Viva Zapatero! Page #5

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Turn off the cameras...

Okay, it's true.

l didn't write or even read my law.

l just can't !

l start reading it at night

and fall asleep !

- You pass out.

- Yes !

lt's crazy !

- Can you do me a favour ?

- Of course.

Could you write a summary,

or Cliff Notes of my law ?

Just like twenty pages

so l know what it says.

And while you're at it...

since some of your questions

put me on the spot,

write down some hard questions

and the answers too, okay ?

Like:
''People say someone

from Mediaset wrote the law'' ?

Exactly...

l wouldn't know what to say !

- lt would put you on the spot ?

- Like totally !

l'd have to say:

''Mediaset... like what's that ?''

People don't want to hear

insults and gratuitous spite.

But viewing figures were high,

people liked it.

People don't want to hear...

The camera's not on me anymore, so...

- Here it is.

- l was waiting for it to come back.

The public doesn't want to hear...

But people do,

there's no doubt.

Satire can't be insulting.

People want that, you can't deny it.

lt's you lot who don't.

The public liked it.

No, l don't think people want to see

vulgar and coarse satire.

Have you asked the public ?

Because people protested.

Thousands of people.

Look, l'm a colleague

of your father's

and he's from the Centre-Right.

You asked to cancel it,

not the public.

l discussed it with your father,

who's a Centre-Right senator.

l'm an adult,

l don't ask my father's permission.

No, but since he's a senator...

one might want to consult him too.

- What's your point ?

- My point is...

we all represent our electorate.

The electorate didn't elect you

to cancel TV shows you don't like

and to monopolize the media.

- They wouldn't have voted for you.

- Of course !

But that's what you've done.

Santoro, Biagi, Luttazzi,

me, Tagliafico...

anyone who has a different opinion

than you !

Those who can't express themselves

in TV, like me,

are in parliament or somewhere else

saying what

there's no point in saying on TV.

Why is there no point ? Who says

you can't express yourself on TV ?

Lilli Gruber, Santoro

and the others you've mentioned,

all use TV as a means

of breaking into politics.

l was politically active

outside parliament for 20 years

so you can do the same.

But l'm not active in a party,

l'm fighting for people to know

what laws our parliament passes.

l'm fighting so people

can exercise their right to criticise.

l want to exercise

my right to criticize on TV.

People have a right to express

other opinions on TV, don't they ?

And l want to exercise

my right to criticize saying...

You don't criticize,

you cancel shows.

..that l don't agree with

your idea of what satire is.

That isn't satire,

it's gratuitous vulgarity.

- Name one vulgar thing.

- Forget it.

l won't forget it.

''Vulgar'' is not an appropriate term.

Can you guarantee that everything

l say will go on the programme ?

lf you say something interesting.

Go ahead.

We haven't finished.

Tell me something.

Haven't you found anything

worth including ?

Goodbye and good luck.

Good luck to all us ltalians

under the fascist regime.

See you when you get your show back

and l can criticize it again.

How will l get it back

when you've thrown us all out ?

As soon as possible,

because l like criticizing it.

But you cancelled my show,

you didn't criticize it.

You cancelled the show.

lt didn't work out for you !

lt wasn't a coming into office,

it was a seizing of power.

l always wrote in my editorials

that in this sense,

their concept is revolutionary.

Technically.

Revolutionary in the ''Thatcherist''

or ''Reaganist'' meaning of the word.

Or even more...

the beginning of a new era.

This man is the prime minister

of ltaly.

lt's all mine:

ltalian TV, newspapers...

l pass the laws l want, everything...

Of course l am a fascist.

So what ? Fascism is good !

F*** everyone !

Such a catastrophe

could even happen here in France.

We had the habit in our house

to bind the newspapers

according to year.

When l was little

l'd climb my father's bookshelf

and get these big books

of newspapers down.

l used to wonder

why they didn't understand.

At first there were so many people

who later became anti-fascist

and even joined the Resistance,

who took part...

They'd say very weak things like:

''Despite everything,

ltaly is still democratic'', etc...

And that is how l realized

how fascism came to be.

Going through all the pages

of these newspapers,

l saw the rise of fascism

as a comic strip.

Each volume

got more and more fascist.

And so on.

And at the final issue of that year,

it was full-blown fascism.

lL DUCE FOUNDS AN EMPlRE

Back then, persuasion meant

intimidating, physically scaring.

Now persuasion is intimidating

and psychologically scaring

until you realize

your career is on the line,

along with your future,

the jobs you might have.

You see people who get rewarded

while you're left behind

so you decide

to jump on the bandwagon.

Then the European Parliament and

the lnternational Press Federation

and even the UN in 2005

expressed great concern

for the diminishing freedom

of expression in ltaly.

''Freedom House'',

an important international observer,

ranked ltaly at 77th place

in the world

for freedom of expression,

after several South American

and African countries.

Up until 2002

ltaly was considered a free country

but became

a partly free country in 2004.

A regime wins points

when the opposition keeps quiet.

They think that by keeping quiet

and putting up with

minor violations of a democracy...

l don't mean deportations

or assassinations,

but instances of censorship

and aggression towards individuals.

Believing that being the opposition

means complaining too much...

''Lowering your tone'', etc.

This strengthens the regime

and its power of impunity.

That is historical experience.

Can we list some cases of censorship

you included in your book ?

We all know the personal cases.

They chose a few

to teach everyone a lesson.

Like Biagi, Santoro,

Luttazzi, Freccero,

Sabina Guzzanti and Paolo Rossi.

- More money !

- Money ! Money !

More and more money !

l took this farce of Molire's

and adapted it to our situation.

l'm one of you,

so don't forget it.

Someone who used to be

where you are now

and who's now

where you'll never be !

l'm here, but especially...

We had 1 .2 million viewers

at 1 a.m. on the first night.

The next day

the ltalian Associated Press called

asking why it was interrupted

after the first act.

l called RAl

but no one seemed to know why.

ln the first press release,

they said it was blasphemous

and in the second,

that my words were too harsh.

We believe in freedom

in all its multiple and vital forms.

Even taking away freedoms

is a form of freedom.

For the first time,

l decided to break the cycle

of censor censuring

and the censured complaining

and refuse to let the thing die.

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