Berlusconi and Bush--Messianic Leaders?

[Mrs. Overall]

I heard a story on NPR this morning that was disturbing regarding Berlusconi celebrating his tenth anniversary in politics. This past weekend he had a rally in which he read tributes about himself supposedly written by others (like a Jesuit priest). Italians were interviewed after the rally and some were crying and saying things like, "he is chosen by God to lead us," "he is superhuman," "he is guided by the hand of God," "he is appointed by God."

I've heard this same emotional response (well, not crying) when certain republicans speak of bush. He uses the God rhetoric himself.

It seems strange to hear EU and US leaders throwing words around that imply that they are divinely chosen.

This seems very, very dangerous territory to me. Do you think this has just always been around and we are just more sensitive to it these days?

[trigz]

1. Consider the linguistic factors. And Italian upper-class wankers

Berlusconi's wacky ego is as well-known as his using the traditional religious conservatism inherent in the south of Italy together with the influence of the industrial north to win votes at both ends of the country. A lot of conservative Italians are happy as long as

(a) the left (ie 'L'Ulivo', the opposition coalition which isn't left at all, but that's another story) staying out of power

(b) Berlusconi sees out his huge fiscal reforms and wholesale privatisation of the public sector to finance it, meaning that the upper middle classes will pay gradually less tax (keep the individual opportunistm traditions of the Italian mentality in mind) and

(c) the government consists of a self-professed 'deeply religious' coalition. Forza Italia (Berluska's party) and Alleanza Nazionale (the neo fascists) are the two major parties in the current government in Italy. They have the popular support of the religious leadership, as any extreme-right party professing to uphold family values and Church have always had.

Keep in mind, also, that the average member of the middle to upper-class segment in any society is thick as a plank. If this was something you saw on TV, you ought to keep close in mind also that Berlusconi's television empire actually covers a cool 95% of Italian television media (sic!). Hence, expecting any fair and balanced coverage in Italian TV is about as likely as the prospect of the interviewees being picked at random to voice their opinions on Berluska on national TV.

;)