Word: berlusconi
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...summit was originally going to be held in Sardinia on the island of Maddalena, in a beautiful seaside resort town. On April 23, less than three weeks after the earthquake that left tens of thousands homeless, Prime Minister Berlusconi announced that the meeting would be moved to L’Aquila. He said the purpose of the change was to divert funds away from preparing the lavish accommodations in Sardinia and towards the relief effort, as well as to bring international attention to the tragedy. Berlusconi’s critics suggested that the real reason for the move was that...
...foreign leader to get hurt in a quake at the G8 summit. Seriously, Italy appears to be falling apart at the seams: Last week 22 people were killed in a tragic train accident that almost certainly could have been prevented by better controlling techniques, and for over two months Berlusconi has been under attack for his sex life. Not to mention the fact that Irish pop-singer-turned-activist Bob Geldof virulently criticized Italy’s Prime Minister for only delivering three percent of the international aid it had promised to give...
...lead the G8? Where is your credibility?” the former lead singer of the Boomtown Rats asked Berlusconi in a face-to-face exchange published in Sunday’s edition of Italian newspaper La Stampa (the issue was co-edited by Geldof). Like a chastised school boy, Berlusconi clenched his fists and apologized, promising to do better next time...
...certainly won’t help Italy’s credibility if the ground starts shaking in L’Aquila just as Air Force One touches down. Berlusconi knows that; Italy’s prime minister is a lot of things, but a dummy he ain’t. He must genuinely think that nothing will happen—a shocking case of hubris. Sure, politicians often believe they are invincible, that the laws of man don’t apply to them. Berlusconi is no exception, but this arrogance is a different kind of beast. It appears that...
...Berlusconi is wrong. He is in serious trouble because of the current sex scandal, which now involves accusations that a big-time cocaine dealer was present at many of the Villa Certosa festivities. When he visited the site of the recent train accident, he was greeted by shouts of “Clown!” Berlusconi’s attempts to assert his power, his determined hubris, now seems not only pathetic, but also politically and literally dangerous...