Comments on: As Italy’s Elections Go from Bad to Worse, Vicenza Remains the Silver Lining http://www.dissidentvoice.org/2008/05/as-italy%e2%80%99s-elections-go-from-bad-to-worse-vicenza-remains-the-silver-lining/ a radical newsletter in the struggle for peace and social justice Sun, 07 Sep 2008 00:58:37 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.1 By: Lloyd Rowsey http://www.dissidentvoice.org/2008/05/as-italy%e2%80%99s-elections-go-from-bad-to-worse-vicenza-remains-the-silver-lining/#comment-19830 Lloyd Rowsey Sun, 04 May 2008 12:45:46 +0000 http://www.dissidentvoice.org/?p=1958#comment-19830 Mary. Two questions this morning. In your opinion, Does Berlusconi have The Bomb? If his wife says Italy must be broken up, I conclude "Italy" has no single foreign policy vis-a-vis Israel, or any other country. In your opinion, Is that a BAD thing? Mary. Two questions this morning. In your opinion, Does Berlusconi have The Bomb? If his wife says Italy must be broken up, I conclude “Italy” has no single foreign policy vis-a-vis Israel, or any other country. In your opinion, Is that a BAD thing?

]]> By: HR http://www.dissidentvoice.org/2008/05/as-italy%e2%80%99s-elections-go-from-bad-to-worse-vicenza-remains-the-silver-lining/#comment-19816 HR Sun, 04 May 2008 05:43:31 +0000 http://www.dissidentvoice.org/?p=1958#comment-19816 More proof that people are the same everywhere, willing to trade freedom for authoritarianism at the drop of a hat. Erich Fromm was right. More proof that people are the same everywhere, willing to trade freedom for authoritarianism at the drop of a hat. Erich Fromm was right.

]]> By: Lloyd Rowsey http://www.dissidentvoice.org/2008/05/as-italy%e2%80%99s-elections-go-from-bad-to-worse-vicenza-remains-the-silver-lining/#comment-19779 Lloyd Rowsey Sat, 03 May 2008 20:53:04 +0000 http://www.dissidentvoice.org/?p=1958#comment-19779 Stephanie have you met Mary have you met Marcelle? Whoever, Italy is forever, and and least they don't have the lying-shitstink sort of elections we do. Stephanie have you met Mary have you met Marcelle? Whoever, Italy is forever, and and least they don’t have the lying-shitstink sort of elections we do.

]]> By: Mike McNiven http://www.dissidentvoice.org/2008/05/as-italy%e2%80%99s-elections-go-from-bad-to-worse-vicenza-remains-the-silver-lining/#comment-19774 Mike McNiven Sat, 03 May 2008 19:03:41 +0000 http://www.dissidentvoice.org/?p=1958#comment-19774 the movie " Godfather III " still is a very helpful tool for the understanding of the ongoing role of the invisible hands in the Italian politics! the movie ” Godfather III ” still is a very helpful tool for the understanding of the ongoing role of the invisible hands in the Italian politics!

]]> By: mary http://www.dissidentvoice.org/2008/05/as-italy%e2%80%99s-elections-go-from-bad-to-worse-vicenza-remains-the-silver-lining/#comment-19771 mary Sat, 03 May 2008 18:47:04 +0000 http://www.dissidentvoice.org/?p=1958#comment-19771 Thank you for this article and good for the citizens of Vicenza. The first thing this new mayor of Rome promises is the scapegoating of immigrants. This is a chilling read from the Telegraph, UK dated 30.4.2008. Last Thursday, a right wing Conservative MP, Boris Johnson, was elected as the new London mayor. He has made racist remarks in the past. It is a strange coincidence that two right wing mayors have been elected in Rome and London at the same time. This Telegraph article reports the election of the Italian version described as a 'firebrand neo-fascist'. A chilling promise from him here - We will chase out the delinquents. There are 85 abusive nomad camps to destroy." Gianni Alemanno Rome's new mayor promises purge of migrants By Malcolm Moore in Rome Last Updated: 10:51PM BST 30/04/2008 The new mayor of Rome has promised to purge the Italian capital of 20,000 illegal immigrants and to raze 85 gipsy camps. (Reuters photo and caption - Mayor Gianni Alemanno waves an Italian flag from Rome city hall.) Gianni Alemanno, 50, a firebrand neo-fascist and the first Right-wing mayor of the city since the Second World War, vowed to make Rome "secure" as he was sworn into office after his election at the weekend. The election of Mr Alemanno confirmed a strong shift to the Right by Italians, who have been sickened by a spate of violent crimes committed by immigrants. Earlier this month, the centre-Right leader Silvio Berlusconi was re-elected as prime minister and will form a government in partnership with Umberto Bossi, the leader of the anti-immigration Northern League. In a sign of things to come, after Mr Alemanno's election Mr Berlusconi declared: "We are the new Falange." The original Falange (or Phalanx) was the Spanish fascist party, founded in the 1930s, whose doctrine was adopted by General Franco. Mr Alemanno's election was celebrated by hundreds of supporters chanting "Duce! Duce!" and raising their arms in Mussolini's fascist salute. The new mayor said that his first action would be to begin "immediate expulsions" of the 20,000 immigrants in the city with criminal records. "We cannot welcome them without discipline," he said. "We will chase out the delinquents. There are 85 abusive nomad camps to destroy." He added that he would visit the widower of Giovanna Reggiani, a 47-year-old woman who was beaten, raped and killed by a Romanian immigrant who lived at a such a camp last November. "I want to promise him that what happened to his wife would never happen again," he said. Walter Veltroni, his Left-wing predecessor, was widely criticised for paying more attention to ancient monuments and film festivals than to problems with the city's infrastructure and security. Mr Alemanno was the youth leader of the fascist Italian Social Movement and wears a Celtic cross, a symbol of the extreme Right. However, he said he wore the cross only as a religious symbol, and in tribute to Paolo di Nella, a far-Right activist who was stoned to death in a Rome street protest 25 years ago. Mr Alemanno said he was sick of the "continuing search for [my] dark side", adding: "I am bitterly upset from a personal point of view at this demonisation." He promised to be a mayor for all Romans, and immediately sent letters to the Vatican and to Rome's Jewish community. Graziano Halilovic, a spokesman for one of Rome's biggest settlements of Roma gipsies, said: "We fear there will be night-time raids on the camps. We want a safe city too. Some of our members have heard their parents' stories of fascism." Mr Bossi said on Wednesday that immigrants had to be hunted out, and that if reforms were not forthcoming, his followers would take up arms. "We have no fear of taking things to the piazzas. We have 300,000 martyrs ready to come down from the mountains. Our rifles are always smoking," he said. Mr Alemanno has promised to tear down a £12 million museum around the Ara Pacis, an altar to the Emperor Augustus. The sleek modernist building, designed by US architect Richard Meier, took more than a decade to build but was immediately labelled by one critic as resembling a "pizzeria". Related Content Italy must be broken up, says Berlusconi's wife Silvio Berlusconi says illegal migrants are 'army of evil' Silvio Berlusconi wins Italy election Euro at stake in Italian election 'Am I really a fascist?' An unsentimental history of Italy In Berlusconi, Italy has found another Ronald Reagan Conductor con brio Thank you for this article and good for the citizens of Vicenza. The first thing this new mayor of Rome promises is the scapegoating of immigrants. This is a chilling read from the Telegraph, UK dated 30.4.2008. Last Thursday, a right wing Conservative MP, Boris Johnson, was elected as the new London mayor. He has made racist remarks in the past.

