Borking Berlusconi
He’s anathema to the New Europeans.

Mr. Ledeen is the holder of the Freedom Chair at the American Enterprise Institute.
May 2, 2001 12:55 p.m.

don't think I've ever seen anything quite like the efforts of the European and English media to demonize Silvio Berlusconi, the business magnate and former prime minister whose center-right coalition is favored to win the Italian elections on May 13th. From the London Times to the Parisian Le Monde, from the Spanish el Mundo to the British Economist, foreign journalists have been telling Italian voters that a Berlusconi victory would be a disaster. A disaster for Italian democracy, a disaster for the cause of justice, and a disaster for the future of Europe. The Economist cover headline proclaims "Why Silvio Berlusconi is unfit to lead Italy," and warns that, even if the Italians reject the advice of the chattering elite and elect Berlusconi, impeachment, or something like it, will soon follow. The others follow along in the same tone, accusing Berlusconi — as have several Italian investigating magistrates — of criminal and civil violations ranging from falsifying the books of his many companies to collusion with the Mafia.

The accusations are not new, and most of them have already been resolved in the Italian courts in Berlusconi's favor. Some have been thrown out for lack of evidence, others have died because prosecutors couldn't find enough to justify taking the cases to court; still others were reversed on appeal, and a couple are still pending. Those familiar with the antics of the marauding Italian magistrates for the past decade will recognize the pattern: Many are accused, even arrested, but only a hapless few are firmly convicted. Most Italians are tired of the charade; many, like me, know political and business leaders who were thrown in prison and then told by a prosecutor that they would stay there until and unless they provided "information" about their superiors. The rights of the accused have been routinely ignored, as the prosecutors relentlessly leaked rumors and second-hand information to the press, which avidly printed it all.

This sort of Borking is all too familiar to Americans, who have seen the old scandal game turn into a vast industry. Here, too, people's reputations have been destroyed because of false charges.

But the tone of the attacks on Berlusconi is quite different from the usual breathless revelations. The amazingly coordinated campaign against him suggests that the European media establishment is profoundly upset at the prospect of a Berlusconi government, and the reason is not hard to find: He threatens to beat them at their own game. Ever since the end of World War II, Italian culture has been dominated by the Left. Thanks to the government monopoly on radio and, above all, television, the "news" reaching most Italians has been carefully manipulated to advance the Left's agenda, and with allies in the judiciary, the "news" has become an instrument for the political destruction of anyone who dared to challenge that agenda. Imagine if National Public Radio and Public Television were the only sources of news. Berlusconi broke that monopoly by creating a media empire of his own, including several national television channels. Worse yet, his programming was more entertaining than theirs, and his newscasters were more attractive, hence more and more Italians enthusiastically embraced a different picture of reality.

For years now, Berlusconi's critics have cried that it is a clear conflict of interest for the leader of a major political party to control television networks. And they are right, so far as it goes. But it doesn't go far enough. It is equally unacceptable for the sitting prime minister to control the other networks (indeed, I can't imagine why any sensible person would want the government to have its own networks, or newspapers, or magazines, or film studios, or publishing house, other than to make available uncut broadcasts or transcriptions of the activities of the government). Moreover, Berlusconi has promised to divest his media holdings if he is elected; indeed, when he was prime minister for nine months a few years ago, he introduced legislation that would have abolished his empire. The Left voted against it.

Berlusconi, then, is the prototypical outsider who sabotaged a neat insider's game by his own skill and by risking his own wealth, and the insiders are going all-out to retain their own power.

There are other reasons, of course. Europe is racing toward the creation of a super welfare state, controlled by a corrupt bureaucracy. Just this week, the Germans proposed a new European Government, with even more powers, and correspondingly greater funding. Berlusconi, who has promised lower taxes and a less intrusive central government, is anathema to the New Europeans.

But the Italians themselves seem inclined to give him a chance. And who can blame them? Like most other Europeans, they are facing a demographic challenge of enormous magnitude (birth rates are far below replacement level) that will produce a social and economic nightmare within a generation: lots of retired oldies, and very few productive youngsters. The traditional pols and bureaucrats are clearly not up to this sort of challenge; Berlusconi promises to staff his cabinet with clear-eyed people who might sort it out. Economists like Giulio Tremonti, and proven world-class thinkers and leaders like Antonio Martino are poised to challenge the old, failed methods.

Finally, one would have hoped for a bit more restraint from the French, British, and Spanish press. Virtually the entire French political class seems to have participated in corrupt party funding; Tony Blair has lost several ministers to seamy scandals; and the Spanish Socialist Party has been banished from power for its own illicit deals and schemes. To pompously invoke unproven charges in another country, to virtually threaten the Italian electorate with moral excommunication if they make a reasonable political decision, that's not serious political journalism. That's a panic attack.