Italian election thread

[johan neeskens]

I was quite surprised to see no-one's started a thread on this yet.

Anyway for the good of all people, let's hope the Italians vote the biggest twat in the history of European, possibly of global politics out. He's caused more diplomatic rows than anyone I can think of.

[nicephoras]

IAnyway for the good of all people, let's hope the Italians vote the biggest twat in the history of European, possibly of global politics out. He's caused more diplomatic rows than anyone I can think of.

Dictionary.com defines perspective (http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=perspective) as:

[russ]

I vote 3c.

[johan neeskens]

Dictionary.com defines perspective (http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=perspective) as:

I was exaggerating, obviously, but if you type in 'Berlusconi's diplomatic blunders' in a google search, I'm sure that even you will agree that he's a major twat. And that's not even discussing how unethical it is that your prime minister also owns a good portion of your domestic media.

[johan neeskens]

Here we go:

July 2003:While many in Brussels are wringing their hands in pain at Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s takeover of the European Union’s rotating presidency, some of us are looking forward to a little bit of badly-needed comic relief after months of serious work. True, Mr Berlusconi’s recent crude description of a critical German Euro-deputy as a Nazi concentration camp commandant has marred his debut as head of the 15-nation bloc. The unwarranted name-calling has also caused outrage in Berlin where Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder took the unusual step of summoning the Italian ambassador on July 2 to voice his “outrage” at Berlusconi’s remarks.

Also in 2003: The US–led coalition in Iraq] “must be aware of the superiority of our civilization”, because it “has at its core, as its greatest value, freedom, which is not the heritage of Islamic culture”.
-Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi (the man who also said: “there is no one on the world stage who can compete with me” with which we have to agree as it is unlikely many other democratic leaders could come out with such racist idiocies.)

December 2005:THE Welsh wine industry has been left fuming after apparently being mocked by the Italian Prime Minister.
Mr Berlusconi, who’s believed not to have even tasted the Welsh wine, told reporters this week that Swedish Prime Minister Goran Persson, “was so aghast at the wines at the summit that I promised to send him some of our wines.”

March 2006: Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi said communists in Mao's China boiled babies for fertilizer, prompting Beijing to express "strong indignation" Tuesday over the comments.

If anyone has any more Berlusconi blunders, please post them. We can all do with a good laugh.

[johan neeskens]

Sorry this is completely off topic but on my search for diplomatic Berlusconi blunders I found this gem:

Prime Minister Mori was given some basic English conversation training before he visited Washington and met with President Bill Clinton. The instructor told Mori, "Prime Minister, when you shake hand with President Clinton, please say 'how are you'. Then Mr. Clinton should say 'I am fine, and you ?' Now you should say 'me too'. Afterwards we translators will do all the work for you." It looks quite simple, but the truth is ...When Mori met Clinton, he mistakenly asked "Who are you?" Clinton was a bit shocked but still managed to react with humor: "Well, I am Hilary's husband, ha ha..." Then Mori replied confidently "Me too, ha ha ha..."

[nicephoras]

I was exaggerating, obviously, but if you type in 'Berlusconi's diplomatic blunders' in a google search, I'm sure that even you will agree that he's a major twat. And that's not even discussing how unethical it is that your prime minister also owns a good portion of your domestic media.

He's a douchebag, sure. But Italy has a terrible choice either way. Prodi's government would rely on communists. Oh joy.

[johan neeskens]

He's a douchebag, sure. But Italy has a terrible choice either way. Prodi's government would rely on communists. Oh joy.

It's like the choice most people have in their own elections, you just pick the lesser of two evils. I can't see a Prodi-run government last very long (I guess you've got to give credit to Berlusconi for long he's lasted) but just to be told by his own people that they don't want him anymore must be a lesson for him. He really is getting beyond the beyonds, I don't think there's many people or countries left for him to offend.

[sardus_pater]

Exit polls

Senato (seats - min-max)

Berlusconi's coalition
139-150

Prodi's coalition
159-170

Camera

Berlusconi 45-49%
Prodi 50-54%

Another exit poll says

Prodi 52%
Berlusconi 47%

[sardus_pater]

Voting percentage xxxx

EDIT - Too early to tell.

[YankHibee]

Looks like the exit polls are showing Berlusconi losing. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060410/ap_on_re_eu/italy_election_17;_ylt=AmrddwAZge7baHG0JHFhgdc20M0A;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl The party coming in was described as center-left. It sounds as if there is some dispute over that description. I guess quite a bit will also depend on the rest of the coalition. Anyone have better info handy?

[odessit19]

FORZA MILAN!!!
Oops, wrong thread or is it;)

[aloisius]

The party coming in was described as center-left. It sounds as if there is some dispute over that description.

It’s a 13 party coalition, actually, ranging from communists to Christian democrats.

Berlusconi was running as the candidate of a 17 party coalition.

[RandyNA74]

If anyone has any more Berlusconi blunders, please post them. We can all do with a good laugh.
The recent "coglioni" comment is a classic. Basically, he stated something to the effect of "you would have to be a coglione to vote against your best interests," implying of course that he was the one to vote for. Coglione is a term used to describe a complete idiot, although literally it means "testicle," only in not so medical terms.

Anyway, many anti-Berlusconi voters made buttons, t-shirts etc. stating "I am a coglione" in response to this statement.

[sardus_pater]

Real data show that the exit polls were wrong. :(

The two big coalitions are very near and the final result is a big "?".

:rolleyes:

[sardus_pater]

Voting percentage xxxx

EDIT - Too early to tell.

Voting percentage 83,6%

[nicephoras]

And people call American voters stupid. Pah.
ALL voters are stupid. Compared to Berlusconi, Bush's freaking Lincoln and Alexander the Great rolled into one.

[Anthony]

The latest RAI results (http://www.rai.it/nexus/proiezionicamerapercentuali)show a slight lead for the Right.

I wonder if it will be as close as the German election last year. Of course, here, there are two major coalitions while in Germany, there were 5 parties who won seats.

As an aside, my mother told me that back in the old days, there were organized letter writing campaigns among Italian Americans to tell their relatives not to vote communist.

Edited to ask the question -- what is the rule on seats in the lower house. I know at some point the winning coalition is given a flat 340 seats. Do you have to win an absolute majority of votes (i.e., 50%+1) or just get more votes than the other side (for example, if CDL gets 49.9% and l'Unione O gets 49.8%, with .3% going to other parties, does the CDL still get 340 seats?).

[rgrayson]

He's a douchebag, sure. But Italy has a terrible choice either way. Prodi's government would rely on communists. Oh joy.

Nice- Is this a fact or just your general thoughts? Just curious because I'm trying to understand a little more about this election.

[Anthony]

Nice- Is this a fact or just your general thoughts? Just curious because I'm trying to understand a little more about this election.

Italian politics just suck in general. Basically, you have a left wing coalition made up of ex communists (DS), unrepentent communists (Communist Refoundation), and communists (named, surprisingly, "Italian Communists") which joined with the remennts of the left wing factions of all the old parties (the left wing of the old Christian Democrats, the left wing of the old Socialists, the left wing of the old Liberals, etc).

They face off against a right wing coalition whose largest parties are a group that scooped all the right wing factions of the old parties under the banner of a rich guy (the Forza Italia), a party that describes itself as "post fascist" (i.e., it was formed from the remnents of the old "ex-fascist" party, which previously was run by Mussolini's kids) (the National Alliance), and a party that wants Northern Italy to secede from Italy (the Lega Nord).

(And yes I know Italians, I am really vastly oversimplifying, ma, va bene!)

Edited to add -- the two big coalitions are now tied (http://www.rai.it/nexus/proiezionicamerapercentuali).