Look, Meloni’s government is far right but people are talking as though Italy had a choice to begin with. Even if Italy had been run by a socialist party, it still doesn’t have a choice.

The war in Ukraine has permanently severed Europe’s economic ties with Eurasia. This is America’s sanctions against Europe. This is America’s disciplining and punishing Europe for even trying something like building the Nord Stream pipelines.

The loss of Russian gas supply has crippled both Germany and Italy’s economies, both of whose manufacturing industries had heavily depended on cheap supply of Russian natural gas. The bombing of Nord Stream pipelines further drove home the fact that America would never allow Europe to break free of its grips.

Europe now lacks energy sovereignty, its fossil fuel supply is controlled by the US, its defense (NATO) is fully dependent on America’s funding, its currency has significantly weakened against the dollar (which is what most commodities are priced in), reducing its capacity to import and transition towards alternative (green) energy systems, and is now on the way towards permanent de-industrialization.

There is quite literally nothing Europe can do to get out of the crisis. If America cuts off energy supply to Europe, it’s game over for them. We are talking about severe economic depression when you have a deficit in fuel and electricity, which further cripples logistics, manufacturing, agriculture and basic infrastructure in the country. The quality of life is going to fall off the cliff if they even dare to think about doing something stupid.

All the far right nationalists in Europe, if they ever win an election in their countries, will find themselves in the same situation as Italy’s Meloni.

People like to make fun of Dark Brandon, but he really is one of the most ruthless presidents out there.