FIFTH COLUMN

Once upon a time, Montecitorio was the antechamber of the Quirinale. Saragat, Gronchi, Leone, Pertini, Napolitano, before becoming presidents of the Republic, were presidents of the Chamber. Then, at some point, we entered the era of the Camera Obscura. That is, the curse of Montecitorio's presidency: whoever became president then disappeared from the political scene or ended up on the margins. It was like this for many, from Violante to Bertinotti, from Pivetti to Casini to Fini, now at Boldrini. And the same thing basically goes for Palazzo Madama.
But there is one additional curse which now captures the latest presidents: they contract a disease that I would define as omnipresidency delusion, institutional variant of the delusion of omnipotence. And they start to freak out, to cross over from a presidency of the Chamber to a presidency of the council up to touching the presidency of the republic, they all regularly throw themselves to the left of the left, receiving the applause of encouragement from the Grossi Giornali which is always a viaticum of bad omen. And after the parable of glory and cotillons they sink.

To stay last, it was like that for Finish, it was like that for the Boldrini, it's like this for Fico. They believe they are invested with who knows what special charisma, they feel above the parties, and they start engaging in politics on their own and teasing those who govern, even if it's from the same side as him, sent him to the House and elected him to the Presidency. There is little to say about Fico and not only because he has recently become president, but because the euphemism we use about it is not much, not to say Nothing. But in that little-nothing he demonstrated, it has already revealed itself to be what it is: the grotesque caricature of the old leftism; eco-pacifist, late anti-fascist, pro-migrants, stay-permissive. In short, an old firecracker from '68 that remained unexploded, like the mines of the world war. But the effect of its explosion is nothing dramatic, it just produces a little numbness, as you can clearly see. If I think that the first president of the Chamber when Parliament was still in Turin and it was not yet an Italian state, fu Vincenzo Gioberti, great philosopher, great Risorgimento spirit and great Catholic, then I see Fico and understand that Darwin must be read backwards... In the sense of the involution of the species, naturally, not of the advent of the monkeys.
Faced with the spectacle of that disheartening triptych we found ourselves at the helm of the Chamber, I have cultivated an indecent nostalgia. Not the abolition of the Chamber, as one might sometimes ask. But a return to the past. Show us the communists. To the presidency of the Chamber, naturally. I miss Ingrao and Jotti, of Violante and Bertinotti, perhaps even Napolitano, at least when he was in Montecitorio and not in the Botteghe scure or the Quirinale. At the helm of Montecitorio they maintained a style and dignity, they did not overflow, they didn't get drunk, they guaranteed a majority and opposition, they knew how to follow the rules. I would have also seen Pajetta or Berlinguer, to stay in the front rows... I would never have wanted them in government, and diocenescapes from the communists in power, now and always. But they were preferable to leading the Parliament, they had a political culture and a history behind them, they had civilized ways despite the hammer and sickle, they were intelligent and realistic.
Now there is even talk of aNeapolitan Alliance between Fico and De Magistris, the Vesuvian mayor. It would be about getting rid of one Giggino and putting in another, but remaining in Neapolitan. It would be a winning ticket, in the sense of Totò and Peppino…
But, if I were in charge of the secret services I would carry out a thorough investigation into Montecitorio. To see if they have planted some virus in some bug that hits the presidential tenants in the brains...
MV, The weather 3 December 2018
SOURCE: http://www.marcelloveneziani.com/articoli/la-maledizione-di-montecitorio/