Moments after a Milan attacker hurled a rock-hard souvenir into Silvio Berlusconi's face, the dazed and bloodied Prime Minister stood up on the edge of his car so the crowd could get a good look. An aide would later say that Berlusconi, 73, instinctively wanted to assure everyone that he was all right. You might also imagine that the embattled leader was eager for the world to see that - thanks to his haters - he was in fact not all right.
Italian police have identified Massimo Tartaglia, 42, as the alleged attacker. Tartaglia's father told Italy's Sky News 24 that his son had a long history of mental illness and was not a political activist. Still, one could hardly describe the act as "isolated." The political climate in the country is edgier than ever, and Berlusconi's love-him-or-hate-him effect on the electorate has only grown stronger over the past eight months in the wake of a sex scandal and renewed legal battles. Last month, Interior Minister Roberto Maroni demanded that Facebook disable a user page called "Killing Berlusconi" that had attracted thousands of friends and fans in just a few weeks.
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