Italy - A nation falls into the hands of NSC-style pollsters

[Lord Bracknell]

So ... Beppe Grillo's Five Star Movement wins a quarter of the seats in parliament, making it impossible to put together a government.

Who are these people? None of them have any political experience. And most of the candidates whose names were put forward for election were chosen by small-scale internet polling. It's not a great deal different from the classic NSC rigging of other people's polls - remember Vicky Peck, the fat girl that we thrust to the front of the Miss Scunny Bunny competition?

The people have spoken. Beppe Grillo, the comedian behind all this, didn't even bother to put his own name forward for election. The balance of power now lies in the hands of a bunch of people whose political message can best be summed up in one word ...

... Whatever.

 

[Titus]

Comedians in politics? Shirley Knot.

 

[User removed 4]

So ... Beppe Grillo's Five Star Movement wins a quarter of the seats in parliament, making it impossible to put together a government.

Who are these people? None of them have any political experience. And most of the candidates whose names were put forward for election were chosen by small-scale internet polling. It's not a great deal different from the classic NSC rigging of other people's polls - remember Vicky Peck, the fat girl that we thrust to the front of the Miss Scunny Bunny competition?

The people have spoken. Beppe Grillo, the comedian behind all this, didn't even bother to put his own name forward for election. The balance of power now lies in the hands of a bunch of people whose political message can best be summed up in one word ...

... Whatever.

Thats PR for you.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

They have comedians, the UK has clowns. Maybe it's a new style of politics we're seeing?

 

[Marshy]

Can they do a worse job though is the question.....

 

[Woodchip]

Is it any different to The Seagulls Party? How many people that stood actually had a political background? The difference is 5* have won a fair few seats.

 

[hart's shirt]

It's not a great deal different from the classic NSC rigging of other people's polls - remember Vicky Peck, the fat girl that we thrust to the front of the Miss Scunny Bunny competition?

No, but I do remember a Vicky Peck in the Miss Scunny Hunny competition.

Not Bunny Girl material...

 

[Westdene Seagull]

That's what happens when you have the EU force a government on a country - the people revolt at the earliest opportunity. Strange how the "leader" the EU put in place could only poll 10%

 

[Fitzcarraldo]

The people have spoken. Beppe Grillo, the comedian behind all this, didn't even bother to put his own name forward for election. The balance of power now lies in the hands of a bunch of people whose political message can best be summed up in one word ...

... Whatever.

Was this not because it would breaking one of his own policies of convicted criminals not being eligible for election to the Italian Parliament? That sounds like a sensible policy to me. Still, why bother letting the facts get in the way of a sweeping statement.

 

[Triggaaar]

It's not a great deal different from the classic NSC rigging of other people's polls - remember Vicky Peck, the fat girl that we thrust to the front of the Miss Scunny Bunny competition?

It's right in front of your nose and you still can't see it. NSC is one of several forums Darren is using to mount his charge to become the president of England. Under his plans Ireland will be unified, Scotland will have independence, Wales will be a county in England, and the royal family will be stripped of all power.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

Grillo's message to the politicians of Italy (from his blog, 20 February 2013):-

Give yourselves up! You are surrounded by the people of Italy. Come out with your hands up!. No one will touch you. Your time is up. Don’t meddle with luck that has been on your side until now.

Now when people are talking about things out in the streets, they talk about you in the past, as though you were extinct persons. When you appear on TV, you trigger off insults that are equivalent to the vilification of cadavers. What is astounding is your mad insistence in not stepping aside as though you were entrusted with a divine mission. There’s something pathological in that. Something that needs the intervention of a psychiatrist, but there’s also something sad, like the performance of an old man without a voice, and unsteady on his legs, playing the part designed for a young actor or like the song Memory performed by the decrepit Grizabella in Cats "Touch me/ It's so easy to leave me/ All alone with the memory/ or my days in the sun". The posters showing your faces in the streets seem like death announcements flapping in the wind with a bit of a colour touch up. You move around in the empty squares, in the theatres full of people with walk-on roles, in the TV studios interviewed by your employees, you enunciate promises that you will never be able to stick to, and you don’t intend to either. Of those who are close to you, no one has the courage to tell you that it is all over, that it’s gone badly and that from whatever point of view you could look at things, whether it’s economic, social, political, or administrative, you are done for.

The Italian people, as though they are being led by an animal instinct, feel they are at a fork in the road and that to keep going with you is suicide. They have forgiven you everything, way beyond anything that is decent. But now they cannot forgive you for the collapse of the nation. You have to realise that you you have to go before you are kicked out by popular anger. This is a bit of friendly advice: "Give yourselves up!" This twenty year period has been like a Vietnam war for the Italian people, but you still have the possibility of climbing aboard the helicopter like the Americans on the rooves of Saigon in 1975. You are terrified, beset by anxiety attacks at the thought of losing power, at the thought of someone rifling through your drawers trying to understand, to discover stuff and to denounce you. However I advise you to take one, two, three, or even a hundred steps back. Even if you were to win these elections, you will only have put off the change. You will last a year, perhaps less. Is it worth it? Make a public admission of guilt and ask the Italian people to pardon you.