It is a strange coincidence that two right wing mayors have been elected in Rome and London at the same time. This Telegraph article reports the election of the Italian version described as a ‘firebrand neo-fascist’. A chilling promise from him here - We will chase out the delinquents. There are 85 abusive nomad camps to destroy.”
Gianni Alemanno

Rome’s new mayor promises purge of migrants
By Malcolm Moore in Rome
Last Updated: 10:51PM BST 30/04/2008

The new mayor of Rome has promised to purge the Italian capital of 20,000 illegal immigrants and to raze 85 gipsy camps.

(Reuters photo and caption - Mayor Gianni Alemanno waves an Italian flag from Rome city hall.)

Gianni Alemanno, 50, a firebrand neo-fascist and the first Right-wing mayor of the city since the Second World War, vowed to make Rome “secure” as he was sworn into office after his election at the weekend.

The election of Mr Alemanno confirmed a strong shift to the Right by Italians, who have been sickened by a spate of violent crimes committed by immigrants.

Earlier this month, the centre-Right leader Silvio Berlusconi was re-elected as prime minister and will form a government in partnership with Umberto Bossi, the leader of the anti-immigration Northern League.

In a sign of things to come, after Mr Alemanno’s election Mr Berlusconi declared: “We are the new Falange.”

The original Falange (or Phalanx) was the Spanish fascist party, founded in the 1930s, whose doctrine was adopted by General Franco.

Mr Alemanno’s election was celebrated by hundreds of supporters chanting “Duce! Duce!” and raising their arms in Mussolini’s fascist salute.

The new mayor said that his first action would be to begin “immediate expulsions” of the 20,000 immigrants in the city with criminal records.

“We cannot welcome them without discipline,” he said. “We will chase out the delinquents. There are 85 abusive nomad camps to destroy.”

He added that he would visit the widower of Giovanna Reggiani, a 47-year-old woman who was beaten, raped and killed by a Romanian immigrant who lived at a such a camp last November. “I want to promise him that what happened to his wife would never happen again,” he said.

Walter Veltroni, his Left-wing predecessor, was widely criticised for paying more attention to ancient monuments and film festivals than to problems with the city’s infrastructure and security.

Mr Alemanno was the youth leader of the fascist Italian Social Movement and wears a Celtic cross, a symbol of the extreme Right. However, he said he wore the cross only as a religious symbol, and in tribute to Paolo di Nella, a far-Right activist who was stoned to death in a Rome street protest 25 years ago.

Mr Alemanno said he was sick of the “continuing search for [my] dark side”, adding: “I am bitterly upset from a personal point of view at this demonisation.”

He promised to be a mayor for all Romans, and immediately sent letters to the Vatican and to Rome’s Jewish community.

Graziano Halilovic, a spokesman for one of Rome’s biggest settlements of Roma gipsies, said: “We fear there will be night-time raids on the camps. We want a safe city too. Some of our members have heard their parents’ stories of fascism.”

Mr Bossi said on Wednesday that immigrants had to be hunted out, and that if reforms were not forthcoming, his followers would take up arms.

“We have no fear of taking things to the piazzas. We have 300,000 martyrs ready to come down from the mountains. Our rifles are always smoking,” he said.

Mr Alemanno has promised to tear down a £12 million museum around the Ara Pacis, an altar to the Emperor Augustus.

The sleek modernist building, designed by US architect Richard Meier, took more than a decade to build but was immediately labelled by one critic as resembling a “pizzeria”.

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‘Am I really a fascist?’
An unsentimental history of Italy
In Berlusconi, Italy has found another Ronald Reagan
Conductor con brio

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