Italy hails "hero" hostage, stands firm on troops (MUST READ - BRAVE GUY HE DIED A HERO!)

Reuters ^ | 4/15/04

[cyborg]

That's really cool!

[ValenB4]

Me too. But there are innumerable reasons to be proud to be proud of having Italian heritage. Although everyone should have pride in their background, Italians are quite blessed.

[ValenB4]

Of course the Italians weren't enthusiastic about World War II. I don't recall where I've read them, but there are recently released documents that indicate Mussolini was motivated to ally with Hitler, aside from Italy being denied colonial possessions after WWI by Britain and France, more out of fear than friendship. There is actually a letter to the pope by Mussolini asking him to excommunicate Hitler.

[ValenB4]

Get with it. As much as I like Berlusconi, you shouldn't have needed him to make you proud to be an Italian-American.

[LisaFab]

Berlusconi made those remarkable comments in a short press conference following a meeting with President Bush at the White House in January 30, 2003. Here is the transcript. For those who missed it, here are some of Berlusconi's words:

We will never forget that we owe our freedom -- our freedom -- our wealth to the United States of America. And our democracy. And we also will never forget there have been many American young lives that were lost and sacrifice themselves for us.

So for us, the United States is not only our friend, but they are the guarantee of our democracy and our freedom. And I already has the opportunity to say this to President Bush, every time I see the U.S. flag, I don't see the flag only representative of a country, but I see it as a symbol of democracy and of freedom.

[LisaFab]

I said truly proud. Since, in my lifetime, the nation of Italy had done nothing to make me proud, turning ever more left and decadent and away from her proud heritage.

That said, I have always been proud of the contributions of most Italian Americans...I'm just tired of Hollywood continuing to promote the goomba stereotyping and many Italian Americans eating it up. Sorry.

[ELS]

Thanks (or should I say, "Grazie"? ;-) ).

[LisaFab]

Thanks will do. I love Berlusconi and his less than masterful command of the English lanuage reminds me of the way my uncles spoke to me when I was a girl.

[ValenB4]

It's not so bad. The people are inherently more conservative and even their liberals, like most liberals in Europe, have more pride in their country than American liberals do. The problem is socialism, which is running out of gas. As for the decadence, a little bit of decadence isn't so bad. It has been said that Italians are simultaneously religious and atheist. I highly recommend books by the late Luigi Barzini, "The Italians" and "The Europeans" (which has a chapter dedicated to each major country - and he includes one on Americans). He said Italy is a nation where the bricks are strong and the wall is weak, which is totally accurate. I agree with you on the stereotypes, and so does Camille Paglia, who hates the Sopranos. But they're basically harmless and ought to be laughed off. Deep down, everyone wishes they were Italian anyway. Nothing is more distasteful than other certain ethnic groups looking to be offended and getting in a tizzy over any real or imagined slight. So don't sweat it.