It is useless to claim, for a person of depth, that one avoids politics because it leads nowhere. But, alas, it must be said. Because, after a brief period in the wilderness, Silvio Berlusconi is back.
This recent victory, at the head of the Party of Liberty, prompted a question: how is it possible that a liar and a cheat should be a politician, nay, become president? For which there is no answer, because the proposition is wrongly phrased. It is not in fact a question, but a statement: it is only possible to become a politician if one is in fact a liar and a cheat.
And to become president, one must be a very good liar and cheat, particularly in a country such as Italy where there are, by the last count, some 500,000 or so politicians and political dependents all on state stipends and all of whom it is very difficult to get rid of. They cling to power with all the ardour of the proverbial steaming pile of manure that clingeth to the ass’s tail, accompanied by a retinue of eager flies, the would-be political hopefuls.
To say that all politicians are liars, cheats and thieves is like saying all hands are hands. It is an evident tautology. So, the only reasonable statement that would not be considered a triviality is to say that there are only two types of liars, cheats and thieves: left wing and right wing.