194. Berlusconi: Hit in the Face
+di+P1270018.JPG)
As the Italian head of government, Silvio Berlusconi stopped to greet well-wishers in Milan last night, someone from the crowd threw, with force, a souvenir statue of the Duomo of Milan at the Premier’s face.
Although dazed, Berlusconi, as can be expected, wanted to look at his attacker straight in the eyes but the Minister of the Economy, Giulio Tremonti insisted the Premier be taken immediately to Saint Raffaelle’s Hospital where he spent the night. His facial trauma consisted of a fractured nose, two broken teeth, and cut lip externally and internally.
All have unanimously condemned this act of violence, nevertheless, the image of Italy as a fighting mob of politicians spread even more world wide.
It really is of little consequence that Berlusconi’s attacker has been in mental health treatment for over ten years and the father of the 42 years old man phoned to apologize, physical violence of any sort is to be condemned as some politicians have said, without ifs and without buts.
You would think after this act of violence, which of course, may very well have been manoeuvred by others, the Italian left wing would pack it in- that is, stop poisoning the political atmosphere with hatred, which does the country not the least bit of good and even less make Berlusconi topple- but no... One lady member of parliament, who, in all fairness has to be said was offended by Berlusconi on a personal level, after of course causing due provocation, insisted today that Berlusconi “asked for it.”
Certainly, he has asked for it. At the speech in Milan yesterday evening he proclaimed that no other government in Italy had fought against the Mafia so hard before and has managed to arrest three thousand “Mafiosi”, while five milliard and six hundred thousand worth of Mafia enterprises seized, and one milliard seven hundred euro confiscated. These are the anti-mafia facts which Berlusconi weighs against those ready to slander him with judicial and newspaper attacks of being a Mafia Boss.
So, I believe, the lady MP in question when saying that the head of a government who is defending himself from the slander of being a Mafia Boss by producing the facts, is “asking for it,” really needs to re-examine her thinking.
WestBow
Comments