Prodi quickly reveals his dhimmitude

He and Jack Straw will get along famously.

The Religious Policeman is making connections.

Here is his cartoon:

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7374/334/1600/straw.jpg

And his thoughts:

http://muttawa.blogspot.com/2006/04/no-connection.html

I do not expect an English journalist to understand much of anything about Italy - God knows I am used to crap - but this article is wrong in nearly every statement of fact and implication it makes, and shows total lack of understanding for what really happened. The situation is this. The hard left has NOT made great advances: the radicals were nearly exterminated, Diliberto's Communists (the ones whom UCOII supported) took a bashing, the Greens made no gains, Di Pietro's bizarre extreme-left Catholics hardly registered, and the only hard-left party that gained anything was Bertinotti's, which clearly benefited from playing good cop to Diliberto's bad cop. In short, all the genuine leftists and extremists have taken a beating. And even Berlusconi's near-survival sends the same message: he started winning when he started attacking the hard left with everytyhing he had. The country, all told, has voted clearly against the hard left, which, if democracy meant something to them, would by now feel wholly delegitimated.

But democracy means nothing to zealots and egotists. And Prodi's majority is so minute (even granting that Calderoli's appeal against the legality of 50,000 votes, which would reverse the result, will fail) that Bertinotti is in a position to blackmail his allies. The good-cop mask has quickly come off; he is now demanding the post of Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies - or else. In other words, even though this man and the forces he represents have very little electoral legitimation at all, he insists on taking one of the most important and highest ranking offices in the Republic. Worst of all, he looks like he might get it; D'Alema, in particular, has already spoken in favour. If he does, we can count on his using the Speaker's chair for a great deal of ego-building noise and discrediting it, in the process, thoroughly.

In this context, Prodi is playing the old game of making promises that are not promises. This statement is one of those: he has left himself fifty thousand ways out of doing anything at all. Prodi is a man of the old Christian Democrats, and that is the classic Christian Democrat game - slow things down, talk and talk and talk things, make all problems fall asleep out of sheer weariness. Notice that he has not promised to talk TO Hamas. What does it mean "committing himself at the European level?" Precisely nothing; and to those of us who are old enough to remember how Moro and Piccoli and their likes used to do things, this has a stunning familiarity. All he has to do is go and say a few words on the possibility of reconsidering positions, and as soon as they are rejected he can say that he has done what he could.

What is likeliest to happen is that Italy will withdraw from foreign policy as far as it possibly can, removing its troops from Iraq (as Poland, I believe, has already done) and doing as near to nothing as it is possible to do; not only because the country is nearly bankrupt and cannot afford further military projections, but because if there is one thing that can and will shatter this thin and tatterdemalion alliance is exactly foreign policy.

Finally, this is not a "left" coalition. The classic Christian Democrat behaviour exhibited by Prodi - who, I insist, is not a leader but a figurehead - shows that the country is back in the hands that have ruled it for most of its postwar history. This is, to a very large extent, a conservative-with-a-small-c alliance, unfortunately saddled with a minority of freaks they can neither appease nor get rid of. Personally, I did not vote, because I could not square my conscience with voting for either side; and the election has not even succeeded in the desperately needed purpose of getting rid of Berlusconi, who is in charge of an opposition so large that they could become a government at any time. And they know it. And they therefore do not feel the need to renew themselves, or change leaders. This election has been an unmitigated disaster, and the best thing to do - but nobody is even beginning to think about something so obvious - would be to have another.

Prodi is awful, and awful as all those who rise high in the E.U. bureaucracy -- Javier Solana, Chris Patten come to mind. Those Solanas, Pattens, Robinsons, Moratinoses, are all imbued with the Eurabian desire to throw Israel to the wolves, to distance Europe from the United States, and to find some kind of phony common ground with the Arab Muslims, beginning with those deux-rivistes (which google) in France, who appear to believe that what separates France from the Maghreb is merely a matter of the Mediterranean, and not an entire world-view.

That Berlusconi, crook and clown, managed almost to win, shows just how awful Prodi is. And Prodi has a history of making remarks in the Eurabian vein, such as his address at the Library of Alexandria 2-3 years ago -- as perfect an example of Bat Ye'or's thesis as could be imagined.

He does have that Christian-Democratic dullness, but Andreotti, for example, was far more lively in his clever nastiness, or nasty cleverness, than Prodi could ever be. Dull, dull, dull. Not Paul-Henri Spaak workmanlike dull. Really dull.

Meanwhile, after the suicide bombing in Tel Aviv the other day, most of those interviewed on the left were good on the matter. Walter Veltroni, Mayor of Rome, was particularly lucid. But then there was the odious Francesco Caruso, the "no global" boy, who immediately began talking about the poor "Palestinians" and how this kind of thing (the suicide bombing) should not be allowed to damage their cause, etc. etc.

