Newsgroup: it.politica
Titolo: Decadence and Democracy in Italy - Discussion

Decadence and Democracy in Italy
What does the tolerance of Silvio Berlusconi's hedonism say about
Italians?
A Sin That May Not Be Forgiven
Updated January 27, 2011, 12:44 PM
Alexander Stille is the San Paolo professor of international
journalism at Columbia University. He is the author of numerous books,
including, "The Sack of Rome: How a Beautiful European Country With a
Fabled History and a Storied Culture Was Taken Over by a Man Named
Silvio Berlusconi."
Silvio Berlusconi has been linked with more than a dozen scandals over
the past 17 years. From the current accusations of frequenting
prostitutes and interfering with police investigations, to extremely
serious cases of corruption that have led to convictions among some of
his closest associates for crimes that include bribing judges, fixing
cases, suborning perjury and collusion with the mafia, why is it that
Italians put up with him, given the overwhelming evidence of moral
turpitude?
    This bizarre situation has come to seem normal to Italians, just
as one’s eyesight adjusts to the darkness.
In almost any other democracy, that would have been enough to end a
politician's career. But Italians are deeply cynical about their
political leaders. Believing that “everyone does it,” it is possible
to convince yourself that the exposure of Berlusconi’s crimes and
misdemeanors is actually a sign that he is being singled out for
persecution.
This is a view that is reinforced by the substantial portion of the
Italian media, which is controlled by Berlusconi. Even the media
outlets he does not own outright are either intimidated or under his
influence. Much of the evidence in the current scandal (as with those
in the past) has not been aired on the principal newscast of the
Italian state TV, which, together with Berlusconi’s networks, enjoy a
nearly 90 percent market share in a country where 70 to 80 percent of
the public gets its news from television.
The lack of a strong and credible opposition is also an indispensable
prerequisite for understanding Berlusconi’s staying power. The center-
left government of Romano Prodi, elected in 2006, was composed of nine
different parties that wrangled constantly during the government’s
brief life, paving the way for Berlusconi’s return in 2008.
Before Berlusconi, there was no tradition of restrictions on ethical
problems such as conflict of interest or insider trading. When
Berlusconi was first elected to office in 1994, it became accepted
that the richest man in the country, its largest media owner and the
subject of numerous criminal investigations could, without selling any
of his private holdings, run the government, oversee the large state
broadcasting system and rewrite the criminal laws. It seems almost a
natural consequence that he should use the resources of government for
his own ends, including purging the state TV of those who would dare
to criticize him.
With the passage of time, this profoundly anomalous situation has come
to seem normal to Italians, just as one’s eyesight adjusts to the
darkness.
    Italians have never appreciated that a politician’s “private”
conduct can have serious public implications.
Italians have never appreciated that a politician’s “private” conduct
can have serious public implications. Italian politicians rumored to
have bevies of mistresses generally saw their public prestige rise
rather than drop. Italy is, in many ways, a deeply sexist society.
Italian media (thanks partly to Berlusconi) is awash in images of
female nudity that are frequently degrading and highly exploitative,
and tolerated by Italian women and men alike.
Italy trails the rest of Europe in female employment and gender
equality. And so when it emerged that Berlusconi had slept with
prostitutes supplied by a government contractor or may have engaged an
underage prostitute, many Italians -- women as well as men -- shrugged
it off as purely private behavior that has been wrongly exposed to
public scrutiny.
That said, the seemingly endless chain of scandals that has unfolded
during Berlusconi’s latest government, which took power in 2008, has
taken its toll and created serious Berlusconi fatigue even among those
who have supported him in the past. It is not based so much on moral
repulsion at Berlusconi’s actions as much as on the realization that
Berlusconi’s personal problems have dominated the public debate and
made it impossible for him and his government to focus on the real
problems of the country, which are many and significant.
Berlusconi’s obsessive focus on defanging the Italian judiciary system
and crafting immunity laws to protect himself from prosecution have
paralyzed parliament and created the well-founded impression that his
own personal business is above any other consideration. This is a sin
that the Italian public may not forgive him for.

Silvio Berlusconi."
Alexander Stille is a leftist and biased indivudual, his attack
against Italy and Berlusconi is not surprising and it's not be the
first time, Alaxander Stille is not in a position to give a fair and
balanced analysis of the situation and the problems that Italy is
facing.


wrote:

"and it's not the first time", senza "be"