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Doesn't the fact that he still has a 50% popularity rating make the closing assertion appear a bit dubious?
Nope. Italy is very conservative (especially the South, sometimes seems like the Pope is the ruler instead of the Prime Minister) and Berlusconi is all for family values and Catholic morality, yet he's very popular...and not among lefties, trust me.
Nope. Italy is very conservative (especially the South, sometimes seems like the Pope is the ruler instead of the Prime Minister) and Berlusconi is all for family values and Catholic morality, yet he's very popular...and not among lefties, trust me.
The Vatican's not too happy with him last time I checked. One source indicates they were willing to accept his sexual proclivities, but were unhappy his paper was attacking a Catholic paper.
Nope. Italy is very conservative (especially the South, sometimes seems like the Pope is the ruler instead of the Prime Minister) and Berlusconi is all for family values and Catholic morality, yet he's very popular...and not among lefties, trust me.
I don't live in Italy, but I do live in an historically Catholic country in southern Europe, and I do have Italian friends, but they do not see the power of the church in Italy as you apparently do.
To me it sounds as if you are conflating Catholic religiosity and morality with "conservative." Along with the former, and sometimes coterminous with it, there is a traditional conservative worldview that is not that of the church even though by modern standards it is certainly conservative. And this worldview allows very wide latitude for male promiscuity, regardless of the orthodox Catholic moral teachings.
This gives males a massive amount of wiggle room, to put it mildly, in the face of what traditional Catholic morality may say.
I was having a discussion on Friday with a woman in my country who commented that despite the acceptance of many of the values associated with Feminism, that this traditional allowance for male promiscuity still existed widely, and was still acommodated (or ignored) by many younger women.
Americans (which is not to say that you are one) with their tendency to see the world in terms of black and white rush to blame and punishment far more rapidly than do many other nations around the world. But while many of my European friends thought Clinton's shenanigans with Monica were immoral, but even more - stupidly handled, they nevertheless were fascinated at the extent of the hullabaloo and posturing that it generated.
What may work as badly for Berlusconi as church disapproval, is Feminism...or vocal women expressing those values, this plays better in the press nowadays than fat old men in red dresses and lace.
I lived in Italy for a long time. I did not notice that it is a Catholic country.
I noticed that there are some Catholics in Italy, as there are in some other countries, but that the Pope and other upper level Church managers do receive a disproportional amount of broadcast time. It is also helpful to remember that the Vatican is a sovereign country and it has specific treaty arrangements with Italy.
If ten percent, say, of a country's electorate is Catholic, or of some other group, it makes sense for politicians, in any country with close election results, to pay at least some lip-service to such group because even a portion of that ten percent can be a enough to swing the result.
The editor of the so-called Catholic paper was also involved in some wrongdoing, probably too petty to mention, and he resigned. Berlusconi has not resigned.
It is rare in Europe, unlike in the US, for journalists to pry deeply into politician's private lives, and this latest attempt is not sticking in Italy; on the contrary, many young males probably consider Berlusconi even more of a hero.
More seriously, the problem in Italy - and the advantage for Berlusconi - is that the opposition, or what is left of it, is uninspiring and has no credibility, and at least Berlusconi inspires something, however superficial.
Berlusconi would never have made it to top political positions in the US, but if he were in the White House at the very least the food would be a lot better.
Americans (which is not to say that you are one) with their tendency to see the world in terms of black and white rush to blame and punishment far more rapidly than do many other nations around the world. But while many of my European friends thought Clinton's shenanigans with Monica were immoral, but even more - stupidly handled, they nevertheless were fascinated at the extent of the hullabaloo and posturing that it generated.
America certainly has its share of self-appointed moral crusaders, but I think the level of 'hullabaloo and posturing' in the Clinton-Lewinsky affair had a lot more to do with the fact that in a two-party system (especially as it stands right now, ~50/50) that the opposing side will, as a block, pick at anything wrong with the other side. thus you will have 180,000,000 Americans waiting for the leader of 'the other side' to make any mistake, legal, political, or moral, and treat it as if it were the act to end the world.
Can you imagine the pics from Villa Certosa being taken in Martha's Vineyard or Camp David instead? And the guy still having 50%+ popularity rate?
And this considering that Italy is more conservative than the USA
What if Berlusconi was President of USA?
He would be one of Hugh Hefner friends for sure.
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