Say welcome to the new president of EU Mr Berlusconi.

Sardinia · Jun 29, 2003

This is FT's welcome... But the times, le monde, der spiegel, el pais, los angeles times and so on have all presented their "welcome" to the beloved new president of EU Mr. Berlusconi. The living caricature of western democracy.

Why have I the suspect that berlusconi is not only an italian case (and problem)?

Keep on smiling
http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentS...y&c=StoryFT&cid=1054966445246&p=1012571727092

His audience is youthful: immaculately dressed young men and women who rustle in their seats as Berlusconi describes them as "apostles, missionaries, warriors for freedom". What can they make of it all? Few seem to be more than 30 years old. When the Berlin Wall came down, they would have been in their mid-teens. Are they not aware of the relentless decline of the organised working class in Italy, as in the rest of the western world? Don't they know that, between 1948 and 2003, the Italian left has achieved precisely one clear election victory at national level? Have they not gathered that, in a series of convulsions, Italy's powerful Communist Party shed any pretensions to revolution by the 1980s, leaving the diehards in small rump parties with no more than 10 per cent of the vote? Did they not notice that revolution or dictatorship was the last thing on the minds of the three centre-left coalition governments that ruled from 1996 to 2001?

For Berlusconi's purposes, it matters little. The occasion of his speech is, as the organisers have billed it, a "festival of liberty" - an election rally for his ruling Forza Italia party. Next weekend millions of Italians are to vote in regional and municipal polls, and the party activists need a pep talk, buzzwords, an identifiable enemy, not a nuanced analysis of Italian political conditions.

(...)

Sitting in neat rows, wearing identical men's blue blazers or ladies' suits, the well-groomed rank and file of Forza Italia are gathered at Berlusconi's villa like an army of company salespeople. Youth, health, white-toothed smiles, motivation, optimism - these images are as important a component of the rally as Berlusconi's speech: live pictures are being transmitted by satellite to Forza Italia meetings in 126 cities and towns up and down Italy.

For the same reason, what matters about his 45-minute performance is not so much how he projects himself to the audience at his villa, but how the giant screen behind him, one quarter of which is filled with the Forza Italia flag, projects him and his happy supporters to the bigger audience nationwide. It is packaged politics, politics as advertising. We are familiar with that in other democracies. But Berlusconi's version is distinctive. He is reputed to be a master of the televisual medium, possibly the cleverest exponent of "politics as a TV message" in Europe. But on this serene Sunday in May, the blazers and the toothpaste smiles and the glossy giant screen seem to jar with his old-fashioned exhortation to a crusade against communism. As if to illustrate the point, a technical hitch momentarily causes a sound failure. He flashes a smile: out comes one of his stage props - rueful self-deprecation. "For a moment, the left achieved their dream, a leader who works himself up as much as he likes but can't get his message to the people."

Jokes are one of Berlusconi's specialities. There is a story he tells about himself - against himself, one might say - that explains much about why he wins the hearts of some Italians, infuriates others and causes foreign politicians to shake their heads in a sort of smiling, half-nervous disbelief.

At a dinner of world leaders in 1994, during Berlusconi's first stint as prime minister, Boris Yeltsin, the Russian president, was complaining about the failure of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE) to help the Kremlin solve the Chechnya crisis. Carl Bildt, the Swedish leader, turned to Berlusconi and suggested that, since Italy held the CSCE chairmanship, he should explain things to Yeltsin. Plucking up his courage, Berlusconi proceeded to talk in statesman-like fashion for 25 minutes about Chechnya, Europe's future and war.

Suitably impressed, Francois Mitterrand, the French president, told Berlusconi: "Fine, we'll leave it in your hands." When the meal was over, Berlusconi went up to Felipe Gonzalez, the Spanish leader, and asked him: "What is the CSCE, anyway?"

According to Berlusconi himself, Gonzalez started laughing uncontrollably. "He couldn't stop and he ended up sitting on the ground for so long that I had to pick him up," he recalls. (It has to be said that few of Berlusconi's fellow leaders would have been able adequately to describe the rather peculiar talk-shop that was an attempt to create a peace-keeping forum for post-Soviet Europe.)
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Ian McCracken · Jun 29, 2003

Forza Berlusconi!

That article reads like a thinly-veiled attempt to portray Berlusconi as a fascist in the mold of Mussolini, what with all the talk of his followers being "well-groomed, neat rows, disciplined, identical blue blazers, under 30...blah, blah, blah" crap.

BenReilly · Jun 29, 2003

Originally posted by Ian McCracken
Forza Berlusconi!

That article reads like a thinly-veiled attempt to portray Berlusconi as a fascist in the mold of Mussolini, what with all the talk of his followers being "well-groomed, neat rows, disciplined, identical blue blazers, under 30...blah, blah, blah" crap.
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I kind of like Berlusconi, but the Financial Times ain't exactly Pravda. Neither is The Economist, which rountinely bashes him.

Belgian guy · Jun 29, 2003

Berlusconi is a wicked crook with ties with companies that frequently do business in the grey zone between legal and illegal and has huge conflicts of interests due to his media concentration...

Actually, he just might be the perfect counterweight for Bush...

You know, use a dangerous idiot to catch a...

Ooops, wait, i'm not going there...

Sardinia · Jun 30, 2003

Originally posted by BenReilly
I kind of like Berlusconi
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"Because of my personal history, my professional skills and my business achievements, I am a man nobody can expect to compare himself with."
-Silvio Berlusconi

Sardinia · Jun 30, 2003

Originally posted by Ian McCracken
Forza Berlusconi!

