Lo Zombie politico

What is it about Silvio Berlusconi and Italy?  The former prime minister, leader of one of the country's two largest political parties, and member of the Senate, has been convicted of tax fraud.  Finally, it's an unappealable conviction.  Meanwhile, he faces charges in at least two other proceedings.  One involves buying votes and the other underage prostitution.  Political commentators repeatedly point out that in any other Western democracy he'd be gone; he'd have quietly disappeared to Arcore, his villa near Milan, to spend more time with his family and maybe his football club, A.C. Milan (which could use some help at the moment).  Instead, like some political zombi, he's still very much a part of the scene, showing his fangs most days on the front page of most newspapers.

Tim Parks has a good piece (subscription required for full access) in a recent (maybe the latest) New York Review that talks about all of this.  Parks is originally from England, but lives in Italy, is married to an Italian woman, and they have been raising their family there.  Still, it sounds like he might be losing patience.  Describing recent media coverage, he says that "it was almost unheard of for anyone to suggest that regardless of moral concern or the desire to uphold the rule of law, Berlusconi simply cannot be of any use to his country politically . . ."  He also has some interesting things to say about the country's "vocation for factionalism."

I don't live there.  I'm in Washington, D.C., several thousand miles and six time zones away.  I've never had to struggle through the glue-y bureaucracy or been required to ally with an influential patron to protect my job and career, things which Parks (and others) see as a normal part of Italian society.  So why do I care that the country finds it so hard to address, let alone deal with, its collective problems, things like youth unemployment, the environment, and, of course, organized crime?

I'm not sure.  I'm not Italian-American and, so far as I know, I don't have any Italian ancestors.  The one's I'm aware of are all from further north -- Germany, Ireland, and Scotland, in particular.  But I have Italian friends and I've gotten to know some of their teenage children.  And this, I think, is the emotional connection.  These are remarkable kids with enormous talent and so much promise.  They deserve a better country.  They could contribute so much, but they're likely to leave and make their contributions elsewhere -- in England, in Australia, or, if we're lucky, the U.S.  There are other reasons to care about Italian politics, but right now that's probably the most important.