I just can't get enough:
Italian PM Berlusconi tells Obama he's being persecuted
- Thread starter DarthTom
- Start date
Yeah, I wasn't going to mention Mussolini, what with him being a dictator and everything, but when I checked Wikipedia to see if I was right about Berlusconi it said that he was second place after Mussolini, so I just threw that in there to be thorough.
I'm confused.
Were those 8 years successive but counted as 7 different terms because of reshuffles, or were they cumulative and he was in power for one year, then out for the next, then back again... and so on?Screw it, Italy needs FPTP, that will fix everything.
Imagine how we feel...I'm confused.
(I'll leave the historical research and explanation to Emilia because I am lazy and lack the will to delve into wiki, I mean, into my contemporary history books.)
Italy and the UK should swap electoral systems, to taste each other's medicine...Screw it, Italy needs FPTP, that will fix everything.
Pah! You should all adopt our great electoral system.
Hehe.
I just can't get enough:
Hehe.
It will probably be dimissed because it's in a left leaning newspaper but the latest polls have the popularity of Berlusconi and his government well down. The government's standing is at 23% and the P.M's at 29%.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/06/16/3244980.htm?section=justin
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/06/16/3244980.htm?section=justin
That's encouraging, but whenever the next election come, his propaganda machine will be set in full power, and that is bound to influence people (stupid people, but still).
Owning and/or influencing more than 70% of tv channels, a few newspapers, and having 100x the funds of the opposition for the campaign... well, that's not easy to overcome.
Still, while there is life, there is hope.
Owning and/or influencing more than 70% of tv channels, a few newspapers, and having 100x the funds of the opposition for the campaign... well, that's not easy to overcome.
Still, while there is life, there is hope.
The Spiegel claimed that it's the end of Berlusconi's reign but I, too, remain skeptical. And why don't you know when the next elections will be? I always though you had fixed terms (theoretically ).
).
Lulz. Theoretically, as you say, legislatures should last 5 years, but in the history of the Republic only a few legislatures ever lasted their full term. (Legislature were usually dissolved due to the impossibility of forming a government with the support of the majority of both Houses due to shifting of alliances or other reasons.)
So, yeah, elections can happen any time really.
So, yeah, elections can happen any time really.
You had Bill Clinton, but you insisted in impeaching him for lying under oath instead of buying him a beer. You can't complain now!
Pardon..the House of Representatives impeached him..with support of less than 40% of the electorate...
So I didn't impeach him..nor did most of my fellow voters..
It was seen as a distraction from Congress doing what it was supposed to do... and eventually cost Newt Gingrich any chance of the Presidency..(Like Chappaquiddick for Ted Kennedy)
I'm confused.
Successive but counted as different terms because of reshuffles.
The reigning parties were always arguing internally and among each other. Elections could change the balance of power inside a party favouring one or the other faction.
I was tempted to write a little essay there but then I remembered that I came home at around 4am last night. I can barely type.
Pah! You should all adopt our great electoral system.
Certainly a good idea. Best of both worlds.
Never! The nerd in me enjoys ranking things too much, and election counts that last two or three days.Pah! You should all adopt our great electoral system.
Actually, your electoral madness has crept into some of the state electoral systems here. It's not STV but it also involves ranking candidates on lists and sometimes makes it necessary to have a small ballot booklet instead of a ballot paper. In the latter case (in Bremen), it really took days before the final results were known. Not that anyone cared about them in the first place.
Are you still a member of that group in your user CP?
Sorry for the bump but it seems old Silvio's managed to win a confidence motion.
Bit of a cheat though because the government piggy backed on an economic growth bill but it could be a short term victory as next up is a test of his number in the chamber and then a few weeks down the track, the budget.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/06/22/3250208.htm?section=justin
Bit of a cheat though because the government piggy backed on an economic growth bill but it could be a short term victory as next up is a test of his number in the chamber and then a few weeks down the track, the budget.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/06/22/3250208.htm?section=justin
Well, today it was just a warming up vote, the big one (formally asked by the President of the Republic to see if there still a majority in Parliament) will be tomorrow.
But I don't expect anything significant out of it: people who were willing to be bought are bought already, and the Lega Nord (junior partner in the governing coalition) showed some teeth but in the end fell pretty fast in line with the government. So the majority in Parliament will probably be small but significant enough for Berlusconi to survive for a while.
Oh well.
But I don't expect anything significant out of it: people who were willing to be bought are bought already, and the Lega Nord (junior partner in the governing coalition) showed some teeth but in the end fell pretty fast in line with the government. So the majority in Parliament will probably be small but significant enough for Berlusconi to survive for a while.
Oh well.