The aggression against Berlusconi at the end of his speech yesterday in Milan is a very bad episode. An ugly incident from a moral and civil perspective, as well as a criminal offense. Gratuitous violence is never justifiable in any circumstances. But unfortunately, the attack will turn into a perfect excuse for the premier and his majority. During this year Berlusconi and his loyalists have found increasingly difficult to hide their true face.
The face of a political group that worries more about business and affairs of the head that about the good of the country. An economic lobby supported cynically by a openly racist party, the Northern League, which has always sought and obtained votes with hate , first against the southerners and now against immigrants, and by other right-wing politicians, like former AN leader Fini, who now have understood that Berlusconi is a danger to democracy but for years have had their own advantage in supporting him. Berlusconi and the italian right instigated violence for years against multiple targets.
Against immigrants, and the results are aggressions on the streets, widespread racism and racial laws to imprison and harass innocent people. Against the left and anyone who looks different, and the result are more assaults, police officers who feel entitled to beat and even kill young people on the streets or in prison, continuous and exasperated verbal attacks on opponents by ministers and government's representatives. The violence of Berlusconi and his followers is also expressed in other ways, such as the almost complete monopoly of information, the destruction of the legislative power of parliament, the continual attacks against the Constitution, against judges and against the independence of the judiciary.
It's also a habit by Berlusconi, who used to his advantage for years all these forms of violence without any restraint, to depict himself as a victim by taking advantage of the power of his propaganda, which endlessly repeats his lies, turning them into truth. And so he says that the left hates him and demonize him, when in fact he is the first that has always incited hatred against the left and caused the failure of any attempt at dialogue, even though the Italian center-left politicians has always abased themselves at his feet in search of agreement. He says that judges persecute him, even if he has committed a series of offenses so long that no judiciary in the world could ignore them. He says that the President of the Republic and the Constitutional Court are leftist and therefore prejudiced against him, even though all the top institutions of the Italian state has been very patient too many times with his excesses and his tyrannical and populists attitudes.
Now he will say of course that the aggression he suffered is the result of the climate of hatred against him, even though his attacker is only a mentally unstable man and the climate of hate that exists in Italy was created and cultivated by him for several years to win elections. Since the facts are all against him, because the trials in which he is a defendant have strong accusations and of course he cares much more about his private affairs that the good of the country, his recipe to stay in power has always been the same. Create an exaggerated contrast between left and right to become a champion of his faction, and make voters believe his false statements to remain in power. According to his propaganda the left would be corrupt and inefficient while him, honest and effective. In fact, if left governments have certainly not shone for honesty and efficiency, he is the defendant in many trials for corruption, and his governments have always been too busy trying to save him from justice to do something useful for the country. According to the propaganda his government fought the Mafia, but in fact he made many laws that ultimately benefit the mafia. According to the propaganda he saved Italy from the dangers of immigration, when in fact, immigration is a benefit, not harm, and the presence of immigrants do not increase the overall level of crime. According to the propaganda the left uses the media against him, but in fact he firmly controls 5 national television out of 6 and different newspapers.
Berlusconi always managed to sell his truth, however absurd it was, and the aggression will be another opportunity to play the victim, even though he was such just for one day, while usually he's quite the executioner.
Because the wound to the face that a madman caused him is a bad episode, but in Italy happen things much more serious, like the hundreds of young people beaten by police during the G8 summit in Genoa in 2001, the blows that policemen have always deployed for no reason at all recent demonstrations by students, the many assaults suffered by immigrants, anti-fascists, homosexuals, and the lives broken forever because of the climate of hate that he continues to feed for his personal benefit. Facts for which a premier has at least a moral responsibility because he has never done anything to tone down the rhetoric and has never asked his supporters to be peaceful.
Not to mention the whole chapter about negotiation with the Mafia that, if the statements of the informant Spatuzza are true, imply that Berlusconi and his friend Dell'Utri would have been the hidden masterminds of mafia massacres in 1992-1993, 15 innocent dead including judge Borsellino, bombings carried on by Mafia and rogue elements of the italian secret services to pave the way towards his conquest of political power.
In all countries of the world heads of government, and famous people in general, always run the risk of attacks by crazy people of various kinds. But only in Italy the prime minister attacked will succeed in turning the episode into a big media stunt to regroup his supporters and into a new excuse to violently attack the opposition, that had absolutely no responsibility for the assault.
But unfortunately it is true that in Italy there is a climate of exaggerated political hatred, which could influence the weaker personalities and push them to violence. We should never forget who created it.
Francesco Defferrari
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