Pirate Captain of Italy
Berlusconi
[The Murdoch and Pirate Captain of Italy.]
[2011 Nov] Sleazy and sinister Berlusconi would flick through pictures of girls for hire then say: I want that one, says the writer he tried to destroy Despite being, unusually in Italy, an extraordinarily powerful prime minister, he got nothing done. All he did was look after his own interests: he rewrote law after law to slip off the judicial hook. That was his only reason, it often seemed, to be in power.
[2006]
Neither Prodi nor Berlusconi - for independent working class politics
The actual election campaign itself was characterised by increasingly crazed,
desperate and inflammatory comments from Berlusconi and his far rightist
coalition partners. So, the ever charming Alessandra Mussolini - granddaughter
of Benito and leader of Social Alternative (Alternativa Sociale) - came out with
the ditty, “Better fascist than queer”. Similarly, in a base bid to whip up
bigotry, Umberto Bossi - insufferable boss of the ultra-nationalist and
separatist Northern League - said that those from the Union “smell of Vaseline”,
a derogatory reference to the fact the coalition fielded a relatively large
number of gay and transvestite candidates. Then there was the
silver-tongue of Berlusconi - no mean hand at insults himself. Apart from
regularly - and perhaps unwisely given his catholic constituency - comparing
himself to Jesus and Napoleon, Berlusconi came out with a series of
pro-Mussolini remarks. Thus, on one occasion he offered the viewpoint that
Benito Mussolini “had been the greatest statesman in Italian history” - and
followed this up with the observation Mussolini’s fascist regime “hadn’t killed
a single person”, it “just used to send opponents on holiday”.
Significantly, Berlusconi resorted to just about the most
crude and primitive anti-communism imaginable in his attempt to remain prime
minister. Hence, he tried to frighten - or maybe entertain - voters with the
idea that by voting for Prodi’s coalition they would be “voting for Lenin,
Stalin, Mao and Pol Pot”. More notoriously, and in one of the more surreal
moments of the campaign, last month he told an election rally in Naples that
under Mao the “Chinese communists used to boil babies” - as opposed to eating
them, of course - so they could “fertilise the fields”. Apparently, this was “an
historical fact”. When challenged on the historical veracity of his contention,
Berlusconi advised his interrogator to “read the Black book of communism” -
where you would “discover” this and other colourful facts about communism
(somewhat ironically, China has officially declared 2006 the “Year of Italy”).
Pirate Captain
of Italy
Mussolini
Look alikes (and act alike)
[2006] Neither Prodi nor Berlusconi - for independent working class
politics on one occasion he offered the viewpoint that
Benito Mussolini “had been the greatest statesman in Italian history” -
and followed this up with the observation Mussolini’s fascist regime
“hadn’t killed a single person”, it “just used to send opponents on
holiday”.
Plastic man
Biscione symbol at Berlusconi house, same as one used by Alfa Romeo
Snake swallowing human
