90. "The Times" Reports Fairy Tale Stories on Fascism

How can I explain to foreign journalists 
that Fascism has been abolished for 63 years ?

There is something about Italy that tempts foreign journalists to give full leash to their imagination. Today, the new Mayor of Rome has been elected and for some reason the question that Italy has suddenly gone Fascist with the Hi-Hitler salute have transpired on the pages of that remarkable, once trustworthy, highly reputable Paper- “The Times”.

That dear, misguided reporter from Rome, seemed to have got himself a bit confused... There is no Fascist Party post or neo in Italy simply because it is illegal to be a Fascist, as Fascism was abolished on 25 April 1945 and has been illegal ever since. What I think the reporter was referring to was that the newly elected Mayor, who unlike British Mayors, will be in office for the next 5 years, is a member of a right wing party who once housed Alessandra Mussolini, Benito Mussolini’s grandaughter (and Sohia Loren's niece- just for the record). Consequently, anyone who is not hot on the ball with Italian politics will say that Alleanza Nazionale is a neo-post-Fascist Party and its members go round wearing swastika on their arms and pulling out the toe nails of the opposition with pliers. Actually, they can be pardoned for thinking that because there is another party which is extreme right and their ideology does get its inspiration from Benito Mussolini and Co- but they, that party I mean, did not get a foot in the door during the last elections.

Do these people look like Fascists?

Fini, who is the leader of the same party the newly elected Mayor belongs to, went to Israel a couple of years or so ago and apologized on behalf of those Italians who implemented Fascist rules upon the Jews, way back before 1945. I can hardly imagine any Political leader going to Israel and doing such a thing as that, if he was a post, neo, or whatever Fascist, can you?

However, what I can’t understand is why lay it on so thick on this Mayor guy and brand him as a Fascist when in effect The Times Reporter refers to Walter Veltroni, the previous Mayor of Rome as if he were someone mildly left wing- when he was indeed a member of “Il Partito Communista Italiano” until Communism fell when the Berlin Wall fell which in effect was in our life time not our grandparents’ and the party had to change its name and become “respectable”, but the ideology is still the same- lackadaisical, stagnant and they take longer than a conclave to come to any decision.

So, if one wants to tell fairy stories and say that Fascism exists in Italy, then they must tell the rest of the story and say that Communist also exists, which in effect it really does: the last “Speaker” of the equivalent to the “House of Commons” was from the Italian Communist Party of which our dear ex Mayor of Rome belonged to. And this is “The Times” reporting... I do a much better job as a mere household blogger!

However, depicting Italy as a country where Fascism and Communism exist is just being fanciful- but that’s because people have nothing else to write about- and everyone knows Italians are always so accommodating so it’s OK to write any old kind of stuff- we are all so stupid anyway over here, that no one will ever know the difference!

But Reporters must remember that quite a number of Italian journalists and some politicians have been murdered and mainly by the Red Brigades who are certainly not related to the right wing in any way. And it also needs to be remembered that playing around with brands and tags can cause certain illegal militants to react. So, it is best to keep quiet if you don’t know what you are talking about, or at least be fair.

However, it is not just foreign journalists who stir things up but some Italians are not bad at it ether. I just happened to catch a smattering of an interview on BBC World tonight where an Italian woman journalist from a well known monthly magazine was trying to depict Italy as a dictatorship and I got the idea she was giving me the impression that the newly formed government is more or less a brothel!!! According to her, Italy should be a country where there should be no laws or regulations... abortions all the way... and what have you... It was also suggested that Berlusconi likes women and consequently the new government had the tendency towards becoming a brothel...

But the real punch line was when the BBC Journalist thanked the Italian one for “explaining” all that... All what? That the Italians are kept under lock and key by a Dictator... That the new government is a brothel... Or did I misunderstand? BBC... for God’s sake!!!

Photo: My father and his Medal. In November 1999 all 2nd World War soldiers still surviving were to receive a war medal. My father died 5 days previously to being decorated at the age of 86- so I stood in for him. But my father did not belong to the Fascist army, (that was Mussolini's "private" army). As can be seen by the uniform  he was in the Italian Royal Army, as most soldiers were because Italy was a Monarchy then- Something foreign reporters should try to understand is that wanting rules and regulations for one’s city does not make the new Mayor of Rome a “Fascist”