Silvio & JoePa

Many websites report the news and regurgitate the Associated Press. Here my goal is to attempt to connect the dots. So, linking Italy's PM and college football coach Joe Paterno means what?

One of the core themes of this blog is that humans herd and subsequently create cycles of "mass" behavior through history. This can be observed in financial markets, war cycles, politics, fashion, pop culture, and many other categories.

We all know that the recent events at Penn State are a tragedy. What's significant to me is how quickly legendary coach Joe Paterno was terminated. He is guilty in part, but lets face it, he didn't perform the hideous crimes. The conclusion is, during contracting cycles where mass social mood dominates in "fearful and angry", icons fall quickly. The mob moves quickly and topples the ones that once stood on a pedestal. In contrast, during expansion cycles, icons survive great controversies. Bill Clinton's sexual encounter with a young intern might be the best example of all time. Many still believe that he was one of the greatest presidents of all time. Well timed bad behavior.

Jumping across "the pond", Italy's Prime Minister is sacked after serving 17 years in office.  Do the people of Italy really believe that putting a new person in office immediately solves the debt crisis?  No, they are just angry and "lynching" feels good.  Many more leaders and icons will tumble.  Libya might be a great microcosm where one asks the question "ok, now what?".

"Silvio Berlusconi dominated Italy for 17 years with a unique mix of political talent and brazen behavior but in the end the born showman was humiliatingly jeered from office, brought down by pressure from abroad.  Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi formally resigned on Saturday, ending one of the most scandal-plagued eras in recent Italian history amid the jeers of hundreds of protestors gathered in central Rome to celebrate his departure."
Source: Reuters

"The “mob” has emerged and they’re seeking someone to lynch."
Random Roving, June 30, 2008

Climate of Hate

The TimesOnline reports that the Italian Prime Minister was the recipient of a flying cathedral:

"Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian Prime Minister, left hospital today after spending a fourth night under observation after an assailant broke his nose with a model of the Milan cathedral. Massimo Tartaglia, 42, an electronics engineer with mental problems, threw a heavy souvenir statuette of the Duomo at Mr Berlusconi's face, leaving him with a fractured nose and two broken teeth. He later apologised to Mr Berlusconi by letter but told police the controversial populist Prime Minister was 'ruining Italy'. Italian newspapers today devoted their front pages to a parcel bomb planted in an underground corridor at Bocconi business university in Milan which was detonated by a timer in the early hours of yesterday morning. It contained two kilos of dynamite but had only "partially" exploded, police said. A group calling itself "The Informal Anarchist Federation" claimed responsibility. The same group also sent a parcel bomb to an immigration office at Gorizia on the Italian-Slovenian border. It exploded but caused no injuries. 'After the statuette, the dynamite' said Il Giornale, the newspaper owned by Mr Berlusconi's brother Paolo, adding 'here come the bombs'. It claimed that the parcel bombs, like Mr Tartaglia's attack, were 'the fruit of a climate of hate' against Mr Berlusconi created by the Left."

The recent "hoopla" over the two yahoos that crashed the party at the White House might have some real underlying meaning. Maybe the "elephant in the room" is that everyone feels that in this "climate of hate", our president might be at risk.

The mob continues to get angrier. Xenophobia and racism are climbing. I've had a handful of people state this week "did you notice that Tiger didn't like the black girls?". No, the thought hadn't occurred to me. I've concluded that he likes barmaids.