ITALY: Victory for Modernity

In Milan and Florence, thousands of happy demonstrators poured into downtown piazzas. Euphoric banner-waving crowds jammed Rome's streets, blocking traffic and filling the huge Piazza Navona. In the Eternal City's working-class trattorias, flasks of Frascati white wine were broken out in celebration, while champagne corks popped merrily at Harry's Bar on the Via Veneto. Such an outpouring of emotion in Italy is usually reserved for the end of wars or the victories of national soccer teams. Last week's cheering, however, was a response to the outcome of the strangest—and perhaps one...