Silvio assailed by the Mob and the masses

More than 350,000 people took part in "No-B Day", a demonstration calling for the resignation of PM Silvio Berlusconi, initiated, among others, by bloggers and ex-prosecutor Antonio di Pietro's party, Italia dei Valori. Il Fatto Quotidiano, traditionally a fierce adversary of Berlusconi, acclaims the "new energy" embodied by the young who marched in Rome, "a lost generation, without work nor prospects in a country led by an embittered, indifferent power.” Il Manifesto echoes this view: “A new generation comes of age, one that didn’t take part in 1968 or has never been involved in the main parties but still wants a voice". Obviously, Berlusconi-owned Il Giornale takes a contrary view. "They want to drag him in the dust", runs its editorial, not before making an extraordinary associative leap and claiming that the demonstrators "inadvertently have became picciotti” (mafia associates). This is a wild reference to declarations by Mafia informer Gaspare Spatuzza, who has recently accused Berlusconi of signing deals with the mob. According to Il Giornale, Spatuzza's attacks are aimed at breaking the governments anti-mafia drive, which in recent months led to the arrest of several clan chiefs.