Soft pro-Berlusconi propaganda in the form of messages-from-fans has been released by the Italian PM's own publishing company, Mondadori. The ego-enhancing book is titled "Love always wins over envy and hate".

The book features messages of support received by the PM following the Milan assault by Massimo Tartaglia. The messages are at times wildly emotional and worshipful in tone. One adoring fan writes: "Even with kryptonite they couldn't knock you down!" Another exclaims: "We are all with you great Silvio. You are the engine of our country."

The perma-tanned Italian PM has managed to preserve a younger look courtesy of cosmetic surgery and sundry beauty products. In December during a Milan visit, his aesthetically enhanced visage was banged up a little when Massimo Tartaglia slammed him in the face with a souvenir miniature of Milan's gothic cathedral. The incident produced both controversy and a show of support.

There are a number of reasons why this self-serving book has made an appearance at this juncture. For one thing important regional elections are coming up in Italy at the end of the month and Berlusconi and his allies aren't in great shape. The Milan attack and its aftermath plays to the sympathy factor. Also various rumors surfaced after the Milan incident, including accusations that Berlusconi may have staged the attack or possibly exaggerated the extent of his injuries. The book answers Berlo's many detractors with a partisan show of support - a selection of the 50,000 or so messages he allegedly received after the attack.


A Times online article found it surprising that mere weeks after the attack Berlusconi was out-and-about with Gianfranco Fini. The PM looked his mannequin-like self with no obvious evidence of scratches, bruises or other collateral damage. Remarkable, given that the injuries as reported at the time of the assault were a fractured nose, gashes to his lip and cheek and two broken teeth... not exactly minor.

A YouTube video shows Berlusconi getting into his car directly following the assault. Footage also captures an aide slipping him something. Considering it was an emergency, it would have been appropriate for the PM to have sped away immediately, but remarkably he took the time to wave to the crowd, blood streaming down his face... a spectacle worthy of a Greek drama. Questions were also raised at the time about why Berlusconi's jacket and shirt were not drenched with blood since hospital officials stated he had lost half a litre of blood. Of course all of this is pure speculation, but it reflects the degree of skepticism surrounding the incident on the part of some observers.

In the wake of the Milan incident, Berlusconi was upset when a Facebook page appeared in support of his attacker, Massimo Tartaglia. In less than 24 hours 63,000 people had registered as fans. The accompanying photo of Tartaglia included a description of the assailant that had been added by the page owner: "42 years old, with no criminal record and such courage.”

The new book is a way for Berlusconi to get back at his critics in an effort to shoot down what the forward describes as "slander, offences, false accusations", while playing to those Italian readers whose vote he is courting.

The Italian newspaper La Repubblica is less-than-impressed with the PM's image boosting book, mocking it as "The little white book of Silvio Ceausescu". The paper says it is reminiscent of hagiographies produced by dictators in Eastern Europe and South America.

For more on the story link here and here.