Berlusconi to quit and make way for Prodi

[Judi Lynn]

Berlusconi to quit and make way for Prodi
Sat Apr 29, 2006 12:36pm ET

By Gavin Jones

ROME (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said on Saturday he would resign, ending three weeks of wrangling over a narrow election defeat and clearing the political decks for Romano Prodi to take power.

Berlusconi would hand in his resignation to President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi on Tuesday after a scheduled cabinet meeting, officials said.

He had previously alleged election fraud and had refused to formally concede defeat after the April 9-10 polls.

Prodi's centre-left coalition, ranging from communists to centrist Roman Catholics, won the elections by the smallest margin in modern Italian history.

On paper his coalition has only a two-seat majority in the upper house of parliament, the Senate, although it should also be able to count on the support of several life-senators who are appointed by the president, not elected.
(snip/...)

http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=worldNews&storyid=2006-04-29T163632Z_01_L28573506_RTRUKOC_0_US-ITALY.xml

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Thought he'd never leave.

[Waya]

1. 'Bout time....

...does this mean the Italian Troops in Iraq can start packing up?

[IndianaGreen]

2. Once Prodi is elected PM by Parliament, he will bring all the troops home

Prodi will do what Zapatero did in Spain, immediate withdrawal of his country's troops from Iraq.

[dipsydoodle]

7. I think he already said

they would be home for Christmas. That would just leave the rest of the turkeys in Iraq for the Iraqi Xmas turkey shoot.

[saltpoint]

3. I'm thinking Silvio should send an application to Dubya for

Rove's position. I heard it might be opening up soon.

[rocktivity]

4. Resign? He LOST AN ELECTION

and the final tally has since been verified. That headline should read "Berlusconi agrees to make way for Prodi." And after calling for an immediate pullout of the troops, Prodi should take a good hard look at Berlusconi's broadcasting licenses!

:headbang:
rocknation

[Ecumenist]

9. H-E-L-L-O!!

Last time I checked, when you lose and the other side can prove it, you haul your sorry ass out of the room and hand the keys over to the new management.

[struggle4progress]

14. LOL!

[flordehinojos]

5. resign?

isn't it more like CONCEDE????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

[Peace Patriot]

6. Hooray! Hooray! Hooray! Down with the Corporate Fascists everywhere

the world! We can do it here, too! And if it weren't for Diebold and ES&S, it wouldn't even be close!

Have heart! Get busy!

--------------

SOME RESOURCES FOR AMERICAN REVOLUTION II:

Hopeful signs - latest news:

California voters sue the state over Diebold:
www.VoterAction.org is suing the state of California and 18 Calif county registrars on behalf of 25 California voter/plaintiffs, on the illegal Diebold "certification" by Schwarzenegger appointee Bruce McPherson.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2180496
Seven of these counties just promised the judge they would use PAPER BALLOTS, and were dismissed from this lawsuit (4/27/06).
http://kcbs.com/pages/29285.php
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2249205

Maryland rejects Diebold:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x418263

Florida - anti-trust accusations against Diebold, ES&S and Sequoia, re: heroic Florida election official Ion Sancho:
(FLA AG subpoenas the companies)
http://www.computerworld.com/governmenttopics/government/legalissues/story/0,10801,110192,00.html
http://www.tbo.com/news/politics/MGBKSY8W8LE.html
(info & discussion)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2183630

Utah county clerk fights back!
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x419226

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More resources for American Revolution II:

www.votersunite.org (MythBreakers - easy primer on electronic voting--one of the myths is that HAVA requires electronic voting; it does not.)
www.UScountvotes.org (statistical monitoring of '06 and '08 elections--they need donations)


(Activist sites with links to state activist groups or info)
www.votetrustusa.org (news of this great movement from around the country)
www.votersunited.org (good general info, and state links)
www.verifiedvoting.org (great activist site)
www.solarbus.org/election/index.shtml (fab compendium of all election info)

www.freepress.org (devoted to election reform)
www.bradblog.com (also great, and devoted to election reform)
www.TruthIsAll.net (analysis of the 2004 election)* :patriot: :applause: :patriot:
www.votepa.us (well-organized local group of citizen activists in Pennsylvania, where important legal issues are at stake, including state's rights over election systems)
Provisions of the PA lawsuit:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x423739

The Voter Confidence Resolution
http://tinyurl.com/rlnr2 (“We Do Not Consent”)
http://guvwurld.blogspot.com (GuvWurld blog main page)
http://tinyurl.com/amryg (Voter Confidence Resolution

www.debrabowen.com (Calif Senator running for Sec of State to reform election system)
www.johnbonifaz.com (running for Massachusetts Sec of State on strong election reform and antiwar platform)

*Some tributes to TruthIsAll, who is very ill:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x417007
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x417231
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x675477

Congressional bills:

Russ Holt's HR 550 requires a real paper ballot, bans secret software in "voting machines", and has more than 170 co-sponsors, but the audit required is too weak, it promotes electronic voting and centralized power, and the secret software might be permitted to continue in the central tabulators (the bill is not clear). To sign the HR 550 petition: http://www.rushholt.com/petition.html
At lot of discussion at DU of the loopholes/pitfalls in HR 550:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x422926
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x421136
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=203&topic_id=422967&mesg_id=422967
(Note: Senate Bill-SB 330 and House-HR704 simply require a "voter verified paper audit trail" (VVPAT), which may be best for the moment.)


Also of interest:

Michael Collins (Autorank)'s searing election reform article for New Zealand's Scoop.com
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x971363

Bob Koehler (-- four recent election reform initiatives in Ohio, predicted to win by 60/40 votes, flipped over, on election day, into 60/40 LOSSES!--the biggest flipover we've seen yet; the election theft machines and their masters are now dictating election policy! Title: "Poll Shock" 11/24/05)
http://commonwonders.com/archives/col321.htm

Bob Koehler's latest: "Trust us: Take this box and stuff it" (3/16/06)
http://commonwonders.com/archives/col337.htm
More Koehler:
www.tmsfeatures.com/tmsfeatures/subcategory.jsp?file=20051124ctnbk-a.txt&catid=1824&code=ctnbk

Amaryllis (Diebold, ES&S, Sequoia lavish lobbying of election officials - Beverly Hilton, Aug. '05)
www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x380340

HOWARD DEAN remarks on electronic voting machines 04/06
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x994507

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Throw Diebold, ES&S and ALL election theft machines into 'Boston Harbor' NOW!

:think: :patriot: :woohoo: :patriot: :think:

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"That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it." --Thomas Jefferson, The Declaration of Independence

[Ecumenist]

8. Gee, that's mighty nice of him

How gracious of his to vacate the seat that no longer belongs to him. Wish we could get rid of the losers here.

[Fridays Child]

10. Maybe we can get him to give B*sh the same advice.

If only. x(

[Poll_Blind]

11. You can't resign if you WERE FIRED, Silvio. n/t

PB

[Judi Lynn]

12. Does anyone remember Republican idiots stood in front of Al Gore's

residence, when he was still living at the Vice Presidential house at the end of 2000, when he was STILL legally the Vice President, and yelled "Get out of Cheney's house?"

What devine grace we've seen from these right-wing "people." ~ shudder ~

[Hand]

13. Arrivederci, bay-bee!

Don't let the porta hit you in the culo on yer way out.

(Apologies if my vulgar EyeTalian ain't up to snuff.)