Conservatives will lose control; Respond by making US ungovernable

In Italy, Berlusconni has lost his reelection attempt, narrowly but definitively. He is, however refusing to accept his loss. So reports Emptywheel over at The Next Hurrah. From the Guardian Emptywheel points out:

Mr Berlusconi is still refusing to concede. Members of Mr Prodi's coalition today asked him to stop challenging the election results.

"I want to invite the premier to lower his tone and stop what appears to be a real strategy of tension, an undermining of the electoral victory that increases the bitterness," Massimo D'Alema, leader of the Democrats of the Left, said in a interview published the Corriere della Sera.[Underlining mine - RB.]

Emptywheel then points out that the term "Strategy of Tension" refers to a term adopted in Italy in the 1970's and 80's to explain the series of right-wing bombings and terrorist actions which were suspected to be planned in such a way as to be blamed on Communists and lead to public demands for a right-wing authoritarian government.

Emptywheel also links to The New York Times where they report that the Italian Court has clearly decided that Berlusconni lost the election. Berlusconni is still not conceding his loss.

So What?

So here is what Emptywheel thinks is happening in Italy, and how she thinks the analogy is likely to carry over to the US after the US election in November:

This guy is either afraid of going to jail ... or he's afraid of losing his base of power, the media. Either way, it's striking to consider his actions, this fear of reprisal, in terms of strategy of tension. Better to let the country remain ungovernable then to face up to your crimes.

I can't help but imagine that Berlusconi's behavior is similar to what we would have gotten in 2000, had SCOTUS not handed over power to George Bush. Right wing attacks on Clinton, while far short of the terrorism that Italy suffered, served to make a popular President weak. I have no doubt that the wingnuts would have continued their Brooks Brothers Riots rather than let Gore take power and govern effectively.

And, I fear, the same may be true here. By all accounts, the Republicans are rightly fearful they'll lose their stranglehold on Congress in November. If Democrats gain subpoena power, Bush and his cronies face at least as much scrutiny as Silvio does. The collective weight of all the Bush/Republican scandals already threatens to do permanent damage. Imagine how much more so if investigations into those scandals aren't mitigated by a friendly bench or a craven Abu Gonzales?

I'm not sure what that would mean. Perhaps a return of the Brooks Brothers Riot. But I do worry that Berlusconi's games in Italy are just a preview of what we can expect in November.[Underlining mine - RB.]

Unfortunately, I agree with her. Our frustrated radical right-wingers are going to be shoved out of national power, and they are not going to react well. Berlusconni's reactions are an example of what we can expect of our conservatives here in the US.

They will have the Presidency until January 2009, and perhaps one House of Congress. They have also packed the Judiciary with a lot of conservatives who are likely to react with such travesties as the 2000 Supreme Court decision that appointed Bush as President. I will not be surprised to see right-wing instigated riots/marches in the US after they begin to lose power.

I really hope I am wrong, but I don't think I am. Once these right-wingers begin to lose power, they will do whatever they think will help them keep it.

It's Thursday, a gray, overcast and wet day. Maybe I am just responding to the miserable weather.