Last night, some Italians, tired after a day of work, have sunk into their sofa watching "Ballarò" (a political tv program). They where talking about justice, about the "Marrazzo case" and about the business tax cuts announced by the premier, and Berlusconi called (he is used to do it) and he started to attack everyone, with a stunned Giovanni Floris (the journalist) in the studio. The Premier said that "Communist Prosecutors are the real opposition in our country ".
Now that the courts of appeal have determined that David Mills was a corrupt witness, then it is obvious that there must be a corruptor. So if Mills took the money from Berlusconi, there should be no doubt about who is the corrupter. To establish that, there will be a trial that, most likely, will cease to be valid as a result of the statute of limitation. What is certain is that the prime minister has once again seen a sentence by judges ("communists", he said) on its empire. The Berlusconi who made himself from scratch, the one that has succeeded in creating an empire, now falters. Maybe his powerful friends (like Craxi, who approved the Mammi law to defend Berlusconi monopoly on TV) helped him in the undertaking. Maybe it have been the judgments purchased or canceled by the false testimony that led to his growth. Now that there is a new ruling on the Mills case, (and it's like the other one), it seems difficult to say "I did not know Mills, I swear on my five children. If it were true, I retired from political life, I will leave Italy. "
Among all, we do not even understand why the five children are not tired of hearing promptly proved false oaths pronounced on their heads.
Berlusconi, now, feels surrounded. Last night, home alone, he was watching Ballarò "just because I'm sick" otherwise he would had work for the good of the country. And since in the studio there were Defense Minister, Ignazio La Russa, and Justice Minister, Angelino Alfano, but they did not defend him as he would consider it appropriate, he just called and say "I have listened what leaders of the Left said, in particular, on Mills case, I saw the festival of falsehood and slander ".
The Premier is clearly irritated and he does not even answer to Floris who said "I wonder what's the role of his ministers, as they are here and they could replicate ..."
Aware of the power of television, Berluusconi shoots numbers at random about his trials, speaking of himself in third person. "Since Silvio Berlusconi went into politics and took away the power of the Communists, they have attacked him with 103 investigations, and 36 trials. They've put in over 2500 hearings. A total of 109 judges have dealt with Silvio Berlusconi and his group. "
Berlusconi says he phoned Marrazzo only to inform him that there were pictures that concerned him, but "I left him free to choose whether to call the phone numbers that I have provided or make a complaint."
A citizen would expect that the prime minister does not spread phone numbers but encourages Italians to make complaints against possible blackmail, but this detail is not important.
He almost yells at the journalist, Floris, "public television is paid with the money of all and therefore is not yours, Floris." And when the journalist asks for information on scarlet fever that keeps him locked in the house, the premier replied testily "If you come to my house I will be happy to pass it on."
He put down the phone, there is no time for other questions because he said what he wanted. The program is over, the economic crisis is still here (and the prime minister had earlier said no one in the world knows when it will end, so we can rest assured), the viewer is shocked and the Premier is still at home, alone, to dispose of scarlet fever and his legal troubles. Who will take care of Italy we still do not know.
Marianna Lepore
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