Insults: fascist style

One of Berlusconi's house newspapers, Il Giornale, published an interview last week with the man responsible for Tourism and Sport in Lombardy, the region that includes Milan and is still controlled by the centre-right alliance, such as it is. Piergianni Prosperini, ex-Northern Leaguer and now member of the former fascist party, National Alliance, announced that homosexuals, and particularly those who had demonstrated against the pope and in favour of civil unions (DICO), should be executed as deviants.

He was even thoughtful enough to suggest the best tool for the job. A garrotte. But not a Spanish garrotte, presumably on the grounds that, with Zapatero in power, anything from Spain is too gay-friendly. What's needed, apparently, is the Apache garrotte, which, twisted round the head, 'makes the brain explode'.

National Alliance leader Gianfranco Fini has, to his credit, demanded Prosperini hand back his party card. But Prosperini's not happy. After having pointed out that the Apache garrotte doesn't actually exist (so he made it up? so that's an excuse?) he said that, despite having nothing against homosexuals, it was obvious that they should never be allowed to be teachers, soldiers, football coaches, or gym instructors. How very specific this all is. It's almost as if the lovely Piergianni (see photograph) had direct knowledge of the very special attractions such jobs might hold.