In Italy, where they are still trying to elect a president, votes have been cast for a rock singer, the daughter of Italy’s last king, and for St. Pio of Pietrelcina who is better known as Padre Pio.
"With no hope of immediately electing a president, lawmakers have been throwing away votes for the past two days while party leaders negotiate a consensus candidate. A secret ballot has allowed them to get creative.
"For one elector, the political deadlock offered a rare chance to vote for Padre Pio, a 20th century mystic monk who had the stigmata — bleeding wounds in the hands and feet similar to those of Christ — and was made a saint in 2002.
"The speaker of Italy’s lower house of parliament immediately annulled the ballot paper. Padre Pio died in 1968."
Italy’s current scramble for a president kind of reminds me of California’s 2003 recall election, in which candidates included everyone from former child star Gary Coleman ("Diff’rent Strokes") to porn pusher Larry Flynt (Hustler) to the eventual winner, muscleman turned movie star turned Kennedy kin Arnold Schwarzenegger. The only difference is that the votes in the California election were not a joke but all too real.
Reminds me of St. Olaf Haraldsson (patron saint of Norway), who had a vision (while still a Viking marauder) that he would be King of Norway forever.
Now, that’s a switch.
Usually its dead people mysteriously voting for real candidates, rather than the reverse.
I hear the dead are an especially important voting bloc in Chicago, but we have them here in Arkansas, too.
But I don’t really want to start thinking about elections. Already, the prospect of the next presidential race gives me a headache.
I can’t think about that right now. If I do, I’ll go crazy. I’ll think about that tomorrow…
The Presidency of Italy is comparable in power to the Queen of England, but without the expensive props.
My understanding is that the ex-communist has by now won.
PVO
“–and was made a saint in 2002.” Uh, no, he was made a saint, by God’s Grace, during the years he walked the earth; he became a saint when he died and went to heaven; he was officially declared a saint in 2002. (Reuters, sheesh!)