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Berlusconi Update
Italy's premier gets support from some British newspapers, notably The Times.
Well, we did say that all hell broke loose after Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi compared a German opponent to a concentration camp guard. From the furore, one would be forgiven for thinking that Berlusconi had shot the socialist MEP rather than made an unpleasant joke at his expense.
Nevertheless, some newspapers claim that the Italian is not entirely to blame for the debacle.
The Times, in a balanced leader, says that the hysterical reaction of the parliament insults intelligence. It notes that
(Socialist MEP) Martin Schulz ... had insulted the record, credibility and personal standing of the Italian Prime Minister before he had begun to speak.
It describes the outrage that followed childish, self-righteous and "mostly party political." The Times believes that Berlusconi fell into a well-planned trap. For left wing and green MEPs both inside and outside Italy, the Italian PMs right-wing credentials make him the embodiment of capitalist evil. Like a home grown George Bush, he has become a "heaven sent" convenient hate figure for the European left (although, unlike George Bush, the mainstream right wing in Europe is hardly queuing to shake Silvio's hand).
The Times sees the obsession with Berlusconi as an attempt by failing left-wing governments to detract from their economic and political difficulties at home.
Elsewhere in The Times, commentator Rosemary Righter goes even further in Berlusconi's defence, claiming that it should be the Italian PM demanding an apology from the "Red Rabble" who disrupted his opening speech.
In a fiery defence of the Italian PM, Righter says that while Berlusconi should not have made the reference to concentration camps, the dignity of the European Parliament had already "gone to the dogs" thanks to the infantile behaviour of his opponents, who attacked him before he had a chance to speak.
She continues
a raucous claque of Green and left-wing MEPs waved placards plastered with the best insults they could plagiarise (the favourite, “No Godfather for Europe”, was a lift from Der Spiegel’s oh-so-witty cover story). His speech was greeted by a barrage of invective, all of it ad hominem, much of it infantile, some of it contemptible — the French Communist’s calling the Berlusconi Government “barbaric” or the Belgian MEP’s accusing him of laying Italy waste as did Attila the Hun. Martin Schulz, the deservedly obscure German Socialist now enjoying his 15 minutes of fame, was the last in a discreditable line-up of nincompoops who disgraced democracy by their inability to tell the difference between free speech and the political equivalent of a wrecker’s demolition ball.
Righter points out that the parliament's speaker allowed this barracking to continue, only interrupting proceedings to censure Berlusconi.
She also defends Berlusconi's vision for Europe.
Perhaps this is the crux of the matter. As she points out, Berlusconi's Italy stands for expansion, entrepreneurial zest. As such, he poses a threat to
the Brussels consensus and the outworn Franco-German model of “social Europe".
UPDATE
Some more support for Berlusconi in, of all places, the Independent, which is noted for its slavishly pro-EU consensus stance.
It's probably not meant as support, though. What the article, by Rome correspondent Peter Popham does do in Berlusconi's favour is list his media interests, along with the interests of his opponents.
Sure, as we all know, having Berlusconi as prime minister and also the country's most powerful media magnate is bad for democracy. But did you know that (according to Mr Popham), the state channel RAI 3, is "controlled by opponents of Mr Berlusconi."
Also, La Repubblica, a regular critic of the PM, is owned by Berlusconi s business rival.
Again, none of these links appear to outweigh Berlusconi's media clout (although the idea that the state TV channel is controlled by the PM's opponents comes as a shock) but does go some way to explain why he has yet to divest himself of his media businesses as promised. Why would any politician leave himself defenceless?
Elsewhere in Popham's fascinating article, he speculates that Berlusconi's psychology may explain his remarks.
He has persuaded himself that he is the victim of a sustained and vicious conspiracy in Italy between leftist politicians, prosecutors and judges, determined to finish him off as punishment for his massive success and popularity. The conspirators include the leftists who infest the Italian media, and they are implacable.
Finally, at the last moment before the Italian presidency, he broke free of them, thanks to his immunity Bill - free at last from the prison camp that Italy has become. He tunnelled out, emerging into the glory and gratification of the European presidency. But then, in Strasbourg, under fire from Martin Schultz, who launched several well-guided missiles, he made an appalling discovery: he was merely inside a bigger, uglier prison camp than before, a camp as big as Europe. And Mr Schultz was his vicious prison guard!
