but that was happening under prodi also.

in what ways s it worse now? it's shifted a notch rightward, but the difference is not huge afaik.

what's surreal is that italy is so taken with appearances. the mayor of rome talked about the troops arriving in his city as good images, like a movie!

as in other countries, the attacks are much more vicious when a left(ish) government is in power, as the right have the lobbying money from the industries, and no scruples about dishonesty, for them the end justifies any means at all.

in general, leftier pols try and do the right thing, and are loath to stoop to cutthroat politics, trusting that the message of more compassion and understanding will win votes from rational people.

it all comes down to the media, if you want to fool a lot of people a lot of the time, and B. took very good care to sew that up tight before embarking on his career of tinpot despot...

will he leave his riches to further the careers of Fini, or Allemano, or Marroni?

i doubt it...i don't think he is an ideologue, just greedy and vain.

like Bush, he incarnates the shadow of this country's soul, we want to know what qualities to avoid in a leader, it's all laid out, clear as day... unless your mind has been similarly diseased by too much kool-aide.

and it would be a great example for Europe, if Italy took to the streets and pressured for major change.

well, someone is mighty worried about it, and trying to insure against just that...

what do they know, that we just wonder about?

zapatero looks really good from over here...

"It's very hard to see what is kept invisible" Roseanne Barr