Me Myself, your post is just one more in the list of 'trite, uninformed, borderline to offensive' posts.
If I was to mention certain shameful facts about the past and present of some very major countries of this world, including Australia, you would have all the right to tell me to f*ck off. Sure I might be biased as well, but differently from you, I know when to keep my mouth shut and I use respect to any nationality.
Or, to take opposite approach, I could mention many many things that make me proud of being Italian, without even including dead artists or inventors. Still, I think it's irrelevant.
Otterman: you reference to banana republic (just another overused cliche') disqualifies any rational sentence you wrote so far. Quoting Wikipedia "As estimates and assumptions have to be made, the results produced by different organizations for the same country tend to differ, sometimes substantially. PPP figures are estimates rather than hard facts, and should be used with caution".
And please also remember that Berlusconi still has many oppositors just like Bush, Sarkozy, or any other leader have. Respected analists miserably fails when it comes to Italy and other complicated matters, and you expect to do better when in all likeliness you haven't spent more than two weeks here ?
I'm not a nationalist and I criticize my own country a lot, at the same I don't tolerate indiscriminate bashing and general BS that is being spread here.