Thread 507941648

Gentlemen!

The speech I am about to deliver before you perhaps cannot be, strictly speaking, classified as a parliamentary speech. It may be that some of you will find, in the end, that this speech ties back—though some time has passed—to the one I gave in this very hall on November 16.
A speech of this kind may or may not lead to a political vote. Let it be known, in any case, that I do not seek such a vote. I do not desire it: I’ve had too many.
Article 47 of the Statute says: “The Chamber of Deputies has the right to accuse the Ministers of the King and to bring them before the High Court of Justice.”
I formally ask whether anyone in this Chamber, or outside of it, wishes to invoke Article 47.

My speech will therefore be very clear—so clear as to bring about complete clarification.
You understand that, after having walked for a long time with travel companions to whom, by the way, our gratitude is always due for what they did, it is now necessary to pause and ask whether the same path, with the same companions, can still be traveled in the future.

It is I, gentlemen, who raise the charge against myself in this Chamber.

They have said that I founded a Cheka [a secret police force, like the Soviet one].
Where? When? How? No one can say. There was certainly a Cheka in Russia, which executed between 150,000 and 160,000 people without trial, according to nearly official statistics. There was a Cheka in Russia that systematically terrorized the bourgeoisie and its individuals—a Cheka that called itself the red sword of the revolution. But an Italian Cheka never existed.

>>507941648 (OP)
No one has ever denied me these three qualities: decent intelligence, a lot of courage, and a complete disdain for money.
Had I founded a Cheka, I would have done so following the principles I have always placed as a boundary around the kind of violence that cannot be removed from history.
I have always said—and those who have followed me through these five years of harsh struggle will recall—that violence, to be decisive, must be surgical, intelligent, and chivalrous.
But the actions of this so-called Cheka were always unintelligent, disorganized, and stupid.

Do you really believe that I could have ordered, the day after Christmas—a day when all hearts are drawn to kindness and compassion—an attack at ten in the morning on Via Francesco Crispi in Rome, after having just delivered the most conciliatory speech I had ever given during my time in government?

Spare me, gentlemen, from believing me to be so stupid.

And did I plan with the same idiocy the lesser attacks on Misuri and Forni?

You surely remember my speech on June 7. That was a week of heated political passion when the minority and majority in this Chamber clashed daily—so much so that some despaired of restoring the necessary political and civil coexistence between the two sides of the Chamber.

>>507941689
You surely remember my speech on June 7. That was a week of heated political passion when the minority and majority in this Chamber clashed daily—so much so that some despaired of restoring the necessary political and civil coexistence between the two sides of the Chamber.

There was an exchange of harsh speeches from both sides. Then, on June 6, Hon. Delcroix, with his lyrical and passionate speech, tore through the stormy atmosphere.

The next day, I gave a speech that cleared the air completely. I told the opposition: I acknowledge your ideals and even your practical rights. You may surpass Fascism as a historical experience; you are free to criticize every one of the government's decisions.

I still recall the vision of this side of the Chamber, where everyone listened closely, knowing I had just spoken deeply meaningful words—words that defined the necessary conditions for coexistence, without which no political assembly is possible.

>>507941823
How, after such a success—let me say it without false modesty—how, after a success so overwhelming that even the opposition admitted it, could I, without being insane, think to have committed not just a crime, but even the smallest insult to that adversary, whom I respected for his boldness and courage—qualities that resembled my own?

What was I supposed to do?
Only those with the brains of a cricket could expect me, in that moment, to carry out acts of cynicism that I did not feel, because they are repugnant to the depths of my conscience—or acts of force.

Force? Against whom? For what purpose?
When I think of such people, I remember those strategists who, during the war, made their plans with pins on maps, while we were eating mud in the trenches.
But when one is at the actual seat of command and responsibility, things are seen under a different light and take on a different form.
And yet, I have had many occasions to demonstrate my energy. I have never been less than equal to the events.

>>507941873
I dissolved a revolt of the Royal Guards in 12 hours. In a few days, I suppressed a treacherous sedition. In 48 hours, I moved an infantry division and half the fleet to Corfu.
These acts of energy—even the last one amazed one of the greatest generals of a friendly nation—show that it is not energy that I lack.

The death penalty? Gentlemen, you must be joking!
First of all, we would have to reintroduce the death penalty into the Penal Code—and even then, capital punishment cannot be an act of governmental reprisal.
It must be applied only after due process—extremely rigorous process—when the life of a citizen is at stake!

It was at the end of that month—one that has left a deep mark on my life—that I said:

"I want peace for the Italian people, and I want to restore normal political life."

