The Decapitation of La Passionata

I have been a fan of La Passionata from the first time I read her prose way back in the early eighties. I have not always been a fan of her politics but the passion of her prose literally scorches its’ way across the page. No fuddle-duddle or pantywaisting for Oriana. She has stood more times than not on the side of freedom and has yet to be found wanting. So it is with a heavy heart that I read this article and discover how deeply she is now being reviled in her native Italy.

Who would believe that the champions of freedom are now figures for scorn? I will not be picketing the Italian Consulate or boycotting all things Italian because I am offended, and if I was to be deliberately obtuse, I could argue in a ‘do unto others as you would like others to do unto you” way and demand the Italian government allow only “responsible or mature” use of free speech or expression but that negates the whole concept of ‘free” anything. Instead, I think I will say the prayer Voltaire claimed to have prayed to the Lord - for La Passionate and myself:

"O Lord make my enemies ridiculous." - Voltaire