Italy Fascism Watch.

Italy seems to be running back down the road to fascism. Very sad for a country that has given us the Renaissance and pepperoni.

With the voting in of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in April, things are looking worse and worse, with the government scapegoating gypsies and immigrants for rising crime, which may or may not be imaginary. Recently, there have been stories of government-sponsored violence against gypsies (including entire camps being burnt to the ground), and the government continues to whip up nationalistic fervor against immigrants.

Now, machine gun-toting soldiers are patrolling major cities because of "public demand." This does not look good. From the BBC News article:

Defence Minister Ignazio La Russa said that after six months the government would "make an evaluation to see whether it has worked and should be extended to other cities".

''This is not a militarisation of cities but a clear response to the perceived demand for greater security," he said last week.

Right-wing Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi swept to power in April's election on a tough law-and-order platform, promising new measures to curb illegal immigration and combat crime.

But his government has also been accused of whipping up a xenophobic mood against the illegal immigrants it blames for much of the serious street crime in Italian cities.

Ministers say they are simply responding to Italians' fears. A recent study showed that Italians have never before been so worried about their vulnerability to crime.

Some critical of the Bush Administration have noted that the U.S. has fulfilled the 14 Points of Fascism over the past 8 years, but Italy's growing militarization of its cities is something else entirely and very sinister. We here at Coozer Central (read: me and my cat) will keep an eye on these developments.

One final point: Isn't it interesting that the countries who have had the most people migrating to other countries (Italy, Ireland) have the harshest and tightest immigration laws themselves?