Italian election: An entire nation scratches its head as threat of fascism looms and economy teeters

Supporters of Matteo Salvini, leader of The League, Italy's ultra-right party, campaign ahead of Sunday's election. Photo by The Nation

If a cartoonist drew a group picture of the candidates, it’d resemble a food fight at Mickey Mouse’s clubhouse. Italy has more parties than Florida State’s Theta Chi house, and not one candidate Sunday will ever be mentioned in the same sentence as Caesar Augustus.
They include an 81-year-old three-time prime minister convicted for tax fraud with a runaway libido, a 31-year-old college dropout backed by a former stand-up comic, a neo-fascist who has declared war on immigrants, the previous prime minister who resigned just 15 months ago, a hot (Hey, it’s Italy) former female journalist just to the left of Eva Braun, two convicted of corruption and the crooner who sings “O Sole Mio” to tourists in Trastevere.
(To read more, click here.)

More