Newsgroup: it.politica.polo
Titolo: Per fortuna che all'estero c'è libertà d'informazione

Silvio Berlusconi scores own goal by insulting Francesco Totti
With victory in his grasp in tomorrow's Italian election, Silvio 
Berlusconi made a potentially disastrous error yesterday by insulting 
Francesco Totti, the revered captain of AS Roma, suggesting that he had 
"taken leave of his senses".
At a final rally outside the Colosseum, Mr Berlusconi had been doing 
well. He won applause from the crowd when he asserted that the 
Democratic Party of Walter Veltroni, his centre-left rival, was merely 
the old Communist Party in disguise and that Mr Veltroni himself, far 
from being a new phenomenon, had been in politics since he joined the 
Communists at the age of 15. Mr Berlusconi's promise to lower taxes and 
tackle crime and immigration also struck a chord.
Then he slipped up when he turned his fire on Totti for backing 
Francesco Rutelli, the Deputy Prime Minister in the outgoing Government 
of Romano Prodi. Mr Rutelli is standing for Mayor of Rome in the 
elections, which are both national and local, tomorrow and on Monday.
Mr Berlusconi, who was hoarse and occasionally lost his thread -- 
remarking jocularly: "I'm getting old" -- appeared taken aback when his 
announcement that the footballer Ronaldinho was joining AC Milan (which 
he owns) was greeted with whistles and jeers.
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He then made things worse by attacking Totti, declaring to shocked 
silence that the Roma captain and star of the national team was "out of 
his mind". "Berlusconi has just lost Rome," a radio commentator said. 
"If anyone needs his head examining it is Berlusconi. This is a man who, 
when he was last in power, promised to create millions of jobs but 
failed to do so." Mr Berlusconi later said that he admired Totti and 
that his remark had been misused by the Left.
Mr Veltroni's fortunes as the campaign drew to a close were very 
different. He drew a crowd of 100,000 in the centre of Milan, Mr 
Berlusconi's home turf, and won the public endorsement of George 
Clooney. The actor, who has a villa on Lake Como and is touring Italy to 
publicise his latest film, Leatherheads, was pictured in a Milan café 
sharing a cappuccino with Mr Veltroni while describing him as "Italy's 
answer to Barack Obama" because he offered hope.
Mr Veltroni, 52, a film buff who founded the Rome Film Festival while 
Mayor of Rome, is well known to Hollywood stars. Opinion polls put Mr 
Berlusconi in the lead and the centre-right leader has dismissed 
predictions of deadlock in the Senate, claiming that he will win a large 
majority in both houses of Parliament.
However, the man known for his gaffes has been making increasingly wild 
statements in the closing stages of the campaign, including a pledge to 
give Italians one tax-free month a year, which he later retracted as 
unworkable. He also suggested that the Left could have the 
constitutionally important post of Speaker of the Senate, provided that 
President Napolitano, a former Communist, resigned.
The actor and entertainer Gigi Proietti noted that Mr Berlusconi had 
made the "equally bizarre" remark this week that magistrates -- who have 
repeatedly investigated him for alleged corruption -- should undergo 
"regular mental health checks". Italians are familiar with Mr 
Berlusconi's antics and many are still attracted by the dream he 
continues to offer of wealth creation even though he has failed to 
deliver it in the past. They may also conclude that Mr Veltroni's new 
party of social democrats and left-wing Catholics is tainted by 
association with the failed Government of Mr Prodi.
In his own words
--- At a rally in 2006: "Read the Black Book of Communism and you will 
discover that in the China of Mao, they did not eat children, but had 
them boiled to fertilise fields."
--- At the Brussels summit marking the end of Italy's EU presidency in 
2003: "Let's talk about football and women." Turning to 
four-times-married Gerhard Schröder: "Gerhard, why don't you start?"
--- To Martin Schulz, the German MEP, in 2003: "In Italy there is a man 
producing a film on Nazi concentration camps -- I shall put you forward 
for Kapo (guard chosen from the prisoners). You would be perfect."
--- On himself: "The best political leader in Europe and in the world." "I 
am the Jesus Christ of politics." "I don't need to go into office for 
the power. I have houses all over the world ... I am making a sacrifice."
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article3729646.ece

 ha scritto nel messaggio 
news:4800b7d5$0$29971$5fc...@news.tiscali.it...
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Sono appena tornato da un viaggio in Germania e sapete quanti mi hanno detto 
:<< Ma come fanno gli italiani a votare uno come Berlusconi?>>  Grazie a dio 
ho potuto dire che non l'ho mai votato. Ieri su CNN scorrevano i sottotitoli 
e il nostro grande statista era definito da quei comunisti della televisione 
americana << Showman Berlusconi>> il sottotitolo diceva <<Showman Berlusconi 
woos back voters>>. Tra qualche giorno saremo un grande paese rispettato da 
tutto il mondo :)))))))....dei pagliacci 

 
In America avranno anche tanti difetti ma non avrebbero permesso che una 
persona che ha il monopolio dell'informazione entrasse in politica.
Qando mi è capitato di parlare con persone di altre nazionalità è 
capitato anche a me di dover rispondere a queste imbarazzanti domande e 
mi sono veramente vergognato di essere Italiano.
Penso che chi ha possibilità e coraggio faccia bene ad andare a vivere 
in un altra nazione, questo paese non ha nulla da offrire è un paese 
morto governato da vecchi. Ho sentito tante persone che sono andate a 
vivere all'estero e in Italia non ci tornerebbero più, e io li ammiro 
perchè hanno fatto una scelta coraggiosa ma ne è valsa la pena.
Voloevo astenermi dal voto nauseato e stanco della politica, della gente 
che si accapiglia e litiga come se fosse allo stadio a vedere una 
partita di calcio non capendo che poi alla fine a rimetterci sono sempre 
loro. La politica per me è un altra cosa ma molti se ne sono dimenticati.
Comunque domani mi recherò a votare per dare il mio contributo a 
scongiurare il peggio.

 ha scritto nel messaggio 
news:48014b36$0$29969$5fc...@news.tiscali.it...
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Ieri sera ho mandato a quel paese una povera coppia di ignoranti che 
invitava a votare pdl, ripetevano a pappagallo quello che abitualmente si 
legge su il giornale. Gli ho detto di mspiegarmi le cose e non andavano 
oltre gli slogan. Quando gli ho chiesto allora perchè dovrei votare pdl la 
risposta è stata << Non vorrà mica far tornare i comunisti in italia?>> la 
mia risposta è stata un bel vaff....dove avranno visto i comunisti questi 
qua non lo so, io vivo con chi ha avuto modo di vivere nel socialismo reale 
e quando sente certi discorsi in Italia si fa delle grosse risate. Ma quanto 
siete stupidi voi italiani 

pippo ha scritto:
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Hai fatto bene a chiudere il discorso, con certa gente non conviene 
nemmeno mettersi a ragionare.