Like most foreigners and slightly dewy-eyed Italia-lovers, I have wondered many a time: "Why, oh why? Are Italians simply more masochistic or could they not care less? Who benefits from this and by him? Why did they elect this person once again?" Of course, by looking at the particularly crass Belusconi administration one tends to forget that very similar things happen elsewhere, in one's backyard for instance. In any case, there are many good reasons to explain this phenomenon. Nonetheless, I've heard the sigh "we'll simply have to wait until he dies" pronounced more than once by Italians.
Significantly, the Forza Italia headquarters, which apparently still exist, lie in Rome's centro storico, just opposite the Elite 2 Nightclub, which is next to a small church. The headquarters are round the corner from the via dell'umilita (Humility Street). Too much for a Northern European to take in, but quite fitting for paradoxical Italia. Even more significantly, the headquarters are just below the Quirinale Palace, once papal, now the Italian President's offical residence - that's the President of the Republic, not the Consiglio (Cabinet), who also heads the Judiciary. It's been rumoured time and again that Berlusconi would like to assume that role before he parts from this earth. The comedian Roberto Benigni most recently alluded to Berlusconi's desire in a breathtaking performance at the San Remo Chanson Festival 2009. It's the most watched event on TV in Italy (by the way, Burt Baccarach was a guest this year). I certainly did not understand most of what he said - apparently it's a Tuscan dialect - but you'll hear the words 'Quirinale' several times. Ever the court jester in the Court of the Popolo, Benigni ties all the loose ends together, hoping the shake the Italian voters into some form of Liberta action - so that Berlusconi retires before invading the last vestige of Italian democracy. Or maybe, shit happens.
