Berlusconi – a history of controversial remarks | Chocolate City: The Best African American Blog

Berlusconi – a history of controversial remarks

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Silvio Berluscon and Barack Obama - photo credit (Reuters )

The Italian prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi is known for making controversial, irresponsible, dumb, insensitive, groundless, racist, stupid and uncouth remarks.

Premier Silvio Berlusconi has too often put his foot in his mouth. It’s about time that he start kicking his own ass for ever dumb comment he makes.

In July 2008, Premier Silvio Berlusconi came under fire for his latest attack against the judiciary, in which he said that "politically driven" magistrates are the cancer of democracy.

In 2006, China expressed dissatisfaction over groundless remarks by Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi, who said that China "boiled babies for fertilizer in Mao’s (Zedong) era."

In 2005, he caused a diplomatic commotion after hinting that he had persuaded the Finnish president, Tarja Halonen, to back Italy to host the European Food Safety Authority by wooing her. “I had to use all my playboy tactics, even if they have not been used for some time,” he said.

In July 2003, Germany’s chancellor said Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi apologized to him for saying a German member of the European parliament, Martin Schulz, would make a good Nazi concentration camp guard in a movie. Berlusconi’s office said he expressed "regret" over the remark. Berlusconi’s jibe, was directed at a Social Democratic member of the European Parliament.

In 2002, he said that Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen of Denmark was “so handsome I’m thinking of introducing him to my wife.”

In 2001, Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi on Thursday blasted Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi for his "irresponsible" remarks saying that the Western civilization is "superior" to the Islamic one.

While the world was celebrating an election that was 232 years overdue, the Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi was undermining President Elect Barack Obama by making another dumb and insensitive remark.

While visiting Moscow on Thursday, Belusconi called the first African-American president-elect in United States history “young, handsome and suntanned.” Mr. Berlusconi made the remark while meeting President Dmitri A. Medvedev of Russia, saying that Senator Barack Obama’s good looks, his youth and his so-called suntan were “all the qualities” for Mr. Medvedev and the future president to “develop a good working relationship.”

Many Italian newspapers gave the comment nearly as much front-page attention as Mr. Obama’s victory itself. The journalist Curzio Maltese wrote in the center-left La Repubblica that “bookmakers wouldn’t even take bets” on how long it would take for Mr. Berlusconi to let slip another of his famous gaffes. “Mr. Berlusconi never fails to live up to our worst expectations.”

Mr. Maltese added that just when Mr. Obama’s victory was “inspiring billions of people” to consider “democracy, the most extraordinary triumph of humanity after centuries of bloodshed and intolerance,” Mr. Berlusconi instead contributed “a miserable, vulgar and racist remark, for which he didn’t even have the courage to take responsibility or the dignity to apologize.”

A billionaire populist, Mr. Berlusconi excels at deflating such dumb remarks. Berlusconi said that his remark had been “a compliment” and that his critics lacked irony. “If you want to get a degree in idiocy, I won’t stop you,” La Repubblica quoted him as saying. “I say whatever I think.”

He said the Italian left was wrong about everything, “including their lack of a sense of humor.” He added: “Too bad for them. God save us from imbeciles.”

The center-left opposition leader, Water Veltroni, had earlier called such “cabaret one-liners” unworthy of a statesman and asked Mr. Berlusconi to apologize.

In Brussels on Friday, when Mr. Berlusconi was asked by a reporter if he would apologize, he said whoever had asked the question should be added to “the list” of imbeciles, Bloomberg News reported. “You should apologize to Italy,” it quoted him as saying.

Later on Friday, Mr. Obama, who was called by world leaders, had a “long, cordial” telephone conversation with Mr. Berlusconi, according to the Italian news media. The two did not discuss the gaffe, the ANSA news agency reported.

The furor over Mr. Berlusconi’s remark has raised a question: Why, of all the problems Italy is facing — a weak economy, higher mortgage rates — would Mr. Berlusconi get more attention for his off-the-cuff remark than for his political program?

“Because it’s the last straw,” said a political commentator, Beppe Severgnini. “By now, Berlusconi isn’t a political case; he’s a psychological case.”

Mr. Berlusconi’s remark “wasn’t racist; it was infantile and untimely,” he added. “He has such a high opinion of himself that he thinks it’s acceptable to say anything to anyone.”

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