For the past several years every parent of preschool kids has spent a small fortune for Gormiti's, Italy's answer to Pokémon. Just as the threadbare plots of hardcore films are devised to assist improbable combinations of body fluids, Gormiti scripts are devised to present enumerable opportunities to spend money on improbable biped forms which are divided up into "Peoples." The Isle of Gorm is inhabited by "the People of the Air," "the People of the Forest," "the People of the Volcano," and so on.

It's no surprise that the Island of Italy, too, now has invented similar products, such as "the People of Liberty," "the People of Life," "the People of Love," and so on, all motivated by "the Force of Virtue," "the Force of Values," and so on.

Sunday saw the demise of the historical democratic fascist party, born after the Second World War as the Italian Social Movement (MSI) and transformed into the National Alliance under the guidance of Gianfranco Fini. In their last congress in Rome the party committed euthanasia to be absorbed by Berlusconi's personal political entity, the blob now known as "the Party of the People of Liberty." It may spell the twilight of Gianfranco Fini's political parabola. The more militant fascist elements had long since become Berlusconi's favoured lieutenants, although nominally remaining in the National Alliance. Fini has filled a number of high profile institutional roles that have given him an aura of statesmanship. Yet that may be no more than the efficacious Sino-Italian strategy of promoting an adversary to an imminent position of  weakness.

He will be no dauphin for that is strictly a family affair.

Berlusconi declared that with his new personal political entity, "The People of Liberty," he trusts to have 52% of the popular vote. The Democratic Party leader, Dario Franceschini, asked why he had simply not gone for 92%.

In the queer world of Italian politics, one may hope that the absorption of the historical democratic fascist party by Berlusconi's political entity might bring the latter to more moderate positions. But as the cult Steve McQueen film showed all too clearly, a blob is a blob.