If we don't wake up to the poison being spread by ignorant, illiterate redneck nuts, we may find outselves with the American equivalent of new Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

Convicted four times of perjury, falsifying financial records, tax offenses and bribery, Berlusconi has a shady record with several criminal indictments still pending.

He was voted into office despite allegations of Mafia connections and questions about how he acquired his personal fortune (which he used to buy all three of his country's national networks).

A flamboyant demagogue with extremist friends, Berlusconi previously led a populist coalition that openly embraced racist and neofascist parties. The Italian gangster-turned-media-mogul-tu rned politician compares himself to to Napoleon and delights in ridiculing AIDS victims.

Berlusconi out-spent his opponents 20-1. The "news" broadcasts on Berlusconi's networks were so scandalously partial they were almost indistinguishable from his campaign advertising. Much like FOX's network "news," in other words.

Only 20% of Italians subscribe to a daily newspaper.