Posts Tagged ‘Silvio Berlusconi’
Silvio Berlusconi, Italy’s Prime Minister, is left with a bloody nose after an attack.
Is it a riot or climate change talks?
A mystery couple spreads the Christmas spirit.
Thanks to the Guardian, we see some Silvio Berlusconi statuettes with some blood for flare in light of recent events...
This is one of a series of dispatches from our Foreign correspondent currently based in Scotland:
Ahhh… December 17. Almost time for me to resign my post as USDemocrazy Foreign Correspondent in Scotland and return to the ol’ homestead.
Can’t wait to get back to the place I know well, complete with crazy politics, late nights, and unique smells. And that’s just in the USDemocrazy headquarters.
But before coming home, I decided to pop over to Italy to check on things there.
(Editor’s note: The timing with the Recent attack on Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi (Ouch)is purely coincidental)
What was the biggest culture shock going from the UK to Italy? The politics? The people? The food? The language?
Nope — the traffic. …read more.
We at U.S. Democrazy don’t find ourselves on top of a whole lot of lists (unless it’s a list of goofballs). But we’re happy to celebrate those who do!
With that in mind, today we would like to announce… Iceland’s #1!
That’s right! The World Economic Forum recently evaluated countries who have reduced disparities between the genders. The frozen folks in Iceland moved from their No. 4 spot in 2008 to triumphantly snatch the title this year. Congratulations Icelanticons, Icelandators, People of Iceland! …read more.
Thanks to Wikicommons.
Politicians sometimes don’t tell the truth (and we at USDemocrazy are SHOCKED!). Sometimes politicians don’t just lie to the public… but also cheat on their spouses! (SHOCK! HORROR!)
Throughout history, extramarital relationships have tarnished a number of politicians (and entertained legions of their opponents).
For instance, who can forget Bill Clinton’s involvement with Monica Lewinsky, an event that led to his impeachment by the House of Representatives (though the Senate didn’t close the deal)?
And even other past presidents have indulged in an extramarital fling or two (or twelve). President Grover Cleveland’s wayward reputation earned him the political slogan, “Ma, Ma, where’s my Pa? Gone to the White House, ha, ha, ha.”
John Edwards, one-time presidential hopeful in 2008, admitted he lied about an affair. In addition to that misdeed, he is being investigated for money he paid to his mistress’s company.
And now today, there is news of an international affair of state.
The culprit this time is Italy’s playboy prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi. His wife has had it with his paramours and is filing for divorce. The final straw for Mrs. Berlusconi was suave Silvio’s plan to nominate a number of models and actresses, nicknamed “Berlusconi’s Ballot Babes”, for the European Parliament.
How will the Italians take their prime minister’s divorce? Berlusconi probably hopes they react like the French.
French President Sarkozy’s divorce of his wife Cécilia and subsequent marriage to model Carla Bruni was met with a Gallic shrug (it seems the French care less of their politician’s personal lives than we prudish yanks).
Even in America an affair doesn’t always spell the end of a politician’s career. Take former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer (nailed for being Client #9 at a prostitution ring). The kinky cavorter is back in the headlines (and not for unseemly reasons). He has resurfaced as a financial expert (he was known as a watch dog of Wall Street crimes) and now appears as a columnist for Slate Magazine.
Spitzer has bounced back to the point where in a recent poll a majority of New Yorkers would prefer him to current Governor Paterson (the man who replaced Spitzer during the scandal). Talk about a SHOCK!
So it seems that mistakes can be forgiven (at least by the public). Does this shock you?
