So let's hear it for Silvio's icon, his daddy, who threw the foundations for the Berlusconi empire. Luigi spent much of the Salò days in Como and Lugano as a bank clerk for the Rasini family bank. He stayed in Switzerland a good two months after the liberation of Italy. All of this while his brother effectively fought for the allies on the Adriatic.

It doesn't sound like Luigi was all that interested in an allied victory.

It remains a mystery what exactly a small bank clerk was doing in Lugano during the Salò period, apparently not fleeing from the Republicans despite his age, mid-thirties.

There are several reasons for staying in Lugano which do not necessarily apply in Luigi's case. One was smuggling. There was a massive influx of money towards Switzerland from fascist hierarchs, either for personal gain, or for creating a fund for a future democratic fascist party. There was also an attempt to latch on to Dulles through what is known as "Operation Sunrise." Basically it involved letting off fascist hierarchs if they didn't fully cooperate with their Nazi allies. Small sabotage, useful information. And of course the fascists could stash all they could in Switzerland. Which they did.

Luigi went on to become the head of the Rasini bank which financed his son's business adventures through holdings and banks in Lugano, some of which strangely enough had some right wankers (Ercole Doninelli, Gianfranco Cotti and Genevieve Aubry) on their board of directors.

When Michele Sindona was asked how the mafia laundered money he replied that there were two banks in Italy that did it: the Bank of Sicily and a small little bank with one counter in Milan known as a "boutique de credit," the Rasini bank. Sindona was not the only person to indicate the Rasini bank as a mafia money-laundering outfit.

Attempts by judiciary authorities to unravel the mysteries of the Rasini bank and the enumerable over-night holdings set up by Silvio and his father have been of no avail. The statute of limitations has eliminated any necessity for a judiciary investigation. However recent cases, such as the Dell'Utri appeal or the up-coming Calvi murder trial, could benefit from consulting the Rasini archives.

Unfortunately, the Rasini bank was taken over by the Banca Popolare di Lodi which is now under fire after the Fiorani scandal. Fiorani is presently in prison and receives a daily feed of virulent support from Silvio. Sort of like Bush defending Ken Lay every other day and attacking the usual clockwork commie judges.

Under Fiorani the bank of Lodi did not cooperated with investigators despite numerous requests concerning the Rasini archives. For a while they asserted that the archives had been lost. Then they found a few pieces. Too bad some of the microfilms had suffered from spontaneous auto-combustion. In the meantime, the Bank of Lodi became the second largest bank in Sicily, the number one bank of the Lega Nord, and a favourite hangout for the Opus Dei.

So maybe in the end, Luigi was very pro-American even if he didn't drag his brat to a cemetery. Of course, his idea of America may not coincide with ours which excludes crony capitalism, organized crime and the extreme right wing that now has receptive ears in Washington.

Of course, Silvio is the only Council president who has steadfastly refused to celebrate the national liberation holiday, has fought to put the fascist militia on the same footing as the partisans, and allied himself with extremist right wing elements who deny the holocaust.