Newsgroup: it.politica
Titolo: LATimes su Berlusconi:"In Italy crime pays"!

Articolo che dovrebbe far vergognare chi vota Berlusconi:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-
italy13apr13,0,4967271.story
ROME -- When they vote this weekend, Italians can choose among any number of 
convicted felons or the odd TV go-go dancer on the ballot. Not to mention 
the personal friends, relatives and, in one case, the physical therapist of 
party leaders putting together potential governments. Crime does not 
disqualify you from running for office in this country, nor are 
qualifications necessarily necessary.
Campaign season for the election of Italy's 62nd government in 63 years has 
highlighted the long line of unresolved problems undermining the country, 
thwarting important change and stymieing what was once a fabled icon of 
culture.
 
A beautiful, romantic country of olive-dappled landscapes and cobblestoned 
piazzas famed for its food, fashion and bella figura, Italy is today a land 
awash in corruption, economic decay, political ennui, rampant impunity and a 
fast-declining standard of living. Inflation is among the highest in Western 
Europe, growth the lowest. Record numbers of people report feeling poorer 
than ever.
The conduct of business is a murky and frustrating experience -- unless 
you're the Mafia, now the largest business in Italy, accounting for 7% of 
gross domestic product, according to the Assn. of Italian Industrialists.
The judiciary rarely functions: Cases can languish not for years but 
decades. Italian Parliament members are the highest-paid in Europe but, in 
the opinion of many people, the least effective, a self-perpetuating elite 
that seems hellbent on taking the country down with it.
"With its byzantine and decadent style of politics, Italy is at a point of 
no return," says sociologist Luca Ricolfi, author of a scathing critique 
titled "The Art of Non-Government."
Lack of accountability trumps civic duty every time. And don't expect 
national elections taking place today and Monday to change things.
The man leading the polls is Silvio Berlusconi, a flamboyant billionaire 
tycoon who, at 71, would be prime minister for the third time. Although he 
brought a measure of stability, he is widely accused of ruling to enrich 
himself, his media empire and his cronies.
Berlusconi heads a slate that includes his physiotherapist and an 
unrepentant Fascist, as well as several center-right women who Berlusconi 
said last week were "surely prettier" than leftist women. Among them is one 
of the voluptuous dancers normally featured in skimpy clothing on his 
television networks.
His main opponent is Walter Veltroni, a popular mayor of Rome and former 
communist who has tried to recast himself as an agent for change, despite 
his decades in politics. He heads a loose coalition of Italy's famously 
fractured left and center-left parties.
Enthusiasm among voters is achingly low. TV ratings for recent interviews 
with Berlusconi and Veltroni were crushed by a rerun of an Italian detective 
movie.
Italians have watched one government disaster follow another: from the 
desperate, botched attempt to sell the national airline; to a Mafia-fueled 
crisis of mounting, uncollected trash that has engulfed the south and 
spoiled the region's supply of cherished mozzarella; to the premature 
toppling of the outgoing government by a single politician peeved over his 
wife's arrest on corruption charges.
Italians do get angry about the circumstances, but the anger does not 
routinely lead to change. There are many reasons, including the weight given 
regional loyalties over national conscience; the inordinate trust in family 
but in nothing else, least of all authority; the palliative role of the 
still-dominant Roman Catholic Church. And for all the grumbling, Italians, 
until recently, have lived fairly comfortably.
So instead the response is one of resignation, apathy and impotence: Italian 
voters feel they have no real choice and the government will not benefit 
them, and that in turn drives them further away from an activist role in 
democracy. A rotten ruling class with a vested interest in the status quo 
blocks any real reform.
"This is a system that is preying on Italians, sucking the best energies of 
the country, preventing a meritocracy from developing and forcing everyone 
to play a game," said Alexander Stille, an academic who specializes in 
Italy. "Italy has always been a place where people felt that . . . unless 
you cheat or break the rules, the deck is stacked against you."
Last year, a book for the first time put letter and verse to long-held 
suspicions of official corruption. "La Casta [The Caste: How Italian 
Politicians Became Untouchable]" became a bestseller and triggered a debate 
that gripped the nation for months. The term la casta became part of the 
national lexicon and is now used universally to describe a slothful, 
overindulged political elite.
Among the book's infuriating revelations:
* Italian Parliament members last year had the highest salaries in Europe 
(more than 50% higher than their British, German and French counterparts).
* It costs more to run the Italian Parliament than any other in Europe -- 10 
times as much as Spain's. In the last legislature, 16 lawmakers were 
convicted felons (and continued in office), and 10 or so others were facing 
criminal charges.
"It is impossible to change the situation as long as the people are the 
same," said Sergio Rizzo, a journalist and coauthor of "La Casta" with 
colleague Gian Antonio Stella. Harnessing the discontent, irreverent comic 
Beppe Grillo staged huge rallies across the country, collecting hundreds of 
thousands of signatures of people demanding term limits for legislators and 
a ban on felons running for office. He sidestepped traditional broadcast and 
print media (which he believes are controlled by special interests) and used 
the Internet and word of mouth to appeal particularly to youth. Today Grillo 
marshals a veritable movement, which is also fielding regional candidates.
Italians have tolerated their rancid political system, he said, because they 
are essentially sleepwalking.
"We make laws about the economy, but there is no economy," he said. "We make 
laws about labor, and there is no work. We have a constitution that no one 
knows. We are a country that does not behave like a nation."
A gregarious 59-year-old with a head of unruly silver curls, Grillo stands 
in sharp contrast to most of Italy's politicians, who wear designer suits 
and perfect makeup. Informally banned from television because of his take-
no-prisoners style, Grillo launched a campaign urging the European Union to 
stop sending public works money to Italy, which he contended the government 
stole or squandered. Later, he invited Germany to invade Italy to save it.
For a moment, there was a glimmer of hope that public anger would coalesce 
into something more catalytic.
But then early this year the government of Prime Minister Romano Prodi 
collapsed in a pique of petty politics, 20 months into a five-year term and 
before a law could be passed that would have reformed the electoral system. 
Without changes to the highly flawed system, most analysts agree, the 
country is doomed to another round of unaccountable political leaders 
dedicated to squabbling over power while stifling creative reform.
Among the flaws, the current electoral system gives disproportionate 
influence to small parties, some formed by no more than a single guy with a 
little cash. It was one of those "one-man" parties that brought down the 
government; an even tinier party, led by a politician named Pizza, nearly 
derailed this weekend's elections when he raised a stink over use of his 
party logo.
Italians have lived with their chaotic political system for generations.
The indignation is acute now, however, because many here expected 
improvements after the Cold War ended and a corruption scandal in the early 
1990s shook up the political establishment.
Instead, they got a cavalier Berlusconi, and after him, a plodding Prodi. 
The realization that the problems go deeper than a particular party or 
leader finally came home to roost.
"It will take about 10 years to change this political class," said Ricolfi, 
the sociologist. "But the problem is that in 10 years we will have sunk so 
far that we won't be able to pull ourselves out again. It will be too late, 
end of story."

