Berlusconi is no longer viable, so let's spend an entire article talking about what the right people are doing to try to find a replacement--anything to avoid talking about the centre-left coalition that's actually winning elections against him.
From: Caithnard College | Registered: Nov 2002  |  IP: Logged
kuri
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posted 17 October 2005 07:08 PM      Profile for kuri   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Small update c/o EUpolitix.com (scroll down)

Romano Prodi (the former Commissioner President) may run against him, and there was a shooting in the Calabria primary for the opposition. I'll keep looking for a better English link, but El Pais and Le Monde are both reporting this adequately.

ETA: This Guardian article alludes to Prodi's involvement in protests against Berlusconi's manipulation of PR to favour his own chances

[ 17 October 2005: Message edited by: kurichina ]


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Ken Burch
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posted 17 October 2005 07:41 PM      Profile for Ken Burch     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
Originally posted by kurichina:

Berlusconi seems like the David Brent of European politics to me.


Would that make Fini into the Gareth of European politics?


From: A seedy truckstop on the Information Superhighway | Registered: Feb 2005  |  IP: Logged
kuri
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posted 17 October 2005 07:47 PM      Profile for kuri   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I don't think Gareth is that bad, though.
From: an employer more progressive than rabble.ca | Registered: Jun 2003  |  IP: Logged

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