The tribunal of Naples gave its sentence yesterday on the buying of a senator by Berlusconi. It barely made the news, and this morning didnt even make the front pages. Berlo has been sentenced to 3 years for paying 3 million euros to De Gregorio to cross the floor and join Forza Italia leading to Prodi not having a majority in the house and therefore early elections. ‘Its just a political sentence to denigrate my legacy’ pronounced the ancient one. This raises a couple of questions. 1) a political sentence^ YEs, because this is the first time we have a sentence that doesnt involve what Silvio gets up to in his bunga bunga room, or what he does with his private companies. This is about what he did to denigrate a democracy. Of all the squalid man’s brushes with the law, this is the most important – as it shows in all his malevolent hypocrisy that he could buy government. 2) Legacy? There isnt one, thank goodness, merely 15 wasted years. Of course being Italy the fact that he is guilty means nothing, as by November the crime will have reached the terms of prescription and be archived. So a small victory for public morals, and thats about it. Tomorrow the senile one will be a witness in Bari in the court case against Walter lavitola – who procured the protstitutes for Silvio’s parties and then blackmailed him. Dont expect any groundbreaking admissions on this one – the dinners were all IN THE BEST POSSSSSSIBLE TASTE.
Tomorrow is also a red letter day in Italy. The 10th of July marks the day when most workers begin to earn for themselves. From the 1 of theyear till tomorrow, they work hard to fund the state. For the self employed this heady date is only reached in mid September. That is Berlusconi’s legacy.
