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...Berlusconi is letting his lawyers do the talking. Niccolo Ghedini, who is the Prime Minister's longtime attorney and an Italian Member of Parliament, told the Ansa news agency that it was illegal to post the recordings, which in any case were "totally unlikely and a product of the imagination." Still, the Prime Minister must figure out how to definitively change the story line, even as most in Italy assume that more revelations are likely to emerge. Here are five ways Berlusconi can escape his bedroom...
...Attack: Berlusconi has blamed L'Espresso and its sister newspaper La Repubblica of having a personal vendetta against him and has publicly told advertisers to deny business to the publications. Presenting himself as a victim of the press is an old tactic with an ironic twist, since the Prime Minister personally owns huge swaths of the Italian media. Still, it's becoming increasingly harder for Berlusconi to convince supporters that his opponents are simply making this all up. (Read "Berlusconi Under Attack - from His Wife...
...Revel in it: "Italians like me as I am," Berlusconi stated a month ago. That's true. The Prime Minister has an incredible ability to embody certain values that Italians see in themselves. They also like that he defies what many see as the hypocritical moralizing of his opponents. Remember, Berlusconi is at his most powerful when he is at his most entertaining...
...Repent: La Repubblica reports that Berlusconi may sell his palatial properties in Rome and Sardinia, where the alleged trysts took place. The Prime Minister has already said a chunk of his August vacation will be spent near the decidedly less glamorous L'Aquila, continuing efforts to rebuild the city (and his image) after the April earthquake. Some have even suggested that he may make a pilgrimage to the revered Italian saint Padre Pio as a way to respond to Catholic criticism of his behavior. Can you say Santo Silvio? (See pictures of Padre Pio's saintly return...
...Bulgaria's incoming Prime Minister, Boyko Borisov can assume copious congratulations when he takes up the reins of government on July 23. Less welcome, however, is what he received on the eve of his investiture: a report effectively designating Bulgaria the most corrupt and crime-ridden member of the European Union. And for good measure, it warned that Bulgaria, already the E.U.'s poorest member state, could slip under the sway of Russia if it fails to turn itself around...