Get your hands off General Graziano: one of us!

(To Andrea Cucco)
03/10/17

The wounds in the pride of (almost) all of the staff of the Chief of Defense for critiques expressed by his reader in this newspaper a few weeks back are still fresh - they concerned the failure to nominate at the NATO summit, v.lettera - that new ones arrive.

In particular, the latter would concern the allegedly low level of familiarity with General Graziano's English language.

What happened?

Yesterday - not even to do it at the end of a ceremony at Born in Defense College - our chief of staff of the Defense, would have made a spelling mistake in the thank you left in the book signed by the visiting authorities (v.comunicato).

"Espress" instead of "express" the single term reported by many. One letter!

This newspaper has always tried to give a voice to any reader - in the light of the right (so far "constitutional") of criticism - who would like to share news, information or even simple opinions useful for democratic life. In this case, however, we must stand firmly on the side of the general. And for various reasons:

- Italians are the last to be able to move criticism of the correct use of foreign languages ​​(we are globally famous for our language inaccessibility, English in the first place);

- a single wrong letter, in a single word, in a text of dozens of words puts the head of SMD in the high and cultured average of the country - personally I would have (perhaps) guessed a single letter, not the other way around;

- American coffee sucks, as do not consider the desire during the encounter of a very Italian "espresso" (freudian lapsus then?);

- Sometimes the pen does not write for a moment;

- even if it was a mistake, the positive return in the image of an austere, detached and severe commander is immense: it makes the officer the genuine head of the national defense, the Italian one, the one who is not ashamed of his own limits in front of to jocks who mimic Oxfordian accents to feel more international and perhaps more suitable to please the true master of the Alliance.

In this last perspective it is possible that the familiarity with the English language has favored General Peach in being preferred to his Italian colleague. What the heck is he British, I wanted to hear him speak Italian!

So, in the light of what happened, I prefer to think that the head of our Defense was discriminated against, not for other "supposed" (v.articolo) logical characteristics of the 'Italian way. The look of General Whitecross, who looks pleased (photo opening) goes to worried (photo below) and finally embarrassed in the last photo (at the bottom), it can be proved again.

General Graziano, hoping to be able to represent the voice of the majority of 200.000 monthly readers Online Defense, I want to say, "WE ARE ALL WITH YOU, if you know the criticisms!"

And devote one song...

(photo: Born / Defense)