No country for old men

Yeats may have been right in thinking that Byzantium, or the New Rome, was no country for old men, but the same does not apply to what was once the heartland of the Western Empire. Italy's former priapic premier is far from being the country's only elderly politician.
   Today's Corriere carried a news-item  about the 95 year old retired doctor, Mario Spallone, currently standing for election as mayor of Avezzano in the Province of L'Acquila. Although he was the late leader of the Communist Party, Palmiro Togliatti's, personal physician he is not, as one might have expected, standing as a candidate of the left. "Io sono communista … Io non ho niente a che fare con quella robaccia del PD!" [I'm a communist … I've nothing in common with that rubbish in the Democratic Party]. I guess he feels the same way about the PD as I do about New Labour.
   His interviewer expressed astonishment at the unrepentant Stalinist's claim that he would be helped in his electoral campaign by the late Padre Pio. "E certo! Padre Pio morì tra le mia braccia, e io sono suo figlio spirituale. E lui mi aiuterà a vincere queste elezioni. Lui può …" [It's a sure thing! Padre Pio died in my arms and I'm his spiritual son. And he'll help me to win these elections. He really can …]
    And so, dear reader, you can see why I like living in Italy so much: it's full of crazy old men just like me.