The emperor has no clothes

Never in post war Italian history has a single man brought so much shame to his country.

Speaking to his  supporters, Berlusconi decided to tell the following joke:

"A Jew tells a relative: at the time of the extermination camps, a fellow countryman asks our family to hide him and we do. We put him in the basement, take care of him and ask him to pay us on a daily basis. The other fellow asks: how much was it? Three thousand euros. A month? No, per day. Wow! We'll we're Jews, and he paid up because he had the money. So give me some peace. But here's a question for you: do you think we should tell him that Hitler has died and the war is over?" Berlusconi wraps up his story by asking supporters: "cute, eh?".

In another video, filmed ahead of the G8 summit which Italy hosted in  L'Aquila, Berlusconi tells a sexist joke which targets Rosy Bindi, the butt of his remarks several times in the past. It ends with a blasphemy.

How on earth is it possible for world leaders to take this men seriously?  

Berlusconi's  vulgar populism  insults intelligence.  His deeply ingrained contempt for any notion of checks and balances makes him an autocrat who thinks that popular support gives him some divine right to ride roughshod on the institutions which keep him in check.  He is a populist with an authoritarian streak who has little respect for an office which demands sobriety and prudence. No wonder he feels so much at home with Ghaddafi and Putin. 

Fundamentally he represents a dangerous anomaly-a monopolist who owns a media empire which celebrates  a brand of "dumbing down" populism.  Naturally he managed to win over a segment of the working class not just through sheer media populism but also by the left's inability to communicate with the masses.

But both processes are inter-related. For the task of communicating big ideas becomes more convoluted in country run like a reality TV show where strong signifiers like legality and solidarity have lost meaning while small talk and gossip is institutionalised. On the other hand simplistic and racist generalizations as well as vulgar jokes are easier to convey in the reality circus.

That is why  I really wonder whether we are really assisting to the autumn of the patriarch or whether he will simply play the victim of obscure strong powers to continue governing in his own style-ad personam first as PM than as President. Surely the rest of Europe can do much more.  For who is going to tell the world that  the emperor  has no clothes?

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Peter Cassar
@Nestor Actually I think that populism in whatever its forms leftist or rightist is crap. Chavez is as crappy as Berlusconi. His monotonous speeches and his antics also make me puke. Surely Latin America also has a history autocrats of the right who were even worse....with their dead squads and use of torture (Pinochet comes to mind)...But times are changing and democracy is fortunately becoming a norm in countries like Brazil and Chile. Therefore there is even less justification for populist antics. Separation of powers, checks and balances and democratic freedoms are always basic whether we are talking on Italy, Cuba, China, Venezuela, Italy and Malta...
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Albert Zammit
I don't think that James Debono is spreading hatred. I rather think that his feet are well in the ground and he utters the sentiments of law-abiding citizens. What he says about Berlusconi ARE FACTS, whether you like them or not. Berlusconi is a disgusting man, prejudiced and as we say in Maltese, 'baxx'. Now, whether Debono is a 'frustrated leftist fed-up seeing the left in opposition' is another story. I was always personally against the left. But now that there is this strong shif towards the right, I think that there should be at least a balance. I mean, we know the fruits of the left; but ... the right is not much better either. I mean, look at Malta and contemplate about where we have reached, after almost 30 continuous years of Nationalists in power. So, James, no shame, no shame, no shame. Spreading hatred? Oh well, all politicians are doing it alll the time. Even a Cardinal Ratzinger does it. So?
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mario grillo
spread hatred*
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mario grillo
Dear Mr Debono, It is because of articles like yours that things like those that happened last 14th December occur. (An idiot threw The Dome statue at Berlusconi). You are nothing but one of those frustrated leftists who is fed-up of seeing the left in opposition and therefore spread towards Berlusconi and other centre-right leaders. Shame, shame, shame!!
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It is interesting to note that Berlusconi is a centre rightist who beats the left at their own game(popular politics). So now we will see an article criticising Vendola(for his disastrous managment style in Puglia) or Chavez who has wrecked Venezuela both democratically and economically or Bolivia where Evo Morales has nearly destroyed the economy. The reason why the left is losing ground in europe to people like Berlusconi and Sarkozy is because the left has become accustomed to be in opposition and unfortunately when they are in a position of power they create disasters. You may Love or Hate Berlusconi but he has brought stability to Italy and his party's popularity ratings are still higher than those of the left.
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Albert Zammit
Well, what can I say, Mr Debono? Berlusconi is what Italy is. One gets what one deserves. They voted for him, so they got him. Today's leaders of Europe are filthy, ball-less and inferior to those that came before them!