Here is an example of a 'scandal' - albeit a relatively minor one - which has grabbed headlines abroad as well as in Italy, but which is important not in itself but rather because it shows how Berlusconi uses such scandals to deflect attention from more serious issues. Like a sort of paradigmatic Newtonian action and reaction, to a relatively straightforward event Berlusconi reacts by completely blowing it out of proportion, provoking and then manipulating a debate which bamboozles audiences at home (understandable: he controls so much media!) and abroad (less understandable).
US news in recent days, particularly in the shadow of Veterans Day, has been dominated by a series of urgent questions that have left many people scrambling to cover their rear ends:
Who had prior knowledge of this man's violent intentions?
Why did no one sound the alarm? And if they did, why did no one take them seriously?
Should we have seen it coming?
How could it have been prevented?
How should we treat someone who is responsible for the deaths of a group of American soldiers?