Oriana Fallaci and Magdi Allam have had an effect. And the Vatican is having an effect. And that effect will not let Prodi be Prodi. At least, one hopes.

Berlusconi is not readily yielding power, but it is not as much infuriating as it is comical, possibly because so many just do not want to see Prodi actually come to power.

Perhaps the rule should be: anyone who "believes in Europe," anyone who has spent a lot of time working for the E.U., should be disqualified from running for office at the level of the mere nation-state. Yes, until the whole sickening E.U. itself dissolves, that could be a good way for countries to proceed, to avoid that Chris-Patten-Javier-Solana problem.

Hugh, you are right in nearly everything - except a couple of things. Andreotti was not typical of the old DC (and neither was Fanfani). Andreotti was born to be one of the great scoundrel-statesmen, like Richelieu or Bismarck, as was shown by his triumph in getting the Euro (and destroying Margaret Thatcher in the process) through against all odds. Never mind what you think of the common European currency, just getting it done was a political triumph, and Andreotti did it on his own, with an assistant (Ambassador Vattane') and a couple of laptops (which showed that, in his seventies, he still was able to learn new skills). What he should have been would have been the favourite of an absolute ruler, a king or Pope; in parliamentary politics, he was always damaged by his lack of support in the party, which he was neither willing nor able to address (and which led him to seek support in the Mafia - only to dump them when the time came, and accept the murder of his representatives in Sicily with a wholly unmoved countenance). My admiration for Andreotti is reluctant but genuine; but the ordinary run of Christian Democrat politician was a lot more like Prodi - think Rumor, Moro, Piccoli, Forlani.

Walter Veltroni, although I was prejudiced against him, has been proving himself as mayor of Rome. This city, which is incredibly difficult to govern for all sorts of reasons from the presence of the Church to the immense archaeological patrimony that makes any public work whatever monstrously expensive, has been blessed with a succession of fine mayors and is showing all sorts of improvements, from the recovery and extension of local railway lines to the invention of fast trams. The comparison with Milan is (as I come from Milan) depressing.

But the essential point is that the public should awaken. That is why, as you say, the influence of such people as Magdi Allam and Fiamma Nirenstein in the media, of the Church, and of Oriana Fallaci, is so important. That is why my posts make so much of the GROWING, rather than diminishing, influence of the Church. (By the way, one relative of mine in Rome told me that in her experience a considerable number of people have been becoming more rather than less Catholic as a reaction against Islam - to show, in a way, "we are not them".) Politicians are only politicians; they will say what they have to, to get elected. Or for longer-term purposes - Fini's steady, loud, and public support of Israel serves not only to gain support, but also to put an end to any lingering suspicion of Fascism and racism. What is however important is that, no matter what the subtle suggestions of anti-Semitism (severely denounced, from the pages of L'ESPRESSO, by the leading left-wing journalist Giampaolo Pansa), the public in Italy is found to be so outraged and alarmed by Ahmedinajad's bombast, that all leading politicians (with the exception - guess what! - of Bertinotti) take part together in a manifestation on behalf of Israel. Politicians think with their votes. If public opinion grows distrustful of Islam, so will they.

Finally, one thing. I believe in European union. I agree that the dreadful crew that hijacked the project and turned it into a petty tyranny ought to be soused, one and all, in the Scheldt; but the notion of going back to before 1950, with dozens of squabbling countries playing power politics against each other and always at risk of mean yet terrible wars, is not even to be imagined. The EU needs a reform, but in my view Europe needs more union, not less.

So Paolo says that Prodi is a procrastinator. But his pro-EU platitudes may keep people from thinking about more important issues, such as the advancing jihad and the economic problems caused by the euro and by the extreme bureaucratic drive of the Brussels EU headquarters.
I suppose Paolo has read the Financial Times warning that Prodi may be forced to take Italy out of the euro, and will not be able to put through a corrective economic program in any event. I read an instructive summary of the FI piece in LaStampa. Now how ironic that would be that one of the EU enthusiasts would have to reverse the direction.
Of course, I do see the advantage for Europe of a customs union and all sorts of cooperation between the EU member states. But can't Paolo see that not only Italy, but not Germany or France either, can fully comply with the eurozone's state debt limits? The EU has spawned a breed of bureaucrats that are harming their own peoples, who override local wishes, that send the EU's treasure abroad, such as to the palestinian authority while Europeans suffer poverty. Hasn't the EU gone too far? Doesn't it need to be rethought, refashioned, reformed? Of course, I have a personal interest in opposing the EU since I am threatened by terrorist mass murders essentially funded and approved by the EU [as are my family and friends]. I don't expect the EU's rejection of Hamas to last long, as Jack Straw's slimy remarks showed the other day. So the EU is promoting war against Israel. Naturally, they say they are promoting peace. So, didn't Hitler say that when he was demanding the Sudetenland and then when he took the rump of Czechoslovakia in March or April 1939? Are people aware that after the USSR and Germany had both invaded Poland, in the fall of 1939, their foreign ministers issued a declaration of "a struggle for peace"? Haven't we --the world-- had enough struggles for peace, and peace processes, and the like, which always entail more bloodshed than the previous situations? What is a "peace process"? How does it differ if at all from the appeasement process of the 1930s?

