Now it is evident that in Italy there's no longer freedom of speech.
What happened last Sunday in the very popular Italian TV Show "DOMENICA IN" shows the level of fear sneaking among Italians about the freedom of speech in the Berlusconi's regime. Silvan - a old, popular illustionist - makes a foolish witty remark about Berlusconi. "This is a magic stick and I'll donate it to Berlusconi" - he says before performing. You can see panic on the anchorwoman's face. She quickly interrupts the exhibition to say: "This is your very personal witty remark. By the way, we take the opportunity to thanks and cheer the Governement of all its efforts around the earthquake...".
Useless to say that almost everybody in RAI, the Italian National television are people of Berlusconi or strictly controlled by them. All the others are simply scared.

It happened now? Actually it's been happening since decades now, nothing astonishing, Max.
By the way, look up on Youtube Berlusconi Documentary.

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People shouldn't fear their governments, government should fear its people

So what do you two say to those on this forum that think Berlusconi is doing a fine job and have niente against him?

Villa Who in the forum ever said "Berlusconi is doing a fine job and have niente against him" ?? I answer sometimes on Berlusconi side to have some debate but unfortunately on this forum there is nobody really on Berlusconi side" -

Here I copy one of the post of Marky Mark that I thank him for since I agree with him...this seems the furthest we go on defending Berlusconi.
My problem is that there was an strong attach on him the same day he was elected...( like Frank did on Obama one week or 2 after he took power)

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Villa - you should move here! Everyone seems to be very blinkered and depending on their politics, Berlusconi is either wrong every time, or right every time, with very few in the middle. At least he went immediately to the earthquake zone (no doubt anti-Berlusconi will shout "all for show and votes - he doesn't really care") - Bush didn't go straight away to New Orleans, nor for that matter, did he cut short his school visit on 911.

Berlusconi certainly has his downside - I'm uneasy with the almost total control he has over TV, the laws preventing prosecution of top government officials whilst in power and the tie-up with the ultra right wing Lega Nord. But give the guy credit where it's due, his "political gaffes" are his own brand of humour, and most are inoffensive unless you're super-PC. Mafia? I doubt there are many successful business people in Italy that haven't some "friends" in the Mafia who have eased the way for them. As for likening him to Mussolini, do you really believe Italians would allow another dictator? Or the EU would sit back and watch? I don't think so.

Like him or loathe him, he was democratically elected (not dumped on the electorate like Gordon Brown in the UK). At 72yrs I really can't believe he is after world domination or dictatorship - yes, he has strong opinions, yes, he makes inappropriate comments, but I really don't believe he is the devil incarnate.

Would I vote for him? No. But there needs to be some credible opposition before he is voted out.

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PS Enough comment on Berlusconi on the forum for a while - You can always comment on the news section however and your opinion will be read by many more ... The Malta article is going crazy today for example -

I feel to answer to this post. I'll never come back on this argument as I've enough of talking of this man everywhere and everytime (in Italy he's like 'the weather': every single Italian talk about him at least once a day).

1) BERLUSCONI FLEW MANY TIMES ON THE EARTHQUAKE AREA. That's true. It's also true that rescuerers worked in a excellent way in very short time. Some days before the earthquake, Berlusconi had done a law allowing Italians to enlarge their houses of the 20%. Anti-sismic standards were not requested, a self-certification was enough, building criteria were not necessary. It was a law made for himself (as real-estate is the business where he comes from) and for his establishment, of course, to increase speculation on real estate.
MANY BUILDINGS COLLAPSED BECAUSE OF THE EARTHQUAKE: SOME OF THEM WERE BUILT WITH SAND !!!! That's why police is now investigating on those who built tem. Pushed by public opinion, Berlusconi changed that law inserting anti-sismic standards.

As we have two elections nextly, public opinion's pushing the governement to have them on the same day in order to save 400 million euros to give to the area hit by the earthquake. Berlusconi refused. He could save 400 million euros to give for reconstruction but - as they are afraid to loose - they decided to let us vote in two different dates. THAT'S PURE CINISM AND DELIBERATED WASTE OF PUBLIC MONEY.

2) BERLUSCONI IS A EXCELLENT COMMUNICATOR, HE COMES FROM THE MEDIA WORLD. That's why he won't do Bush's mistakes. He's the genius of propaganda so he took advantage of the tragedy showing himself as well Mussolini used to exhibit himself: in Italy many videos show a twin behavior of Berlusconi and Mussolini bossing around admist suffering people. Same gesture, same smiles, same aughty and bossy attitude.

3) FASCIST AND NAZI MOVEMENTS ARE GROWING THROUGHOUT EUROPE. A video is now circulating all over Europe: it shows Borghezio (vice-minister in Berlusconi's government) teaching some French neo-nazists how to achieve the power. He teaches them to be 'invisible', to behave correctly, to look like democratic and christian. Then he says: "Do not ever forget the main goal !".
No one of Berlusconi's government commented that video. Silence.
Beyond that, the evidence is:

a) Aggressions to immigrants arose dramaticly: Saturday April. 11th a young guy from Senegal has been attacked by a neo-nazi gang in Rome, he lost one eye. Two month ago a guy from Bangladesh has been burned in a railway station in the neighbourhood of Rome and died. A Indian merchant has been killed by neo-fascists some days before. A asian drugstore has been devasted. A chinese guy has been surrounded and beated while he was awaiting the bus. And so on: I could tell hundred of aggressions occoured these last months (not to mention aggressions against gays). THE ITALIAN GOVERNMENT IS DOING NOTHING TO STOP THIS BUT IS DOING ALMOST EVERYTHING TO ENCOURAGE THE PHENOMENON. Neo-fascists occupied illegaly a building downtown Rome and made their branch-office there: no one stopped them.
When Obama has been elected, Maurizio Gasparri (ex-fascist and now Berlusconi's attendant) declared: "Well, Al Quaida will cheer up". In addition to that Berlusconi said that Obama is: "A tall, sun-tanned guy". That's not humor, that's political communication to his basic electors.