 Articolo
Oltre a mettere insieme il solito paio d'etti di luoghi comuni su 
Berlusconi, il Los Angeles Times descrive Veltroni, nel suo articolo di oggi 
sulle elezioni italiane, come un "ex comunista che ha cercato di lanciarsi 
come un agente di cambiamento, malgrado sia da decenni in politica". 
Qualcuno faccia sapere al LAT (il peggior quotidiano degli Stati Uniti) che 
si tratta di un grave errore! Uòlter non è mai stato comunista! O no? 

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Che vergogna, questi ammeregani che diffamano così walter!
Senz'altro uno degli autori del pezzo è uno scherano del nano sotto
mentite spoglie.
Dito, sai dirci chi è il fellone?
-- 
Vota Lega Nerd
Guelfo Presidente
http://snipurl.com/guelfopresidente
 

 you're the Mafia,
Bisognerebbe spiegare agli ignari (?) giornalisti che il collegamento tra 
Berlusconi e la mafia si basa su un video taroccato dalla sinistra, che ha 
vilmente manipolato le parole di un magistrato morto e che non poteva piu' 
smentire....
Bisognerebbe anche ricordare che la sinistra ha il suo bacino elettorale in 
Campania e Calabria, dove governa, con Camorra e N'drangheta e che Il Popolo 
delle Libertà schiera in Calabria, nota fortezza della 'ndrangheta  e del 
PD, Nitto Palma, magistrato antimafia.
Sicuramente l'articolo sarebbe di altro tenore. 

Erinni ha usato la sua tastiera per scrivere :
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Quindi i giornalisti del LAT.. sono comunisti? lol
-- 
EU®

 
Perche' solo Berlusconi?
Anche Veltroni ha candidato una quantita' di criminali.
-- 
- Rizzi - 

 comunista! O no? 
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