He who wounds by the sword perishes by the sword, one might say. Or refer to the Ides of March, to Caesar stabbed by Brutus (“tu quoque fili mi”) and Cassius. However one interprets it, the Musolino-De Luca affair will remain imprinted in the annals of Messina’s political history in recent decades. There are countless ideas for thinking out loud.
In the meantime, let’s clear up any misunderstandings: we must stop with any reference that is, or may appear to be, an act of sexism. We can’t take it anymore. De Luca often falls for it, even if he later declares that it is the others who misunderstand and exploit his words. What happened during the previous electoral campaign, with the attacks on the Messina deputy Matilde Siracusano, was and remains unacceptable.
But on that very occasion, Dafne Musolino, in the front row among the “praetorians” of the “dux Cateno”, said nothing. He was not scandalized, he did not tear his clothes. The whole political adventure that saw the senator alongside De Luca – not only as a militant in the party-movement created by the mayor of Taormina and former mayor of Fiumedinisi, Santa Teresa and Messina, but truly as one of the strategic minds and the most faithful implementers of the programs and directives – took place in the political-media direction desired by its “boss”. De Luca’s main virtue, or vice, is consistency. It is as we have known it since the beginning of her adventure, from the rallies in her town square to those held in front of the Cathedrals of Messina or Taormina. For better or for worse. More or less everyone, obviously especially the opponents, have fallen into the trap of the disorderly, often trivial and hateful, but always studied and scientifically calculated attacks of the “Catemoto” (to quote the title of the book written by Emilio Pintaldi). All of this went well for Dafne Musolino until a few days ago. Her election also took place thanks to those methods, which have always produced, at the polls, surprising, sometimes sensational, results. Like the arrival in the Senate and the Chamber of two former councilors of the De Luc Councilto.
Politics is made of choices. Insults should always stay out of it. But people also ask for a minimum of coherence when making a pact with voters. Yes, coherence… a commodity that, at any level, is becoming increasingly rare.