Strange Goings-On in Italy

[Big Ol' Smitty 0]

Silvio Berlusconi (Italy's most prominent right-wing leader) was recently voted in as Prime Minister for a third time. Some strange stuff happening. Upon the election of one of his allies as Mayor of Rome. This happened:

 

On Monday night, the area around Rome's city hall rang to chants of "Duce! Duce!", the term adopted by Italy's dictator, Benito Mussolini, equivalent to the German "Führer". Supporters of the new mayor gave the fascist Roman straight-arm salutes.

 

Remember that racist Italian political poster I posted in the "Pictures I Like" thread? That was from Italy's Northern League political party, part of Berlusconi's governing coalition. This Northern League:

 

The prime minister-elect's closest ally, Umberto Bossi, the Northern League leader, kept up the intimidating rhetoric, arriving for the first session of Italy's parliament warning of violence if the centre-left did not go along with his plans for federalism.

 

"I don't know what the left wants [but] we are ready," he told reporters. "If they want conflicts, I have 300,000 men always on hand."

 

And, if those were too subtle:

 

Silvio Berlusconi, who won a general election earlier this month, welcomed the latest evidence of Italy's leap to the right by declaring: "We are the new Falange." Although he took care to wrap his remark in a classical context, his choice of words appeared to be a nod and a wink to his most extreme supporters. The original Falange - the word means "phalanx" - was the Spanish fascist party, founded in the 1930s, which supplied Francisco Franco's dictatorship with its ideological underpinning.

 

*gulp*

[Big Ol' Smitty 0]

Sorry, source here:

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/apr/30/italy

[Big Ol' Smitty 0]

Guess I should have added this as well:

 

RE: the new mayor of Rome

 

Rome's Jewish community was shaken by the prospect of a mayor with Alemanno's record. During the campaign, there was a protest aimed at him in the city's old Jewish ghetto, where many of the city's Jews still live.

[snuffbox 0]

Italy has given the world some of the very best and some of the very worst. I still can't comprehend how people can allow themselves to be had repeatedly in that country, or this one, or any other. It's really pathetic.

 

They'll probably be killing all dissidents so you'd better sign up while there's room, Invader.

[Guest Vitamin X]

That'll teach those damn liberals!

[Dobbs 3K 0]

Italy has given the world some of the very best and some of the very worst. I still can't comprehend how people can allow themselves to be had repeatedly in that country, or this one, or any other. It's really pathetic.

 

They'll probably be killing all dissidents so you'd better sign up while there's room, Invader.

 

Har har har, snuffy.

 

Seriously, Italy and other parts of Europe have been dealing with immigration issues for quite a long time, much like the US. Some sort of backlash was inevitable, like it or not. If trends continue in the US, we could be facing problems of this sort down the line.

[Firestarter 0]

Europeans have no concept of moderation. For all the talk of the United States being the "Great Satan," Mohammedans had better watch out for the Europeans more.

 

Unfortunately, we probably won't butcher them until they do something staggeringly horrible. The Europeans will, at the drop of a hat.

 

It's in their nature.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

I think I would tend to agree with you on that.

 

I visited Germany about three years ago, and the amount of anti-Arab and anti-Turkish sentiment was pretty palpable in a lot of places.

[SuperJerk 0]

Europeans have no concept of moderation. For all the talk of the United States being the "Great Satan," Mohammedans had better watch out for the Europeans more.

 

You know...When it comes to decadence, corruption, and general immorality, we're a bunch of angels compared to most of the rest of the world. If God is displeased with the rampant sin in America, he must be ready to incinerate Europe.

[The Niggardly King 0]

Man, wops suck...

[Team Angle Pusher 0]

Europeans have no concept of moderation. For all the talk of the United States being the "Great Satan," Mohammedans had better watch out for the Europeans more.

 

Unfortunately, we probably won't butcher them until they do something staggeringly horrible. The Europeans will, at the drop of a hat.

 

It's in their nature.

 

This thread is about Italy, however you act like it's about the whole of Europe which is a pretty big claim to make. I cannot talk for other European countries really, but I can for The Netherlands because that's where I live. There has been a lot of talk about immigrants in Holland, mainly focusing on the amount of Maroccon people coming here and there are several reasons why a part of the Dutch folk thinks it's simply unneccesary for those people to come to The Netherlands. Many men from Marocco come to The Netherlands to marry a Marrocon-Dutch girl (usually the girl doesn't even know the guy beforehand), and the reason that this is bad is because those men just come here to live freely and have fun, but they rarely actually take the time to learn the Dutch language and our culture. Another reason the Dutch are getting a bit sick of immigrants is because they have been involved in many criminal acts. A lot of people say the news only reports crimes when immigrants do it, but they recently did a research and that segment is simply involved in the most crimes and that is worrying. Luckily there are also many people from Marocco who do master the Dutch language, sometimes even better than a Dutch person, and who really have integrated well into our culture. But I'm just merely pointing out why immigration is a big subject here. All in all we are still a very tolerant country, we are totally not like Italy, so please don't act like we are like Italians, 'cause we will never be.

[Firestarter 0]

Yes, very tolerant. Considering that over 80% of all rapes in your country are committed by Mohammedans.

[gWIL 0]

I just lived in Italy (Firenze) for the last four months , so I'm probably as qualified as anybody here to talk about this. That government is, has been, and always will be screwed up beyond belief. Since Fascism fell there have been almost 70 governments, and if you talk to some Italians they seem to long for a return to the stability that Fascism brought. They hate the political system. BerlusconI owns all the fucking media in the country and has proven Mafia ties but they all believe that they have no one better to vote for and it's true. The anti-immigrant sentiment is far stronger than any I've noticed in the US. I would not be that surprised to see a hard-right government emerge, and honestly nothing works in Italy (Just ask anyone in Naples about the trash) so maybe it couldn't hurt.

[RepoMan 0]

Considering the constant political turmoil, I think Itaily is a remarkably stable country. Neo-Facists just have their turn at the plate. Doubt they last more than 6 months, about a year at tops.