Italy Gets Violent

What can be said about the truth other then it provokes a nasty response -

Italian deputies exchanged blows in parliament on Wednesday as tensions over a tough economic reform program came to a head.

At least two deputies from the Northern League, a member of the ruling center-right coalition, fought with members from the opposition FLI party of speaker Gianfranco Fini. Two deputies grabbed each other by the throat as other parliamentarians rushed to separate them.

The parliamentary sitting was suspended for several minutes after the fight, which broke out because of sarcastic remarks on television by Fini alleging that the wife of League leader Umberto Bossi had retired at 39.

The Real Effect

What I will not comment on is the accuracy of their comments towards one another. What I will comment on is when you start taking pot shots at one another, the discussion is finally getting real. Much of the nastiness currently plaguing the world is like an infection. It's ugly, pervasive, a risk to the whole system and just plain ole' painful. And where pain is involved, hurt feelings and demonstrative behavior are soon to follow. Creatures don't like real fixes because in all honesty they tend to hurt. And perhaps more concerning is you don't usually hit the source of the infection immediately. Instead you have to scrape and poke and dig until you hit pay dirt. Generally at that point you find that the host has been covering it up and the infection is far, far worse then even you suspected.

Update: We get video...