In Their Common Cause

Is corruption a “political right” ... wtf? says Kalsoom at Chup blog.

While over in Europe you might be forgiven for thinking that this guy had escaped from a Panto.

Oh no. He’s a Minister.

 'Zero pointe' from Massimo for Minister La Russa then, while the hero of the performance, Luca Cafagna - when he can get a word in edgeways - puts his case, in devastating contrast with good-humoured dignity, while the Minister yells him down as "coward" :

“The event [December 14^th] … was the 'expression of social rage of a generation that has always [been] kept out and that is not represented politically. We take to the streets to demand rights and the answer is always a turn away … there is a blockage at the institutional level, a separation between what happens in Parliament and what happens outside. … you can not talk about the reaction of a lunatic fringe, "The incidents that happened - he said - were, even by very young people who live this locked state.” Google translation.

And over the great divide, in Yankeeland here's senator Mike Pence proclaiming the Gospel that the saintliest richest Americans must not, under any circumstances, relinquish the tiniest bit of their wealth to help poor Americans - we are all the same after all:

"The minimum that we have to do right now for Americans that are struggling in unemployment in this economy is make sure that no American sees a tax increase ..."

And to cap it off, before anybody thinks we're any better here, those clever MPs have discovered a new ploy:

“Some are earning thousands of pounds by letting out the second homes they bought with public funds, then moving into a rented third home nearby – and claiming Commons expenses on that instead.”