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The Prodi government had also failed to do anything about the wildly increased cost of
living. And it had waffled pitifully in its foreign policy: it wanted to show that it could be
everyone's friend by trying to split the difference between democracies and terror regimes
while pleading for “peace in our time”. When the new elections were held in 2008, the lib-
eral left created a new Democratic Party that excluded the wackos from the coalition. It
was a positive move that may bear fruit in coming years. But it was not enough to keep
Berlusconi from winning his third mandate by a landslide.
An interesting footnote to the election is that all of the far left parties excluded by the new
Democratic Party united to form a “Rainbow Coalition”. It included the old guard Sta-
linists, the reborn communists, the reformed socialists, along with a host of other fringe
groups. It's sad but true that after Stalin, Mao and Pol Pot and the murder and enslavement
of tens of millions, there are still those who argue that the philosophy of state collectivism
is good—it just hasn't been implemented properly. The good news is that collectively they
won less than 5% of the vote, so they were not entitled to any representation in govern-
ment. It's the first time in nearly 100 years that the Italian parliament does not have a single
member affiliated with a communist or socialist party. The end of an era.
A few weeks after taking office Berlusconi had the garbage off the streets of Naples—a
problem that the previous government had been unable to resolve for many long months.
There have also been other, smaller achievements whose details are unimportant. What
matters is that Berlusconi demonstrates an ability to get things done, at least occasionally,
and the Italians are impressed. Given a choice between a lecherous, megalomaniacal felon
who flouts the law but runs the country half-decently or a coalition of well-intentioned pro-
gressives who bicker amongst themselves for the high moral ground while Rome burns, the
Italians choose Berlusconi. Can you blame them?
For the time being, Berlusconi has been sidelined by the Euro crisis and another round
of sexcapades that embarrassed even the forgiving Italian public. A technocratic caretaker
government is temporarily in place with a mandate to slash and tax and balance the topics.
People are hunkered down waiting for things to get better, and patience is wearing thin.
It's clearly a transitional phase, but only those with crystal balls have any clue as to what's
coming next.
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