If Ann Coulter Ran for President

I noted that the book I got on Italy in WW2 seemed pretty apologetic. It also seems some Italians are pretty damn "liberal" when it comes to fascism in general... admittedly Mussolini was not all that bad as far as dictators go (he's no Stalin, Mao or Hitler), but still. One of the newspapers I got off the subway says of an interview with Daniela Santanche who introduces it with "the prime ministerial candidate for La Destra (a right-wing party independent of Berlusconi's coalition) attacks Fini (another right-wing politician), Berlusconi and immigrants in the name of traditional values."

She is divorced (funny how all the defenders of old-school values always seem pretty new-school themselves) but has kept her ex-husband's name because she had it for 20 years and "it's a brand, like Coca Cola." She seems to be in conflict with most of the rest of the right-wing, including granddaughter of the big M himself, Alessandra Mussolini (who claims Santanche does not represent the 'true right').

Santanche says she believes in "God, country and family." She claims to be a fascist if that means "to be strongly against the cultural hegemony of the left". She famously acted on those beliefs by publicly flipping off some students she claimed were unpatriotic.

When asked whether she would prove her fascist credentials by joining with Alessandra Mussolini, she said her ambition was higher: to be a "leader of the people". (capopopolo)

Santanche is also, incidentally, Italy's first female candidate for Prime Minister (way to be a 'first'!). So where other countries had Thatcher, Indira Gandhi, Hillary, Merkel and Segolene.. here we have this fine pair of legs.