There will be sardines in our political menu this winter
After a long hot summer of bold statements and unchecked untrue statements by our political leaders (… one in particular), the political menu changed suddenly and unexpectedly by four 20-somethings lads that had just enough of nastiness, hoax, fake news (they are called ”bufale” here, meaning ”female buffalo”), and plain racism;
IN SHORT
One flamboyant Minister whose campaign was based of bold statements like ”Italian first” (not that original, I’m sure you heard that before…), against the EU and those bureaucrats in Bruxelles (he had a seat at the EU parliament, but seldom bothered to go there to express his views), and the most popular slogans–with which he gained a 17% on last year elections, hence gaining the post of Minister of Interior–the migrants that stole our jobs!
Like all politicians he had a short and selective memory, but the wind was blowing favorably on his sails, and figuratively too, since he was very fond of Italian beaches, and parties, sporting a good tan to support his penchant.
In the dead of summer, refreshed by one-too-many mojitos, he announced that he is withdrawing his [party] confidence in the coalition government and asked for ”full powers!”
… A NEW MUSSOLINI
As I said politicians have short memories, but big egos! He forgot that his party only had a mere 17%; the leading party was the M5S with about 30%, and another, though not part of the coalition was the PD with about 24% (out of only a 75% of people that actually bothered to vote).
When a government looses the confidence, the Prime Minister must report to the President of the Republic to resign his post. However, the President can refuse such resignation (already done many, many times before in Italy. So not a novelty).
Indeed the President refused the resignations and asked the PM to form another government with the other two major parties, which together, would get the necessary +50% of parliamentary seats.
That came as a nasty surprise to our ”statesman-in-making”. So as soon as he recovered, he took to the streets and to the peopulace and called for high treason! (nevertheless!)
AND HERE COME THE FOUR
Tired of misinformation, fake news–whatever we want to call them–the useless rants on Twitter (yes we have that too), the call for hatred, the presumptuous and overconfident lies; our young friends spread a message via the internet with a sardine as a symbol that more or less said ”we don’t get hooked. ”
What seemed to be a one and only funny episode was quickly and enthusiastically imitated by all the other cities that were in the former minister campaigning agenda.
A GOOD CHANCE TO STAY SILENT
The ”former hero minister,” like it sometimes happens, lost a perfectly good chance to keep silent. He tried to respond with the same tune, and sent out tweets claiming his kitty will eat the sardines ”fried”!🥺🤨
Unfortunately, the four friends from Bologna, all with higher degrees than most of our leaders, are well read and smooth talkers, particularly one of them; Mattia.
They easily responded promptly and eloquently all political offensives, all along gaining popular support.
They asserted repeatedly that this movement is not tied to any political party, they are not siding with any political party, buy–as in the image below-they ask for solidarity, hospitality, respect, human rights, intelligence, non-violence, anti-fascism, … and happiness.
UBI MAJOR MINOR CESSAT
In Italy we say ”ubi major minor cessat”, meaning that when one meet an [intellectually] superior match, one must shut up! And this was a very clear example where silence would have done better.
Since then every weekend there are people meeting in our beautiful piazzas armed with drawings of sardines to call for a transparent politiical dimension, and to end falsehoods and nasty populist talks; in short ENOUGH!
There are Smaller gathering also in NYC, Washington, Amsterdam Belgium and other places where thee are italians working abroad to show their support.
Maybe the sardines are also going to catch up with all the other places in the world where there is a real need to say ENOUGH!
so many people of different backgrounds have come together, with different stories, with important differences to send a very clear message: it is time to change the political language.
Mattia
Life in Italy 
…for sardines, they do seem to have rather nice teeth. And, well, the nice-toothed leader certainly does seem to have a liking for oil (see his curriculum. The much more authentic sardines in Abruzzo, without quite such teeth and hair, and other places where near-shore drilling and rather oddly designed pipelines were and are of interest, are familiar with the leading fish.) It’s that I’m into, or ever have been, certain penguins at all, though I like the real ones a lot – it’s likely nearly impossible to remain unhappy with a penguin nearby. But, being Italian, you should know that those later – penguins of a kind – were the ones who placed in things like social security, maternity leave, weakened southern mafia, stream-lined bureaucracy and gave aid to, you know, re-build stuff after earthquakes and the like. It shouldn’t be that way, nor should sardines (see again curriculum. Prodi. As others, I was once a sort of fan. Then, well….I read excerpts of the treaties. And more. And more. Utterly nuts, or terribly mean, with predictable, predicted, and ongoing negative consequences. Perhaps you should inform yourself alittle. And if you haven’t, inform yourself a little on economics and history as well,) do things like, well, enter into a damaging union of permanent monetary without fiscal union, more so one with dramatic disparities in production, privatize or sponsor ‘friendly’ management of basically everything (you know, stuff like telecom italia…where italy would have been the first large nation with fiber, more than a decade in advance of others, and have a critical industry re-enforced, the main company wih little debt and good organic growth, instead of… giving it to brainless thieves (Colannino-brunelli)) People in the world, basically all of it, aren’t protesting for quite well-funded sardines but against the rampant injustice sponsored by the policies that at least these leading Italian sardines advocate, a dramatic shift in only 2 decades. Perhaps you don’t need to worry about such difficulties, but most do. And shame on those who attack without proposing – anything. Except… the sos.
LikeLike
I admit that it is a bit difficult to extra to your point from your intervention.
I did not mean to call into question CVs, Prodi, Colanino, Brunelli or any other.
I found the rise of sardines a funny Italian phenomenon, and that’s why I wrote the post. Not to discuss politics, or to take sides.
However, do not make assumptions on me, my information, my education, my line of work.
I hope I didn’t offend you. Mine was just a post on “Life in Italy”.
LikeLiked by 2 people
…no assumptions or presumptions, hence the qualificatory ‘perhaps’. Nor offended, though other places (la republica, tipo,) haven’t been serious sources of information for, well, more than a decade. (Sigh. how ruined I became with the WSJ in the 80’s and early 90’s. Depth, accuracy, knowledge… more in one day’s issue than in… maybe an entire year, today.) But regarding informing… yes, it is an intended phrase. I was a fan of Prodi and Italy’s entrance, surprisingly, into the union because of my flat-out presumptive ignorance and gullibility. (I don’t have and didn’t normally develop the motivation to… screw someone else willingly for gain, or enforce a personal dominance or self role of any represented mammilian social hierarchy pathway, so can’t fully appreciate what that actually means in others.) But nearly no one actually seems to sustain interest in things now a day, even though such things, ie the MES, or ocean acidification, etc. will have predictable consequences on them and others. One can only hope the models are so incomplete as to be incorrect. For the sardines… well, at least the protest against Sal et al … is it possible for someone who proposes Giorgetti as minister of the economy to have Italy’s and italian’s best interests at heart, or even at all? Sigh. Beware ugly of ugly, divorced men who sleep with a woman decades younger…
LikeLike
I’d prefer not to discuss politics here. Thank you.
LikeLiked by 1 person
In reality it is not us (the people), nor the sardines the job to “propose”. It is the job of those who were voted to govern (and are paid to do so), to PROPOSE and implement.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I meant “estrapolate” or understand your point …
LikeLike