The “Cricket’s Song” serves as a metaphor for the aging founder who makes one last, desperate crowing in a henhouse that has grown indifferent to his supposed power. After all, by continuously treating his followers as if they were all worth the same—meaning nothing in particular—they have eventually organized themselves. Especially since there is one who counts more than the others, and his name is Conte. It has long been clear that the M5S is now his party, a point we’ve reiterated in various ways. We have already detailed the pieces and ideas lost by the Grillini from their rise to glory until now, along with the conflicts, schisms, and people relocated elsewhere.
Now, as the reckoning approaches—or rather, the bill—everything boils down to a note about a €300,000 consultancy fee revoked from the Elevated One. That gentleman, aptly named Conte, has gotten to the point following the subject of a second term. “Let’s save that money from the party’s account; giving it to Grillo is no longer of any use.” Beppe’s staff denies such a disastrous report for their wallets, but we are already beyond scraps, as the popular saying goes. The party stands at 11%, a third of its glorious 2018 figure, and these squabbles do not interest the voters. Rightly so—there are zero ideas, zero real politics, zero nobility. The Cricket’s song fades into the void, and we would prefer not to see the old founder on TV, claiming his past merits— which he certainly had—by waving money like the infamous marquis.
