Beppe Grillo is an important part of the civic and political panorama in Italy at the moment. But to put Berlusconi and Veltroni on the same level is an over-simplification if not outright  qualunquismo (Ah, there-all-the-same). After all, Antonio Di Pietro is now running with Veltroni.

It's tantamount to saying Kerry and Bush are the same, so vote for Nadar.

The Malpensa farce has exploded tonight. Spinetta, head of the AirFrance-KLM delegation, broke off negotiations this evening and flew back to Paris. Within minutes the CEO of Alitalia resigned. The rightwing wants to make it an electoral issue. Now they've got it. Come back in three months time and we'll see what happens to Alitalia- if they're going to get a better deal.

By the way, the UIL syndicate (for what they're worth) broke off talks yesterday. They are angry because many commentators noted that several family members of the UIL's top brass are running in Berlusconi's party. They are outraged that a similar connection can be made. I thought it's worth repeating here. I wouldn't want people to believe there's a connection, you know.

As far as Malpensa goes, the other day summed it up nicely. Alitalia closed down business there, cutting 70% of their flights, while Prodi and Formigoni inaugurated the expressway that finally connects Milan directly to Malpensa- a decade late. Malpensa lost to all the small airports in the North that do a much better job of moving people. It's called deregulation and competition, a simple reality. Now Lega Nord is doing the patriotic number as if we're supposed to practice reverse socialism and save Malpensa at our expense. Turn into a cargo hub or let it rot.