Interview with Italian PM

Thanks, I'm just finishing David Gilmore's book "The Pursuit of Italy", a very readable history of both ancient and modern Italy ... trying to prep for our RS 17 day tour in 2017. Your "heads up" will be helpful to the cause. (Interestingly, given what I read, the USA now has its own Silvio Berlusconi!) Your comment suggests giving the book a look. Regards.

Thanks for the recommendation, though I have already read Gilmour's The Pursuit of Italy. For a bit of a counterpoint, if you haven't already read it, you might enjoy Tim Parks' Italian Ways. (And, if you've ever bought a panino at Bar Centrale in Milano Centrale, you might find yourself nodding in agreement at his description!)

Thanks Eric. I will be seeking your book recommendation. I hope we have the time to enjoy a panino at Bar Centrale in Milano Centrale. Going to the RS tour starting point, we will be transiting from our train trip from Munich to a train to Veranna at the Centrale.

Sorry to have given the wrong impression of Bar Centrale...Parks' description is not complementary! It's a busy, bustling place, and the food is just ok, but I would say go for it just for the experience, and it is convenient when transiting in Milano. If you get the chance to read Parks' description before your arrival, you will get a good idea of how the ordering process works.

Bar VyTa at Milano Centrale is my favorite.

Eric ... No offense taken. Got a good chuckle from It.

Eric,

Thanks for posting as I'll be interested to hear what he has to say about the upcoming referendum and his threat to resign.

What is really interesting is his way of speaking English. He tries to translate into English, word by word, the nonsenses in political jargon that he says in Italian and the results are always entertaining :-)

lachera,

I don't remember if I've ever heard Renzi speaking English? I'll look forward to hearing that if he uses English during the interview. I can certainly relate to his situation, as I'm sure I'd have the same issue if speaking Italian.

Renzi spoke English at the press conference with Obama a couple of weeks ago. Entertaining indeed! At some point I think he switched to Italian.

This is how Matteo Renzi really speaks English:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0KJZEH2jn8

Below is a spoof of the above. Hilarious!!:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XH0CSzdHwg0

Watch both sequentially.

Roberto,

That was hilarious, especially the second one. I can very much relate to his difficulties with speaking English, as I probably sound the same when trying to speak Italian. I've been told that English is a tough language to learn, but at least Renzi is trying and I give him credit for that.

Ken.

I must say that Renzi's English has improved since that video came out. But he now tries too hard to sound American and he overdoes it.

One of my best friends from high school is a close friend of the Prime Minister, who used to be Florence's Mayor (my friend's father and Renzi's father were political activists together in Florence for the Christian Democratic Party). Since my friend talks to Matteo Renzi regularly, last summer, I told my friend to tell him to stop over emphasizing the American accent he tries to emulate. It's ok to speak with an Italian accent as long as people can understand what you are saying. Let's see if he listened to the advice.

Roberto,

Wow, you have friends in high places! If his English is improving, I assume Renzi is still taking lessons and working on it. These days it's a good idea for politicians to have some grasp of English. I guess we'll find out if he took your advice during the interview tomorrow night. I don't know Italian politics, but have the impression that he's doing a reasonably good job (certainly an improvement over Silvio). I'm not sure what the constitutional vote in December is all about, but Renzi is threatening to resign if it's defeated.

Almost time for one of my favourite Saturday night TV shows, Tale e Quale. Some of the performers are really good, although some overdo their impersonations. The Justin Bieber guy was highly annoying!

I just watched the Renzi interview on 60 Minutes and thought it was very interesting. I thought his English skills were very good, and I thought he handled the interview well. The Mayor of Rome also has good English skills. I can understand his reasons for the Referendum, but that will be something for the people of Italy to decide.

I, too, just watched the interview. I wish it had gone into more depth as to what this referendum will actually do (for instance, it stated that if passed the members of the Senate would be appointed instead of voted in. Who would appoint them? The PM? Why does Renzi believe this would help?) Guess I'll have to do some follow-up. Renzi himself, I thought he came across as many politicians do--words flow easily, and he's very sure that his ideas are the best ones. As Ken noted, it will be up to the Italian people to see if they believe him.

Eric,

"for instance, it stated that if passed the members of the Senate would be appointed instead of voted in"

Here in Canada we have a somewhat unique experience with members of the Senate being appointed, and in many cases that hasn't worked well. In the past the government of the day has appointed their cronies and supporters, which is not exactly the best way to ensure "a place of sober second thought so that legislation would receive proper, careful consideration before finally becoming law." Our previous federal government was proposing to either change to an elected Senate or abolish it altogether, but that didn't happen.

If the YES wins, the new Senate will consist of 100 members.
They will be appointed by the legislatures (Assemblies) of the 20 Regions. The appointees appointed by the Regional Legislatures will be selected among the members of those same Regional Assemblies (for a total of 74 Senators) and the City Mayors of the same regions (for a total of 21 Senators). The members of the Senate appointed by the Regional legislatures will be proportionate to the population of each Region, but no Region will have fewer than two Senators. Lombardy, the most populous Region, will be entitled to 14.
The remaining 5 Senators to make 100 will be appointed by the President of the Republic and will serve for 7 years. The President of the Republic (a largely ceremonial figure, similar to the Queen), who will continue to serve for 7 years, as today, will become a Life Senator (as it is provided by the current Constitution), therefore there could be more than 100 members of the Senate depending on how many former Presidents of the Republic are alive after serving their seven year term. Since traditionally Italian Presidents of the Republic tend to be rather old, you rarely have more than one or two former Presidents alive at one time.
The appointment of Senators by local jurisdiction is not unique. Many European States have it, including Germany. Also in the United States, the Constitution originally called for the appointment of Senators by the State Legislatures. That changed when the XVII Amendment to the US Constitution was passed in 1913.

The point is not really about speaking English well. A lot of people in the world speak English badly and get understood all the same (but they are not prime ministers). - The point is that English is a concise language that stimulates clear thinking; Italian is a flowery language and often encourages vagueness. Add on top that Renzi has a flexible relationship with truth - when he was in high school he was already nicknamed "The Bomb" for all his boasting. Someway, this works much better in Italian, but when he tries to translate in English, word for word, it simply does not translate. It would not translate even if he spoke English better.

I watched 60 Minutes - it was interesting to hear his views and I thought his English had improved from the video that were link earlier to this site.
I agree that it will be very interesting if his referendum passes.

I thought the comments Bepe Severgnini made about Rienzi's overblown ego carrying him off into space absolutely hysterical! My only other comment is that the interview was way too short, and it's a shame it's so difficult to find thought-provoking television that gives insight into European countries.

There was also the comment about the joke in Italy is that Renzi’s ego is so huge the entrances to the Palazzo Vecchio had to be enlarged to accommodate it.

For anyone interested, here's a transcript of the interview, as well as a video (hopefully the video is viewable in all countries).....

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/60-minutes-italy-prime-minister-matteo-renzi-charlie-rose/