>>507941905
And how was this principle of mine received?
First with the Aventine secession—unconstitutional and overtly revolutionary.
Then came a press campaign that lasted through June, July, and August—filthy and miserable, a campaign that dishonored us for three months.
The most fantastic, most gruesome, and macabre lies were spread widely across all newspapers. There was a real obsession with the dead.
They investigated even what was underground; they made things up; they knew they were lying—and still they lied!

I remained calm and composed through the storm—one that will be remembered by those who come after us with a sense of deep shame.
And the result of that campaign? On September 11, someone tried to avenge the murdered man by shooting one of our best men, who died poor—with sixty lire in his pocket.

Yet I continued in my effort to normalize.
I repressed illegal behavior. I speak truthfully when I say that, even now, hundreds of Fascists are in prison.
It is also true that I reopened Parliament on the scheduled date and that the budgets were discussed as usual.
It is true that the Militia took their oath and that all the zone commanders were regularly appointed.

Eventually came before us a matter that stirred passions: the request for authorization to prosecute and the resulting resignation of Hon. Giunta.
The Chamber erupted. I understood the meaning of this rebellion. Yet within 48 hours, I again bent this unruly assembly to my will, using my prestige and influence.
I said:

>>507941933
"Let the resignation be accepted" — and it was.

But that still wasn’t enough. I made one last effort to restore normalcy: the proposal for electoral reform.
And how was that received? With an even more intense campaign.
They cried:

“Fascism is a horde of barbarians encamped upon the Nation—a movement of bandits and marauders!”

And then, gentlemen, they staged a moral question!
We know all too well the sad history of so-called moral questions in Italy.
But then, gentlemen, what butterflies are we hoping to find beneath the Arch of Titus?

Well then, I declare here, before this Assembly and before the entire Italian people:

I alone assume the political, moral, and historical responsibility for everything that has happened.

If my distorted or incomplete phrases are enough to hang a man—then bring out the pole and the rope!

If Fascism has been nothing but castor oil and clubs—and not instead a magnificent passion of Italy’s best youth—then blame me!

If Fascism has been a criminal conspiracy, if all acts of violence were the result of a certain historical, political, and moral climate—then I am responsible, because I created that climate through propaganda reaching from the time of Italy’s intervention in the war to this very day.

>>507941955
In these past days, not only Fascists, but many ordinary citizens have been asking:

“Is there a government?
Do these men have dignity—as men?
Do they have any dignity as a government?”

I was the one who wanted things to reach this extreme point.
The life experience I have gained over these six months is rich indeed.

I tested the Party—just as one taps certain metals with a small hammer to determine their strength, I tested the metal of certain men.
I saw what they were worth and for what reasons, at a certain point—when the wind turned uncertain—they slipped away at the first side road.

I tested myself. And mind you, I would not have resorted to the current measures unless the interests of the Nation were at stake.

A people will not respect a government that allows itself to be insulted.
The people want their own dignity reflected in the dignity of their government.
And the people—before I said it—had already said:

“Enough! This has gone far enough!”

And why had it gone too far?

Because the Aventine secession had a republican agenda behind it.

This Aventinian sedition has had consequences:
Today in Italy, being a Fascist still means risking one’s life.

In the months of November and December alone, eleven Fascists were murdered—
One had his head crushed until it was like a bloody wafer;
Another, a 73-year-old man, was killed and thrown from a wall.

>>507942057
When two sides are locked in an irreconcilable struggle, the solution—
as always in history—is force.
There has never been another solution, and there never will be.

Now I dare say the problem will be resolved.
Fascism—both Government and Party—is fully operational.

Gentlemen, you deceived yourselves!
You thought Fascism was finished just because I was restraining it,
That the Party was dead because I was disciplining it—
And worse, because I had the cruelty to say so openly.

If I had used even a hundredth of the energy I used to restrain Fascism to unleash it—
Oh, you would see then…

But there will be no need for that—
Because the Government is strong enough to crush the Aventine sedition completely and definitively.

Italy, gentlemen, wants peace. It wants tranquility. It wants the calm of productive work.
We shall give it to her—with love, if possible; with force, if necessary.

And you can be sure of this:

Within 48 hours of this speech, the situation will be clarified—across the entire country, as they say.

Because we all know that what is at stake here is not personal ambition,
not the lust for power,
not base passions—
But a love—immense and powerful—
For our country.

>>507941648 (OP)
Hello Travis :)
Still cruising for trans bussy in Colorado? Say hi to Johnny for me.