It has happened. Despite his kicking and screaming that he is the
victim of a coup d'etat promulgated by "red judges", Silvio Berlusconi,
77, was today voted out of the Italian Senate, in a tense roll-call vote late
Wednesday afternoon. "It is a day of mourning for democracy," he declared.
But it is also the opening gambit in a future election campaign, and already
his party, Forza Italia, has formally quit the governing coalition headed by
Premier Enrico Letta of the Partito Democratico (PD).