Silvio Berlusconi to step down.

[Locut0s]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-15646536

I'll believe it when I see it. The guy is a little short of a mob boss, in fact his connections to the mafia are fairly well known. Though ironically from what I understand he's probably still by far Italy's most successful politician, before him the office of the prime minister was something of a revolving door with most serving 1-2 year terms or less

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Prime_Ministers_of_Italy

Course the real question is if Italy can survive economically at all. Things don't look too good. I know nothing of the economy but seems to me that being Europe's 3rd largest economy and with cracks in other major European economies, that if Italy is forced to seek help then all of the EU is going to be in serious trouble, Germany can't hold the whole thing up. And if the EU seriously stumbles I'm guessing we are back to a serious global recession, a la 2008.

 

[bfdd]

The French should get Sarkozy to go with him. Dirt bags should stick together.

 

[HomerJS]

In other BREAKING NEWS

Herman Cain moving to Italy to run for Prime Minister.

 

[peonyu]

Good ! Hes a racist to, he once complained that Italy has to many Black Africans moving there from Africa, and he felt that it made the cities that they lived in "non European" and drove the crime rate up.

 

[Schadenfroh]

He can now switch to being an international playboy full-time.

 

[CrackRabbit]

He can now switch to being an international playboy full-time.

Wait, wasn't he doing that anyways?

 

[Craig234]

I'm not sure 'step down' is possible in his case. Leave office, yes.

 

[Farang]

Good ! Hes a racist to, he once complained that Italy has to many Black Africans moving there from Africa, and he felt that it made the cities that they lived in "non European" and drove the crime rate up.

Based on my experience in Italy, I wonder if this isn't the truth?

 

[Locut0s]

Based on my experience in Italy, I wonder if this isn't the truth?

Well to make my view clear I have absolutely no problem with most immigration, even most illegal immigration. But my experience with Italy is that it had fewer immigrants and black immigrants specifically, than some other European countries, especially France.

 

[Munky]

So in other words, Europe is not fixed, Greece is not fixed, and Italy is not fixed. Next up, Euro bureaucrats deny there's a problem until the Portugal or Spain end up in the same hole.

 

[ReggieDunlap]

I live here in Italy. I got here when the guy Prodi was PM and the communisti were running the govt. People were NOT happy. That's why Silvio got in. The reason he's out know is cause his political enemies were finally able to pin his non political "activities" to his political persona and so know he's lost his internal support.

Im not looking forward to how things are going to go here.

BTW: Immigration. Right now Italy is learning what the US did years ago. When you have no true immigration laws, people will flock to get in. the problem here in Italy is they wind up being supported by the govt (subsidized housing and assistance etc). The kicker is, Tunisia, where many who wind up in Lampedusa come from, was a French territory at one point and yet Sarkozy had the balls to say "They're not coming HERE!!"

 

[Ninjahedge]

Doesn't Silvio own many companies that have government contracts?

Sometimes stepping down as "leader" does not really mean you are gone.

 

[peonyu]

Based on my experience in Italy, I wonder if this isn't the truth?

If there is increased crime from the Black-Italian community then it is because of racism. Hell, even the [former] PM has gone on record complaining about the new Italians, who just so happen to be black. If racism is that bad at the top of Italian society it has to be worse at the bottom of it. And the Black-Italians surely feel the effect of it and that often leads to higher levels of crime since they are denied jobs due to racism.

Simple cause and effect in action.

Italians need to stop being racists, racism is so Mussolini'ish and should have ended with him in Italy.

 

[Ninjahedge]

peon,

The increase in crime IS probably due to the immigrants, but due to their economic status, not their race.

But, people find it a lot easier to group people by ethnicity than by socioeconomic background. Not to say they CAN'T (eg "white trash").

So if a bunch of "newbies" are coming in, people feel threatened. If they are all from one country, they type-cast them. If crime goes up (because of them or not) they will be blamed. Sad and simple.

 

[AnitaPeterson]

I saw the news yesterday... best thing I read all day.

Of course, it remains to be seen whether he'll keep his promise, and who will replace him.

A great step forward for Italy, anyway. That damned con artist has shamed the entire country with his antics. He's like a Mediterranean Rupert Murdoch who succeeded to get the highest political seat in Italy. Douchebag^2.

 

[Craig234]

I live here in Italy. I got here when the guy Prodi was PM and the communisti were running the govt. People were NOT happy. That's why Silvio got in. The reason he's out know is cause his political enemies were finally able to pin his non political "activities" to his political persona and so know he's lost his internal support.

Im not looking forward to how things are going to go here.

BTW: Immigration. Right now Italy is learning what the US did years ago. When you have no true immigration laws, people will flock to get in. the problem here in Italy is they wind up being supported by the govt (subsidized housing and assistance etc). The kicker is, Tunisia, where many who wind up in Lampedusa come from, was a French territory at one point and yet Sarkozy had the balls to say "They're not coming HERE!!"

It's funny, the US wanted to keep 'communisti' from being elected in Italy so badly after WWII that the CIA worked with the mafia to interfere in the elections.

Not a proud moment in our history IMO. Lot of bad connections made that continued into a CIA-mafia alliance into the 1960's.

When has Italy had 'good government'? Even when 'the trains ran on time', the price was fascism (invented in Italy).