Berlusconi Plans International Ministry of Truth

If the man’s corruption, perjury and possible sexual misconduct are somehow not enough to persuade Italy’s people that getting rid of Silvio Berlusconi is now a necessary step, they may soon have his mental health to worry about. After declaring himself “without doubt the person who's been the most persecuted in the entire history of the world and the history of man,” Berlusconi is surely only a couple of steps away from placing a teapot on his head and declaring himself the reincarnation of Jesus, or Napoleon, or both.

The Guardian has just run a report on the bleagured leader’s plans to launch a charm offensive under the direction of tourism minister Michela Vittoria Brambilla, aimed at convincing the world that actually, he’s an alright guy.

Reading through Ms. Brambilla’s remarks, I couldn’t help but notice a certain eerie resonance, almost as if I’d heard them somewhere before…

[Their] task will be to "bombard those newsrooms with truthful and positive news", and reveal to the world "a generous, truthful and audacious Italy – the Italy of entrepreneurs, art, cultural events and our products".

All media must follow the principle of positive propaganda as the main content. Strictly control the negative reports. Those reports which might produce negative social impact should all be banned. Strictly implement the system of controlling content from all three editorial levels. Strengthen news discipline. No playing up negative news online. Make sure there is no accident in guiding the public opinion. Strive for excellency in propaganda.

Chinese Ministry of Propaganda, twitter instructions to news editors, September 2009.

“According to Brambilla, Berlsuconi's problems with the law are not in any way blackening Italy's reputation. Instead she blamed "an anti-Italian group working against Italy with the single aim of discrediting and destroying the prime minister”.

“In order to profoundly expose the crime of the Dalai Lama clique and Western anti-China forces of undermining China's national unity and social stability, refute the distorted coverage by Western media, and enable the broad ranks of the masses in the ethnic minority regions to acquire an understanding of the truth of the…incident that took place on 14 March in Lhasa, the publishing house has collected authoritative reports from central media and compiled the Tibetan-Chinese version of the book Stability and Harmony Is Tantamount to Blessing While Separatism and Turmoil Will Bring Calamity - Reality of the 14 March Incident.”

Wire report by China’s Xinhua state news agency, 23 April 2008.

Here be dragons, Silvio. Time to call it a day.