Apparently, Francesco Rutelli, the present Italian Cultural Affairs minister, once replaced the Italian flag which flew at Palazzo Montecitorio with that of the Vatican. I have not been able to discover in exactly which year Rutelli did this mischievous act, but it was interesting to hear about it from my former wannabe Italian politician student.
At the time of this act, which was a direct protest against the influence that the Vatican exerts on Italian politics, Francesco Rutelli was a member of a radical political party. In another radical incident, he also spent a short time behind bars after having very publicly smoked a joint, which he inhaled.
Alas it now seems that the formerly radical Rutelli has become absorbed into the repetitive instability that is mainstream politics in the Living Museum, and it is highly doubtful that he will carry out such an overt protest ever again. I suppose you could say that Rutelli has fallen upwards.
Actually, I understand that Rutelli is proposing himself as a candidate for Walter Veltroni’s former post, that of Mayor of the Eternal City. Interestingly, Rutelli has already been the Mayor of Rome, and preceded Veltroni.
In a country which regularly shies away from the new, the regurgitated Rutelli may well be in with a pretty good chance of being elected Mayor of Rome yet again.
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“I suppose you could say that Rutelli has fallen upwards.”
I would say he’s sold his soul to the devil – can’t fall much further downwards than that.
Rutelli, who used to stand for civil rights, human rights, EQUAL rights has gone belly up on his quest to kiss every powerful ass in Montecitorio. As with any successful politician anywhere, the main goal is personal gain. All else is secondary.
Regarding Veltroni, let’s not forget that he, too, is a retread. He’s far from the new kid on the block – I’d say he’s as old news as most of the others.
And speaking of retreads, I’m glad to see that Hillary’s success isn’t as much of a cakewalk as she expected it to be!
Gege’
“I suppose you could say that Rutelli has fallen upwards.”
This was an ironic dig at the fact that the higher up you get into Italian politics, the worse a politician becomes at representing the interests of the people. Like Rutelli, as you have highlighted.
As for Veltroni, I’m still getting messages that,as you put it, very nicely, I might add, he is a retread. I prefer the term ‘regurgitated’, but both are the same ideas. ie nothing new.
Hillary is an odd case – new, but playing on the reputation of her hubby (not sure why….).
Obama, on the other hand, is totally new in many ways, and he may well over boring Hillary. I hope so.
All the best,
Alex
ACK! My irony-meter must have been off! Sorry!
Hillary is using her and her husband’s history in the White House to try and get people to believe that if they elect her she’ll be ready to go, chiavi in mano, the day after her inauguration. Why? Because they (mostly she, I suspect) is interested in one thing and one thing only: advance of the Clinton Cause. Which is to say, money and power. She is as false as the day is long.
Obama has surrounded himself with too many conservative homophobes for my taste, and this makes me very nervous.
Hey – by the way, have you seen the show, The Italian Job, on La7? It’s fascinating, really uncovers a lot of the bullshit that bombards us day in and day out.
Hi Gege’
Don’t worry about your irony meter, my sense of irony can be a little difficult to get sometimes!
As for the US thing, yes, I guess I knew Hilary was trying to form a new Kennedy-Bush political dynasty. These US dynasties are a little almost like an attempt to create a form of new nobility… Very European.
As for Obama and his homophobes, well, to an extent I guess that is inevitable – the US is IMHO just not ready for a truly tolerant progressive leader yet, even if Obama is something of a step forward and could become the first black president of the US – but this may worry many in the WASPish US, I fear.
Moving back to the homophobe thing, In general homosexuality is still not ‘acceptable’ in the eyes of the masses, although small steps are being made in the right direction.
One cannot help what one is and there is no reason why one should be persecuted for it, as long as you are not psychopathic or something that harms society, that is. As I’ve said before, I challenge anyone to identify the heart from a gay when placed next to the heart of a hetro, or a black person etc.
We are all humans, we share the same planet. And then there are the teachings of the bible, not that I am religious, which state that God’s love is unconditional, and this alone should promote tolerance. But it does not.
Let’s hope that if Obama does manage to get somewhere, his ‘reign’ leads to more tolerance, not only Stateside, but everywhere.
All the best,
Alex
Now that’s something I would never have accused the Clintons of… being CONTINENTAL! Ha!
What worries me about Obama and his ‘phobes is that he presents himself as an all-encompassing progressive type, when he’s really not. I would much prefer honesty and transparency (remember them?) to two-faced lies and kissing the electorates’ ass for votes. As for his at least being the first black president, this line of thought (along with Hillary’s “at least she’d be the first woman president”) infuriates me. Don’t you think we should at least wait to get a DECENT woman or black person for the job? Any one won’t do.
My other half and I were discussing tolerance just this morning – in reference to Anna Tatangela’s song at San Remo. That’s a word that neither of us tolerate. We’re holding out for acceptance. Tolerate is what you do when there’s a fly in the room that annoying the hell out of you but can’t seem to kill it. Accept is what you do when you just let the fly do its thing since you know its presence doesn’t really affect you anyway.
And by the way, even though it’s waaay off topic, congratulations go to Tatangelo and D’Alessio (neither of whom I am a fan of, musically or politically) for doing, for the first time, the right thing in such a public arena. People will say that San Remo is not the place for it… if that’s so, then it’s not the place for so many other songs that have addressed social issues on that stage over the years. COMPLIMENTI ANNA E GIGI!
Gege’
Apologies for not having replied sooner.
“I would much prefer honesty and transparency (remember them?) to two-faced lies and kissing the electorates’ ass for votes.”
Yep, I would love this too, but politicians have never been famous for this, ever.
As for Hilary – well she’s just power hungry and is attempting to feed off her hubby’s reputation (not that I thought he had such a great reputation…. very odd)
As for the tolerance thing, you are both right (loved the fly analogy!). Acceptance is the goal, but tolerance is at least a few more steps down the road, and, hopefully, a little closer to the destination.
As for the Tatangelo and D’Alessio at San Remo thing – I did not see it – I’ll have a hunt around the www to see what I can dig up.
All the best.
Hope you had a good weekend,
Alex