Berlusconi defends Fascist salute by Lazio footballer

[lovuian]

http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article334682.ece

Silvio Berlusconi, Italy's Prime Minister, sought to make light of the controversy over Paolo Di Canio's use of the Fascist salute at a football match on Sunday, saying the Lazio striker was simply an incorrigible exhibitionist.

The footballer flashed a straight-armed, flat-handed Roman salute to the crowd during Lazio's match against Livorno, earning him a €10,000 (£6,750) fine and a single-match ban.

snip...
The right-wing leader, often accused of dictatorial tendencies because of his control of much of Italian television, denied the 37-year-old's activities were a sign of residual Fascism.


snip...

Fascism in Italy was never a criminal doctrine. There were the racial laws, horrible, but because one wanted to win the war with Hitler," Mr Berlusconi told foreign journalists.
more...
Fascism isn't a crime!!!!!!!
and Berlusconi owns most of Italian TV... sounds so familiar... am I in Italy???

[Octafish]

1. Just in time for the holidays.

In 1944 France, the NAZIs machine-gunned my grandfather's best friend to death.

[Davis_X_Machina]

2. DiCanio is a real...

...Dr. Jeckyl/Mr. Hyde type.

From Wikipedia:

In the United Kingdom, Di Canio is famous for an incident on the pitch in 1998 where he pushed referee Paul Alcock to the ground after being sent off while playing for Sheffield Wednesday against Arsenal.

Same guy, three years later:

In 2001, he won the FIFA Fair Play award. The previous December, in a match against Everton, in an impressive display of sportsmanship, Di Canio shunned a clear goalscoring opportunity and instead picked the ball up while the Everton goalkeeper was lying injured on the ground. FIFA described the act as "a special act of good sportsmanship."

[Codeine]

3. I like Di Canio

and I just can't make sense of this whole situation. :shrug: He's hot-headed, but this is a step further than I'd ever have thought possible.

[JVS]

4. I don' follow his logic here

" "Fascism is finished, Communism continues," he snorted. Mussolini's era hadn't been so bad, he added, explaining that Fascist racial laws against Jews were only introduced to help the Axis war effort. "

How the hell do laws against Jews help win a war?

[Voltaire99]

5. Berlusconi funded an exhibition of fascist paintings earlier this year...

of which I'm reminded now by this story.

The Guardian ran a brilliant essay, "Rehabilitating Fascist Kitsch," on the work and its meaning to contemporary Italy under Berlusconi's heel.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/features/story/0,11710,1383351,00.html

[Javaman]

6. I bet Di Canio was making a statement...

Call me kooky but perhaps it was a dig at Berlusconi and HIS fascist ways.

Just my two cents.

[Endangered Specie]

7. Watch out Berlusconi,

remember what happened to Mussolini :evilgrin:

[CentralEuropeanDude]

8. Some photos ...

of Di Canio:

http://www.spiegel.de/sport/fussball/0,1518,grossbild-424466-391482,00.html
http://www.spiegel.de/sport/fussball/0,1518,grossbild-557099-391626,00.html

[lovuian]

9. OMG is that frightening...

It makes me sick to see it in arena with all those people...:hurts: