"Do less medicals, just drop your books and do more gymnastics, dedicate yourself to equestrian...

[NNadir]

...sport!"

I was surfing the internet for some historical punctilios, and stumbled upon the execution of Mussolini, whose dead body was famously hung upside down in 1945 in Milan after his execution, with his mistress, by Italian partisans.

Looking at the photograph, I noticed three other bodies, and decided to find out who they were.

One of them was Achille Starace, who was a prominent fascist in the Mussolini regime, and who was responsible for propaganda.

He is recorded as one of the most stupid people in history. From his Wikipedia page:

Starace was one of the main objects of political satire and popular jokes under fascism. The citations of his sayings are innumerable, and the majority of them, if separated for a moment from the tragic historical circumstances of their origin, are quite sufficient to demonstrate that Starace had moved away from practical sense in his pursuit of a path for propaganda for the regime:...

...On one occasion he had to preside officially at a high-level medical symposium, but, much to the displeasure of the participants, turned up one hour late for the opening address, explaining that he had been on his daily hour of horse riding. Far from offering excuses to the infuriated audience, he sharply cut short the protests with a famous phrase: "do less medicals, just drop your books and do more gymnastics, dedicate yourself to equestrian sports" (datevi all'ippica in Italian). The motto stuck and in the 21st century Datevi all'ippica still is a proverbial catchphrase to tell someone that he is incompetent and should try his hand at some unskilled job.

It seems relevant to discussions in the United States in 2020 somehow.

[Kingfisher86]

1. "History does not repeat itself, but it rhymes" - Mark Twain

[NNadir]

3. I very much like that quote, and will try to keep it in mind. Thanks. n/t

[GoCubsGo]

2. If you want to see even more similarities, look at some of the video clips of Mussolini.

They'll look quite familiar.

[sop]

5. Both are rather operatic in their villainy.

[hatrack]

4. "Datevi all'ippica" . . . . "Try something new!"

Fitting.

[NNadir]

6. Milan is the fashion capital of the world, and probably welcomes merchants for Chinese handbags...

...to comment on matters of State, or, maybe not.

It is odd, that inverted bodies hung in the center of a city should end up being a symbol of justice and hope, but they are.

The literal translation of "Datevi all'ippica" according to Google translator is "give yourself to horse racing," but I'll check with my son who speaks passable Italian.

Trump and his ditsy daughter make Silvio Berlusconi appear to be a real stable genius by comparison, not a mean trick.

The idea that corrupt right wing millionaires make good leaders played out in Italy before it played out here. Rule by wealth is destroying the world, very quickly.