life without a plot

Some people seem to think that their time is coming and that they can come back from their holes into the light. In Italy, yesterday, a leading member of Berlusconi's party list in the coming elections - the builder and publisher Ciarrapico, candidate for Rome and Lazio - declared himself an "unrepentant Fascist". Fortunately I can say that the reaction has been bipartisan rage: both Fini, Berlusconi's ex-Fascist ally, and Bossi, head of the Northern League, have publicly attacked Ciarrapico, and several other members of his party have joined the left coalition in condemning him unreservedly. The worst thing, though, is that Berlusconi himself seemed to think nothing of the whole thing, and indeed that according to rumour he had himself recruited Ciarrapico to head the Rome list. Which shows that the old suspicions about Berlusconi and his peculiar notions of democracy are probably well founded. At least, however, even his own party and his allies have explained the facts of life to him - this time, at least.