b) It's notorius that Berlusconi belonged to the P2 movement: a massonic organization founded by Licio Gelli, CIA informer and nazi activist. This organization was aimed to bring back Fascism. P2 organization has been dismantled in '78 once discovered by the Police. The name of Berlusconi was in the list and he never justified his presence in that neo-fascist group.
Berlusconi's political strategy is nothing else than the P2 program: lowering the level of culture and education, reducing the political parties into 2 both controlled by the organization, controlling media and newspapers, hiring journalists, more powers to the President, etc. etc.

c) Censorship is very active. Berlusconi promised not to let work some journalists and he did. The video that I published showing the young anchorwoman scared to death because a foolish witty remark of his guest is the evidence of the level of fear amongst people working in media.

4) BERLUSCONI'S POLITICAL GAFFES ARE NOT MISTAKES, ARE COMMUNICATION. He wants to show to Italians how breaking the rules is 'cool'. He knows his electors are not educated people, he knows that arrogance and haughtiness are beneath Italians' skin, he knows many Italian businessmen swim in illegal activities. The message is: feel free to do whatever you want as I do.
HE KNOWS THAT ONLY A 'NASTY' POLITICAL MAN CAN BE A POWERFUL 'LOVELY' DICTATOR (Hitler was ridiculous while Mussolini was grotesque). HIS GAFFES ARE JUST TO PUT PUBLIC OPINION UNDER A TEST. I heard many Italians being proud of the 'trasgressive' behavior of the President.

5) EUROPE IS RATHER FED UP OF BERLUSCONI AND ITALIANS - Actually our main fear is not Berlusconi but to be left alone in his hands. That's why I'll never give up saying to foreigners: don't leave us alone and keep your eyes opened wide. What happened to us, can easily happen to you.

the only thing that berlusconi is not controlling is internet, but now he is about to taking measures. then italy will be like orwell's 1984

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Italiani : esperti nell'arte dell' arrangiarsi

The thing is there is a shift of power from the people to the state and it is happening everywhere. Google Ian Tomlinson, shoved by the police in UK as he walked away with his hands in hs pockets. I have just read Animal Farm and I am going to read 1984 as well.

They want us in our (unsafe) houses worrying baout our (at risk) job so that we do not go and protest and protect the weak in society.

The only power we have is to vote with our cash, stop putting it into system, to refuse to allow consumerism to make us numb to what is going on, a concentration of powers to the state.

I am at the point I want to have a little bit of land in the meiddle on nowhere and grow my own food.

Thanks for the clip and the debate.

Melbourngirl, Are you thinking that Animal Farm has something to do with Berlusconi and his government?

Actually the plot of George Orwell's "Animal Farm" satirizes through an extended metaphor the events
after the Communists took over Russia in 1917. The animal characters on the farm correspond to different
key players in the Russian Revolution, such as Stalin, Marx and Trotsky. Animal Farm is right wing
conservative thinking. Animal Farm tries to show that some how the poor and middle class should not try to make things
better for themselves. Sure communism under a dictator is bad but so is fascism under people like Hitler and Mussolini.

Maybe this will help: fascism (făsh`ĭzəm), totalitarian philosophy of government that glorifies the state and nation and assigns to
the state control over every aspect of national life. The name was first used by the party started by Benito Mussolini
who ruled Italy from 1922 until the Italian defeat in World War II. However, it has also been applied
to similar ideologies in other countries such as National Socialism or Nazism, doctrines and policies of the National Socialist
German Workers' party, which ruled Germany under Adolf Hitler from 1933 to 1945.(Hitler got his fascism ideas from Mussolini. Ironic but true.)

Spain's Mussolini was Francisco Franco, 1892–1975, Spanish general and caudillo. Both Hitler and Mussolini helped Franco defeat the poor and middle class in Spain
during the Spanish Civil War in 1939. Italy under Mussolini sent some 60,000 Italian soldiers to fight in Spain on the side of the fascists. (The Italian soldiers
did not have their heart into killing the poor and middle class and were not very succesful while fighting in Spain.)

The term fascism is derived from the Latin fasces (făs`ēz) [Lat.,=bundles], ancient Roman symbol of the regal and later the magisterial authority.
Under fascism the rich benefit and the poor and middle class get the shaft and minorities are persecuted and sometimes genocide occurs as with Hitler.

Communisim is the opposite extreme of Fascism. They both are bad when ruled by dictators.
You have to have a balance with the majority of the people benefiting and ruling. Right now
in Italy a small majority probably less than one percent own most of the wealth and they
are the ones who rule. Just like in the U.S.

Thanks Villa !

...not to mention Fascist Regime in Greece, Portugal, Chili and Argentina (which created 30,000 desaparecidos in 10 years)...