Give yourselves up! Your very presence has become unbearable. The way you always brush off any responsibility, the way you puff up your feathers and start to issue threats like ruffians. The way you stalk the Italian people is way beyond anything that can be tolerated. Give yourselves up! You can’t say I haven’t warned you.

 

[The Merry Prankster]

Grillo's message to the politicians of Italy (from his blog, 20 February 2013):-

Give yourselves up! You are surrounded by the people of Italy. Come out with your hands up!. No one will touch you. Your time is up. Don’t meddle with luck that has been on your side until now.

Now when people are talking about things out in the streets, they talk about you in the past, as though you were extinct persons. When you appear on TV, you trigger off insults that are equivalent to the vilification of cadavers. What is astounding is your mad insistence in not stepping aside as though you were entrusted with a divine mission. There’s something pathological in that. Something that needs the intervention of a psychiatrist, but there’s also something sad, like the performance of an old man without a voice, and unsteady on his legs, playing the part designed for a young actor or like the song Memory performed by the decrepit Grizabella in Cats "Touch me/ It's so easy to leave me/ All alone with the memory/ or my days in the sun". The posters showing your faces in the streets seem like death announcements flapping in the wind with a bit of a colour touch up. You move around in the empty squares, in the theatres full of people with walk-on roles, in the TV studios interviewed by your employees, you enunciate promises that you will never be able to stick to, and you don’t intend to either. Of those who are close to you, no one has the courage to tell you that it is all over, that it’s gone badly and that from whatever point of view you could look at things, whether it’s economic, social, political, or administrative, you are done for.

The Italian people, as though they are being led by an animal instinct, feel they are at a fork in the road and that to keep going with you is suicide. They have forgiven you everything, way beyond anything that is decent. But now they cannot forgive you for the collapse of the nation. You have to realise that you you have to go before you are kicked out by popular anger. This is a bit of friendly advice: "Give yourselves up!" This twenty year period has been like a Vietnam war for the Italian people, but you still have the possibility of climbing aboard the helicopter like the Americans on the rooves of Saigon in 1975. You are terrified, beset by anxiety attacks at the thought of losing power, at the thought of someone rifling through your drawers trying to understand, to discover stuff and to denounce you. However I advise you to take one, two, three, or even a hundred steps back. Even if you were to win these elections, you will only have put off the change. You will last a year, perhaps less. Is it worth it? Make a public admission of guilt and ask the Italian people to pardon you.

Give yourselves up! Your very presence has become unbearable. The way you always brush off any responsibility, the way you puff up your feathers and start to issue threats like ruffians. The way you stalk the Italian people is way beyond anything that can be tolerated. Give yourselves up! You can’t say I haven’t warned you.

Difficult to fault. Destroy the old order, don't worry about what comes next. Something will arise from the ashes and who knows it may be better. We could do with a dose here instead of people voting for f***ing UKIP as their idea of a "protest".

 

[Jim D]

Seems like they're in the same position as the LibDems in 2010. They'll be courted by both other big parties - offered all sorts of incentives - but are likely to get squeezed out of their principles if they go in with either 'for the sake of stability'.

 

[Deleted member 22389]

That's what happens when you have the EU force a government on a country - the people revolt at the earliest opportunity. Strange how the "leader" the EU put in place could only poll 10%

Exactly. Relatives in Italy are sick of the Euro, they are sick of the rules and regulations. They are sick of everything else that has come with it.

 

[The Large One]

That's what happens when you have the EU force a government on a country - the people revolt at the earliest opportunity. Strange how the "leader" the EU put in place could only poll 10%

Italy? The noted hothouse of political stability?

The country where a group of eight pissed-up British lads could go on holiday and within three weeks form a government...?

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

Could this happen here with UKIP picking up the protest vote ?

 

[The Large One]

Could this happen here with UKIP picking up the protest vote ?

A couple of things -

1. UKIP's best chance of success would be via proportional representation
2. Until they can present themselves beyond their supposed single-issue remit, they'll only ever pick up - for the most part - disaffected Tory voters, not the wider electorate.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

Could this happen here with UKIP picking up the protest vote ?

The moVement started in Italy in 2007 - with no intention of winning parliamentary seats.

Roz and I stumbled across V-Day in Bologna when we were on holiday there in September 2007. It was massive. "V-Day" stands for Vaffanculo Day, btw. That was the clear message. I can't see Nigel Farage organising a "f*** Off Day" in Tunbridge Wells.

 

[Simster]

I love the fact that some poll has put normal people in power. In this country, people would vote for a cat if it was wearing the right coloured rosette and it has landed us with some truly incompetent MPs. (There are some superb MPs in this country but they get tarred by the same brush as the f*** witts)
It also highlights the fact that many people vote for personalities probably more so than their underlying message.

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

I can't see Nigel Farage organising a "f*** Off Day" in Tunbridge Wells.

He might have a better chance of success in Croydon