Not for nothing is he known as “Duce” Berlusconi

La Destra–Fiamma Tricolore, dam Italians even their right wing extremist party names sound cool.

I’m hard put to make a comment, Italian politics is so screwed up. How much longer can he last?

Berlusconi’s coalition has been open to fascists for years. Lega Nord have been a part of it since 2008. They’re notorious for calling African Immigrants “Bingo Bongos”, and proposing that the Italian Navy fires on their rafts. Here’s some of their campaign literature: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Lega_poster.jpg

It seems a little late to get upset about this. Italy has long had large Fascist and Communist Parties. No one has ever given a damn about unrepentant Communists supporting the government. Why should anyone care about unrepentant Fascists doing so?

Even if you ignored the huge unrepentant, even proud, Communist membership on the Italian Left, the hard core pro-Soviet Communists formed their own little party after the collapse of their Soviet pay-masters and hence the Italian Communist Party itself. They were part of the Prodi government. No one cared. Half of them split and were part of the D’Alema government. No one cared.

Why should anyone care that an equally irrelevant group supports this government?

Berlusconi video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXf-YbsSh0Y

My family in Italy are lefelong communists. It goes back to WW2, when the communists formed the basis of the resistance in their region. It’s a social as well as political position.

Interestingly when my car broke down I was introduced to party member and mechanic Beppe. He fixed it for a fraction of the cost had I had it done in the UK. I doubt I would have had as friendly a reception from the Lega Norde if any of them are humble enough to work with their hands.

So what’s the difference? They’re all extremists, aren’t they? That really is utter bollocks, it’s a bloke-in-the-pub facile comparison that breaks down under minimal scrutiny.

I’m also afraid that I fail to see the significance of the clip posted by Asquith.