Now Italy Falls Too By Chris Knight

     Expect Italy to now be flooded extra fast by migrants as payback for daring to resist for only a little while, before hubris led to the one man who tried to stop the flood, falling on his own political, sword:
  https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/italys-salvini-partied-beach-while-rivals-plotted-his-overthrow

“What's the Italian word for 'hubris'? Somebody should ask League leader Matteo Salvini. In a report published Friday, Bloomberg examines the circumstances surrounding Salvini's failed political gambit, which the Interior Minister and Deputy PM had hoped would install him as prime minister of Italy, but instead resulted in his political rivals joining forces to outmaneuver him. Less than a month ago, Salvini was out partying at Papeete Beach. At one point, he stepped up to the decks during a music festival, where the man who was until very recently the most powerful politician in Italy was surrounded by dancing bikini-clad women. This was Salvini at the height of his power. But little did he realize that, while he was partying, his rivals were busy plotting his downfall, and within weeks, his hopes of taking over as prime minister would be crushed. The public didn't know yet, but he had finally acquiesced to his party's demands to withdraw his support for the coalition government that had seen his League govern with the Five Star Movement (M5S) for more than a year. Salvini believed that by forcing an election, he could capitalize on his popularity and return with a new conservative coalition that would more readily support his party's platform of anti-immigrant measures combined with tax cuts that antagonized Brussels. And instead of serving as co-deputy PM, he would be prime minister.

Per BBG, Salvini was keeping his fellow Deputy PM, M5S leader Luigi Di Maio, in the dark about his plans, repeatedly swearing in public that he had no intentions of abandoning the coalition. Days later, on Aug. 7, Salvini informed Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, who had been brought on in a compromise between the two parties to rule as a neutral technocrat, that he planned to walk away from the government. Next, he informed Di Maio, who accused him of treachery. The next day, Salvini told the public. In comments to the press, Salvini asked whether the public would trust him with the "full powers" of the premiership. But he badly miscalculated. Soon, former PM Matteo Renzi of the Democratic Party exhorted his party to seek a coalition with M5S,despite their well-documented history of antagonism. Democratic Party leader Nicola Zingaretti, who had been against an alliance with Five Star, was soon facing pressure to put his misgivings aside. Soon, the two parties approached Conte, who had resigned as PM roughly two weeks ago, about potentially returning to his post. He readily agreed. This past week, Italian President Sergio Mattarella gave Conte his blessing to form a new government. Now, all Conte needs is to fill out his cabinet and create a platform (one that's likely to be centrist and technocratic) and he's likely to take power officially next week. But Salvini wasn't ready to simply walk away. According to BBG, behind closed doors, Salvini made a last-minute offer to Di Maio in an attempt to salvage their alliance. If Di Maio would be willing to return as his coalition partner, Di Maio could have the premiership. But Di Maio turned him down. Financial markets also gave the new government their blessing, as Italian stocks and bonds rallied on the belief that Conte would be more likely to play nice with Brussels.”

     If politicians from our side are not neutralised like Trump, then they are simply out-smarted. It is one thing I have noticed about our side of politics, the lack of sheer IQ and raw thinking and strategic ability among the players. The establishment offers security and silver to those who follow, while on our side you are more likely to get stabbed in the back than patted on the back. It sure is a hard row to hoe.