Marco Travaglio
Ad personam

One wonders: "But damn, is it possible that such a revealing and uncomfortable book should only come to light thanks to Gruber's promotion on Otto e Mezzo?" And on the other hand: "But why do I always find myself being informed about Vespa's latest releases when I could easily do without them?"
Certainly, the marketing system in Italy is indeed curious... it feels as if everything in this country is upside down compared to the rest of the world.

It is as if we were constantly under a magnifying glass that worries about enlarging what is small and insignificant, making it visible even to the blind, and consequently reducing what really matters to mere... uncomfortable dots. Fortunately, this bizarre mechanism does not discourage those who are the only remaining heroes who, openly, continue to carry on their solitary battle, without retreating a single step.
A very long and daring step, but not without foundation, is the one taken by Sir Marco Travaglio, in his new poignant release. A release whose very title makes even those who would never expect to find themselves in the crosshairs of our unfailing sniper itch under their armpits: the left-wing political class. Yes, folks, because it's not only our brave Knight who has reduced the democratic system to a private tool to be used when in trouble, but also the unsuspected leftists have added their part.
Here, dear Italian people, we witness the uncovering step by step of sepulchral cavities that were not even thought to exist. With that irony and sarcastic vein that characterizes him, Montanelli's heir X-rays every single legislative measure enacted (or missed by a hair) by the governments of the beautiful country since 1994, a fateful date of the entry into the field of the "Biscione" (thus the anointed of the Lord is desecrated in the pages of the book) and from which the political polarity of those who have "governed" us has been different, shamelessly revealing the numerous pitfalls hidden behind the laws, even those that might have seemed entirely harmless, so that one might even say: "Wow, this law seems to be made just for me, I really needed it, it's positive"; only it's often those Marco calls in his book the "excellent defendants" or "honorable defendants" who pronounce this phrase of satisfaction, using this expression to refer to parliamentarians, ex-parliamentarians, politicians under investigation, convicted in some level of judgment, or even definitively convicted who creatively serve their sentence occupying a seat in parliament, as well as then the super-protected white collars.

The "ad personam" legislative path starts from the analysis of the Biondi decree of the first Berlusconi government (1994-1996) which, - as the meticulous journalist recalls in the preface of his book, had not been included in the list of ad personam laws made known by the newspapers, from which he drew to reconstruct his detailed repertoire - up to the latest cases of bills that have been passed or whose actual willingness to approve has only been announced, or perhaps it's better to say "threatened," like the law on wiretapping, the tax shield, the housing plan, and the short trial. The legislative span examined goes from 1994 to the early 2010s. It is important to remember that all judicial information found in the book is the result of a frantic and meticulous consultation of the prosecutors' archives carried out by our journalist-detective.

Finally, it might be enlightening to indicate some of the reasons why, in my humble opinion, reading this book is highly recommended: raising awareness of our critical approach towards the political life of our country with a consequent renewed awareness of the implications of our choices when we go to the polls, and a clear perception (with examples of practical applications!) of what today is such a marginalized, mistreated, and emptied concept of meaning, such as the "conflict of interest," an anomaly that to this day brings our democracy to its knees.