Giorgia Meloni has thrown the Left into confusion. How could she have won? How could Italians have ignored the editorialists of every progressive media outlet in the world? How could they not have obeyed Ursula von der Leyen? How could they not see that Meloni is the reincarnation of Mussolini?
Her triumph in Italy offers two immediate lessons: first, the confirmation that people are no longer afraid of the labels that the Left hands out, and second, that progressives have effectively run out of adjectives. Fascist sounds tough, but the Left has applied it to anyone and everyone they don’t like. From their lips, the term has lost all meaning. Reactionary? Voters have to look that one up. Homophobic? That’s a thing that a parrot living in the Mother Jones newsroom would say nonstop. And ultra could be an insult, but also a detergent ad. In the end, the things we like we always want to be ultra, so it might not be such a demerit.
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