Two And Two Is Four
“God, Country, Family,” is the platform, or motto if you prefer, on which Giorgia Meloni swept to power in Italy. Of course, Meloni heads a coalition—a coalition of the political Right. Unabashedly so. I’m no expert on Italian politics and I’m quite sure we’ll be hearing much more about the significance of this election. For the EU there seems no doubt that this is a breakthrough. Also for Italy itself, which has in the post WW2 period been led by generally centre left governments, this resurgence of the political Right seems to be a societal breakthrough.
Zerohedge provides the projected outcome of the elections with discussion of the numbers that are emerging. The coalition of the Right, led by Meloni’s barely ten year old party, Brothers of Italy, will form a government with Matteo Salvini’s Lega and Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia. The coalition will dominate both houses of parliament:
In terms of politics, this is the challenge Meloni faces:
Italy’s electoral system, which strongly favors parties that run as part of a coalition, is expected to help the right to an ample majority in both houses of Parliament: with 228 votes in the Lower House and 115 seats in the Senate (according to SkyTG24), Meloni will have a majority as just 104 votes are required.
As the WSJ notes, the Italian election is "the first big test of the European Union’s political cohesion as it confronts Russia’s attempt to redraw the continent’s post-Cold War order. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s restriction of natural-gas deliveries has sparked an energy-price crunch that, combined with other inflationary pressures, is expected to push much of Europe into a recession this winter."
Meloni replaces former Goldman Sachs partner and ECB technocrat and globalist, Mario Draghi, and will be the country’s first female prime minister.
There’s a lot packed into those three brief paragraphs. The fact that the coalition will easily dominate parliament at least suggests—we await the input of experts on Italian politics—a more united and forceful government than has been usual in Italy. Events will tell. The replacement of “Super” Mario Draghi—”Goldman Sachs partner and ECB technocrat and globalist”—strongly suggests a sea change not only in Italian politics and governance but also within the EU.
Finally, the challenge of Russia is a challenge for Meloni personally. Her coalition partners, Salvini and Berlusconi, have enjoyed relatively warm relations with Putin and have also been identified with EU-skeptical positions. Meloni has been strongly pro-NATO and pro-Ukraine up till now and her position on the EU is, somewhat nuanced. Meloni will need to reach some form of accommodation with her coalition partners, and her position on Russia—which could prove crucial with winter approaching—will be an important part of that accommodation. It’s hard to believe that there haven’t been inner circle discussions already, since the coalition has been coasting toward this expected victory for the past several weeks.
According to Wikipedia
According to Meloni, FdI proposes a "confederal Europe of nations" as opposed to a federal Europe.
I’m not sure whether that qualifies Meloni as a Euroskeptic in practice. Certainly, Ursula von der Leyen’s reaction—we have tools to deal with you—suggests a fear that Meloni means what she says. The economic and energy crisis into which the EU is plunging will call for decisive action—events will definitely shape policies and even force tough choices.
Now, back to the social implications of God, Country, Family. There is no doubt that the roots of Brothers of Italy are in the Neo-Fascist movement, but I’m in no position to present an informed opinion on that movement as it has evolved over the decades. Certainly it would be difficult to claim—as the Left nevertheless does—that the mass of Italians who turned out for Brothers of Italy are inspired by nostalgia for Mussolini. My guess, based on Meloni’s rhetoric, is that the target is the globalist and technocratic corporatist Fascism of the transhumanist Left. The populism of the new Italian right would appear to have little common ground with Mussolini—except for patriotism.
Here Zerohedge summarize Leftist reaction, the reaction of the ruling elite. While Sweden was a political canary in the EU coal mine and was important for that reason, the Brothers of Italy are a very different phenomenon:
First Sweden, now Italy.
Europe's unelected authoritarian ruler, Ursula von der Leyen, is not going to be happy: according to early exit polls out of Italy's national election, the right-wing bloc of Giorgia Meloni - which the ultra-left wing press just can't stop comparing to Mussolini - is set for a historic, if largely expected, victory and a clear majority (if, however, not a super-majority) which will propel Meloni to the top of the Italian government as the country's next prime minister, ushering in a historic right-wing shift for a country that - like Sweden until two weeks ago - has traditionally been very left-wing.
Meloni's Brothers of Italy party, which won just 4% of the vote during the last national election in 2018, won the biggest share of the vote in Sunday’s parliamentary elections with around 22.5%-26.5% of the vote according to an exit poll released by Italian national broadcaster Rai. She is now set to become prime minister but would require approval from junior partners in her coalition to assume the role.
At Red State a pair of embedded tweets illustrate the Left’s effort to gin up hysteria, based on Meloni’s outspoken critique of Woke ideology. The first video—which opens with a shot of Mussolini’s March on Rome, a far cry from this orderly election—is illustrative. One suspects that the issues that Meloni champions resonate so deeply with voters that, like Trump now, Meloni will be largely immunized among her supporters against Leftist hysteria:
Reminiscence, of course, is in the eye or memory of the beholders—which is what the Ruling Class Media are attempting to shape.
This next video captures Meloni quoting Chesterton (h/t commenter Old Frank)—from which our title is drawn. The fact that Meloni chose that quote, which fits so well in the total context of her speech, says so much about the pass we have arrived at in the West. In US politics it calls to mind the libertarian “sweet mystery of life” doctrine of Anthony Kennedy—a view which Meloni excoriates regularly:
Did Tolkein foresee this day?
Are we seeing a beginning?
There are skeptics:
https://alexkrainer.substack.com/p/italian-elections-beginning-of-the
It remains to be seen, however, whether the Italian people will get the change they voted for, whether Meloni's populism is real or fake, whether she'll prove the champion of the people or is she merely controlled opposition. There's no doubt that her rhetoric is compelling to those yearning to defend their Italian identity and heritage based in family values and Christianity, but her meteoric rise from almost total obscurity (during the last elections in 2018, her party won only 4% of the vote) to winning yesterday's elections might also incite suspicions.
Becoming a member of the powerful Aspen Institute last February might have something to do with it. Headquartered in Washington, D. C., the “think tank” is funded by some of the most powerful globalist forces in the world including the Gates Foundation, Ford Foundation, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Carnegie Corporation and Lumina Foundation. Giorgia Meloni talks a good talk for the electorate; we'll find out whether she'll also walk the walk.
Best article I've seen on this outrage:
https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2022/09/did_the_fbi_finally_go_too_far.html