Forza Italia?

The Italian election is underway -- polls close tomorrow (Monday) at 3 pm local time.

I'm rooting for Romano Prodi's The Union coalition, although I suspect I'd support any reasonable opposition to Silvio Berlusconi's House of Freedoms coalition (which includes his own party, Forza Italia). Seriously, is there a more corrupt, venal, and shamelessly plutocratic leader in the Western world than Berlusconi? (If so, let me know.)

Back in February, I wrote about the Italian election, specifically Berlusconi's alliance with fascism -- see here. I'll have more on the election once the results start rolling in.

Update: Germany's Der Spiegel, always a great source for European news and commentary, wonders if this could be "the end of the Silvio show" -- see here. Funny passage: "After all the escapades he's had, the eternally grinning little man -- who wears special shoes to make him look taller -- has come to be seen by some of his EU colleagues as a mixture between Alexander Lukashenko, the Belarusian dictator, and jittery Italian comedian Roberto Benigni. Not someone to be taken quite seriously, in any case."