That article reads like a thinly-veiled attempt to portray Berlusconi as a fascist in the mold of Mussolini, what with all the talk of his followers being "well-groomed, neat rows, disciplined, identical blue blazers, under 30...blah, blah, blah" crap.
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Follow me, I'm your future.

Sardinia · Jun 30, 2003

A concrete pledge: Long live and prosperity.

Sardinia · Jun 30, 2003

Berlusconi vows to sue hecklers

ROME, May 13 (AFP) - Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said he intends to press legal charges against hecklers in future, after he was booed Tuesday by a group of activists ahead of a meeting in southern Italy.

"I have given instructions to press charges against any person who offends the president of the council (prime minister) in the exercise of his duties and I will take it to the courts," Berlusconi said shortly after the event.

A group of people shouting "Buffoon, Buffoon!" met Berlusconi upon his arrival in the southern city of Bari, where he was due to launch reconstruction work on a theatre and chair a meeting of Mediterranean and Balkan leaders.
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The man in the crowd yelled out: "Submit to justice like an ordinary citizen, buffoon! And wind up like Ceausescu!" It was the insulting end to a gripping morning of courtroom drama in which Silvio Berlusconi became the first sitting Italian Prime Minister to appear at his own trial.
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A buffoon indeed though a dangerous one.

BenReilly · Jun 30, 2003

Originally posted by Sardinia

Follow me, I'm your future.
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Now tell me, can you really not like this guy???

Sardinia · Jun 30, 2003

Originally posted by BenReilly
Now tell me, can you really not like this guy???
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Sardinia · Jun 30, 2003

Der Spiegel welcomes our beloved new president of EU Mr Berlusconi.

CrewDust · Jun 30, 2003

Wow, this guy may have past Bush as the most hated man in the world, well at least on BigSoccer Politics board.

Saying that, this guy has some serious conflicts of interest.

Sardinia · Jun 30, 2003

This guy is an *********************.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20030630/wl_nm/eu_berlusconi_france_dc_1

Responding to questions over his legal position in Italy, where he faces charges of bribing judges, Berlusconi, who denies those charges, said:

"In Italy we have a cancer that must be treated, the politicization of the judicial authorities. We need to reform the judiciary to assure the public that they have judges who are not judges of the (political) left, who are impartial judges."

Berlusconi has benefited from last-minute legislation granting him immunity from prosecution while in office.

Many political groups in the European parliament, the EU's assembly, have expressed concern about the Italian government, pointing to the immunity law, the concentration of media power in Berlusconi's hands and anti-immigration rhetoric.
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Comunists judges have conquered Italy... a cancer... this man is fool.

He also dared to add that he personally didn't want that law to pass, it was Ciampi's idea (Republic President)

Ah and of course all the newspapers "welcoming" him are pleasing italian left. They're all part of a communist conspiracy.

p.s. ah you know in italy we have that separation of powers stuff, judiciary power is separated and independent from political one.
No one is elected.

Sardinia · Jul 2, 2003

Fantastic debut of our beloved new president of EU. We are not surprised.

Nazi Jibe Ruins Berlusconi's EU Debut
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20030702/wl_nm/eu_italy_nazi_dc_1

Uproar over Nazi jibe as Berlusconi presents EU plans
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20030702/wl_afp/eu_italy_parliament_030702115809

Berlusconi Nazi Comment Triggers Outrage
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20030702/ap_on_re_eu/eu_berlusconi_8

Berlusconi Ruins EU Debut with Nazi Jibe
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20030702/wl_nm/eu_italy_dc_6

benito gattopardo · Jul 2, 2003

Originally posted by Sardinia
Fantastic debut of our beloved new president of EU. We are not surprised.

Nazi Jibe Ruins Berlusconi's EU Debut
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20030702/wl_nm/eu_italy_nazi_dc_1

Uproar over Nazi jibe as Berlusconi presents EU plans
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20030702/wl_afp/eu_italy_parliament_030702115809

Berlusconi Nazi Comment Triggers Outrage
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20030702/ap_on_re_eu/eu_berlusconi_8

Berlusconi Ruins EU Debut with Nazi Jibe
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20030702/wl_nm/eu_italy_dc_6
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What a clown! Povera Italia!
Sardinia, who do you think is the most qualified individual in Italy to be its prime minister?

Sardinia · Jul 2, 2003

Originally posted by benito gattopardo
What a clown! Povera Italia!
Sardinia, who do you think is the most qualified individual in Italy to be its prime minister?
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I would like him more to the left but I think the best choice available is Romano Prodi.

Sardinia · Jul 2, 2003

The italian vice premier Fini looks admired as Berlusconi spreads his wit irony.

benito gattopardo · Jul 2, 2003

Originally posted by Sardinia
I would like him more to the left but I think the best choice available is Romano Prodi.
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I agree that Prodi is a very capable guy, but he is too far to the left for me. As you can imagine, my choice would be Fini.

benito gattopardo · Jul 2, 2003

Originally posted by Sardinia

The italian vice premier Fini looks admired as Berlusconi spreads his wit irony.
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Actually, Fini looks exasperated. I think he really resents having to be tied, for practical reasons, to an all-around moron (morally and intellectually) like Berluskaiser.

Sardinia · Jul 2, 2003

Originally posted by benito gattopardo
Actually, Fini looks exasperated.
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I guess what he's thinking started with "WTF..."
or better "che cazzo..."

Belgian guy · Jul 3, 2003

The following 6 months should prove interesting...

He might even beat Bush at his own game 'Make a fool out of yourself as much as possible'.

Actually, with his remarks yesterday, he probably already has...

AFCA · Jul 3, 2003

Yeah he's great...

Lying on his doorstep with a bullet in his head.

He's fun though