Beppe Grillo, one of the most successful bloggers in the world (last time I checked his blog was number 11 in the world by traffic) descends in Italy's confusing political arena. In what many had been considering a unavoidable move, following a ten-year-long campaign against the immorality of italian politics, the presence of convicted felons in the parliament, the monopoly of media of Berlusconi, and the pollution and cementification of his country, Grillo broadcast his decision in his blog today, as follows:

Il 25 ottobre ci saranno le primarie del PDmenoelle. Voterà ogni potenziale elettore. Chi otterrà più voti potrà diventare il successore di gente del calibro di Franceschini, Fassino e Veltroni. Io mi candiderò. Dalla morte di Enrico Berlinguer nella sinistra c'è il Vuoto. Un Vuoto di idee, di proposte, di coraggio, di uomini. Una sinistra senza programmi, inciucista, radicata solo nello sfruttamento delle amministrazioni locali. Muta di fronte alla militarizzazione di Vicenza e all'introduzione delle centrali nucleari. Alfiere di inceneritori e della privatizzazione dell'acqua. Un mostro politico, nato dalla sinistra e finito in Vaticano. La stampella di tutti i conflitti di interesse. Una creatura ambigua che ha generato Consorte, Violante, D'Alema, riproduzioni speculari e fedeli dei piduisti che affollanno la corte dello psiconano. [...] Una galleria di anime morte, preoccupate della loro permanenza al potere. [...]
Io mi candido, sarò il quarto con Franceschini, Bersani e Marino. Partecipo per rifondare un movimento che ha tolto ogni speranza di opposizione a questo Paese, per offrire un'alternativa al Nulla. [...]

My quick-and-dirty translation:

On October 25th the primaries of PD-L will take place [TN: PDL is Berlusconi's party; PD, the democratic party, is called "PD minus L" by Grillo]. Every potential Italian elector will vote. Who obtains more votes has a chance of becoming the successor of people of the caliber of Franceschini, Fassino and Veltroni. I will candidate myself. Since the death of Enrico Berlinguer, there is a Void in the Left. A Void of ideas, of proposals, of courage, of men. A let without programs, appeasing, radicated only in the exploitation of local administrations. Speechless in front of the militarization of Vicenza and the introduction of nuclear plants. Supporter of incinerators and privatization of water. A political monster, born from the left and ended in the Vatican. The crutch of all the conflicts of interest. An ambiguous creature, which generated Consorte, Violante, D'Alema, specular and faithful reproductions of P2 masonry members who crowd the court of the psycho-dwarf [TN: that is the way Berlusconi is addressed by Grillo in his blog]. [...] A gallery of dead souls, worried about their permanence in power. [...]
I candidate myself, I will be the fourth with Franceschini, Bersani, and Marino. I participate to re-found a movement which has stolen any hope of opposition to this country, to offer an alternative to the Void.

Alas, can I have a normal country ? After Berlusconi, Grillo ? After a media tycoon with a large wallet, am I ready to be governed by a stand-up comedian with a large ego? I think Grillo has some interesting ideas, and some merits - he fought important campaigns in the past through his blog. But I would rather have a normal country, where politicians are women and men who dedicated their life to this noble cause, and not quick-mouthed dilettantes. If Grillo is the only anti-Berlusconi which we are left with after the retirement of Romano Prodi from the political scene, I will not object -the Democratic Party has a transparent method to elect their leader-, but I fear this is a no-way-back road away from politics the way it should be, and I am very worried. This is a road toward populism, away from democracy.