Giorgia Meloni and Common Sense

Giorgia Meloni, leader of the Fratelli d'Italia (Brothers of Italy) speaks at a press conference at the party electoral headquarters overnight in Rome, Italy, on Sept. 26, 2022. The snap election was triggered by the resignation of Prime Minister Mario Draghi in July, following the collapse of his big-tent coalition of leftist, right-wing, and centrist parties. Antonio Masiello/Getty Images

Commentary

Toward the beginning of “Nineteen Eighty-Four,” George Orwell has his unhappy protagonist Winston Smith jot down what he describes as an “axiom.”