A call to sycophants

Every Italian living abroad, sooner or later, has to face the question “how come Berlusconi is still in power?”. The usual answers (control of TV channels, charisma, populistic appeal to the masses, his it's-ok-not-to-pay-taxes attitude, his macho allure, the use of his multi-billionaire wealth in electoral campaigns... and there's more) are well documented.

Plenty of books have been written on all this. Still, usually those who asked the question remain perplexed. Ever more so when you tell them that the country is sinking economically and morally, but if Italy was to vote tomorrow, Berlusconi would be likely to win again.

Among expats, the lack of hope in the future is palpable. The best and brightest leave. Many, among whose who stay, adapt by following the mother of all Italian justifications against whistle-blowing: “Tengo famiglia” - I have a family, therefore I'm not such a fool to go against the flow.

The last example came yesterday. Writing the final word on David Mills, a British lawyer convicted of corruption for his services in trials involving Berlusconi's dodgy financial holdings, the Corte di Cassazione ruled a sentence of "prescription": that means Mills committed the crime, but as it was too long ago, it is no longer punishable. Berlusconi, it goes without saying, didn't waste a second before attacking the magistrates who had worked on the case.

And how was the news reported? Mostly correctly. But the TG1, the 30-minutes news program on the main state channel, said twice that Mills had been “acquitted”. Innocent, then. Didn't do anything wrong. Berlusconi had been again smeared for political reasons. Now, normally these judicial cases don't move a single vote – those who follow them are already rabid anti-Berlusconites, the “silent majority” doesn't bother. But the silenty majority follows the TG1 as a dinner-time tradition. And Italy, remember, is a country where 70 percent of the population get their news primarily from TV.

There's no shortage of sycophants in Italy, and the TG1 editor-in-chief Augusto Minzolini has proved again and again he's determined to lead the pack. And I suspect Paolo Di Giannantonio, the TG1 speaker who read the news, is more of a “tengo famiglia” type, then a die-hard Berlusconiano. I like to think that he's ashamed of himself, now.

So, I have a dream. That next time, Di Giannatonio or another lackey-type journalist in his position stops reading the news, stares at the camera, says that he's tired of having to lie in order to work, rips up his notes, tell the audience to wake up, and walks away in disgust. Showing some backbone would probably cost him his salary, but he would become a national hero for millions. I suspect some colleagues could follow. And then things would turn interesting.