As to the Italian press, Giuliano Ferrara and his newspaper Il Foglio should get some credit for intelligent commentary and analysis generally and of Middle Eastern affairs in particular.

Eliyahu. No, I did not say that the EU had gone too far. I did not say that it should have been rethought. I only said that the dreadful crew that had hijacked it ought to be soused, one and all, in the Scheldt. You may or may not know that the Scheldt is Belgium's biggest river branch. Does this reform program seem insufficient to you?

Paolo, I didn't say that you said it. I said it. If you think some of the gentle souls at the EU HQ ought to become waterlogged, then I am not going to complain.

"As to the Italian press, Giuliano Ferrara and his newspaper Il Foglio should get some credit for intelligent commentary and analysis generally and of Middle Eastern affairs in particular."

Paolo doesn't read IlFoglio because Giuliano Ferrara cheers for Berlusconi.

Truth is, we have a leftist idiotic uncapable retard that thinks he has "won", thanks to many many italian parasitic jackasses that cannot stand Berlusconi's richness.

BTW, if someone here thinks people are poor, shops are closing down etc. It's all bullshit propaganda of lazy asses living on welfare.

Poisonr is a lying troll. He does not even bother to read the posts he insults.

1) I said I did not vote for anyone and I am not a leftist.
2) The dramatic state of the Italian economy is attested by THE ECONOMIST and THE FINANCIAL TIMES. These are not morons living on welfare.
3) In fact there is no unemployment benefit in Italy. As you do not know this, you are not an Italian and your parade of pro-Berlusconi feelings is a display of lies.
4) I read and appreciate IL FOGLIO. Ferrara is independent, and, as everyone in Italy knows, left Berlusconi years ago because Berlusconi would not listen to him.
5) Berlusconi has lost. Get over it. I will not insist that he is a crook, because clearly that is not any kind of disability for someone as wholly without integrity as you. Scum seeks scum. But I would suggest you do not tell lies before you check that the evidence that you are lying is in the same thread.

"1) I said I did not vote for anyone and I am not a leftist."

so we are two liars if i have to count the bullshits you are spreading about berlusconi or his coalition.

the only people really against muslims in italy are voting the northern league or AN. Anybody else is just a troll feeding the enemy.

"2) The dramatic state of the Italian economy is attested by THE ECONOMIST and THE FINANCIAL TIMES. These are not morons living on welfare."

Yes they are, it's known that

a) foreign countries hope that italy become poor so they have one less competitor.
b) the financial times also said Prodi is a retarded idiot and has been saying this forever, but the leftist italian press, servant of the power NEVER reported such stories
c) if the state of italian economy is reflected by the living standard of italian people, I'd say we are the richest country in europe. Never seen so many people wasting money as today.
d) it won't be Prodi the idiot and his bunch of assholes saving us from any crisis.

"3) In fact there is no unemployment benefit in Italy. As you do not know this, you are not an Italian and your parade of pro-Berlusconi feelings is a display of lies."

yes there is, I have received a sum some 10 years ago, because i wanted to see if it was real.

There are other SEVERAL "benefits" in disguise that go to parasitic south and leftist regions like tuscany and emilia. If it wasn't for the hard working north, "italy" would be like albania. This has been written also by your friends at Financial times.

"4) I read and appreciate IL FOGLIO. Ferrara is independent, and, as everyone in Italy knows, left Berlusconi years ago because Berlusconi would not listen to him."

LOL, as a matter of fact, IlFoglio is pro-prodi and anti-berlusconi? LOL, that's a new joke.

Ferrara wanted strip of if Berlusconi won. That says it all.

"5) Berlusconi has lost. Get over it."

LOL, the far majority of the north still wanted him. That's all I need to know. It's YEARS I don't consider half of Italy as my country.

"I will not insist that he is a crook, because clearly that is not any kind of disability for someone as wholly without integrity as you. "

I will let others decide who's the one without integrity. One side is against islamization with someone who even took personal risk wearing the Muhammad tshirt. The other side is a bunch of morons sucking arab cock. You shit on the first side and blab on this forum on how islam is a menace. What an integrity!!! I'd say scum seeks scum too. Have fun in Modena surrounded by Muslims who cheers for Diliberto, you might join them. I keep myself at distance to them and the leftist scum that protects them.

Beside, not voting is just being a coward, but that's a good description for you.