Berlusconi: perv, president or both?
For those of you who haven't been following the adventures of Italy's Prime Minister, hopefully, I can fill you in a bit. First coming to power in 1994 Silvio Berlusconi switched his main career track from media giant to political figure. All three of the elections which he has won were credible, but there is no doubt that his connections have helped his chances (he basically owns the Italian media). The most recent news about Berlusconi, however, may prove to be too much for this political powerhouse.
He has certainly had his run-ins with the justice system before, but having barely won the most recent election, it appears that he may have partied a little too hard. This time, he is being accused of having sex with an under-aged prostitute and then helping her escape petty theft charges. The evidence is apparently fairly solid, and the case is set for April. No connection, but I find it interesting that this is happening at the same time that many of the middle eastern "strongmen" are being taken out of power.
What do you guys think? Should Berlusconi die (politically) at the hands of the court? Will he escape as he has done many times in the past? Are the Italian's being way too lax about their prime minister's conduct, since his entire political career has been filled with fraud and scandal?
The case:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/10/world/europe/10italy.html?_r=2&hp
The background:
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/b/silvio_berlusconi/index.html
6 comments:
Look, here's the deal. The president is the president. The one question to me here is can this man do his job? I don't know enough about Italian government to judge, but unless this scandal affects his ability to run the country, to me it should not matter.
Well, all I can say is that he sure screwed himslef over on this one. I agree with you Jeff, the evidence very clear, and I'm sure he's going to be hit hard by this one. Since he is in his thrid term though, I'm not sure if he should be taken out just yet unless committing a crime would remove him in a case such as this. If he has delivered progress to Italy and follows up on what he says he does, then I'm at odds. But since he is indeed barely hanging on and his political career has been filled with fraud and scandal, then I suppose he's finally getting what's been coming for him.
I read this article in TIME Magazine about how this man rose to power thanks to sleazy Italian TV and that he put a former show girl as some important minister. But everyone in Europe and even Italy is now interested in Italian politics for once! I know that Italian politics is very corrupt and he just seems to be more corrupt and more transparent about his corruption. However, he seems to be an unpopular guy, like the Italian Baby George Bush, and this scandal is probably like a nail in the coffin. If Italians care about their politics!
I think that he should be removed from office, i mean, if he had sex with a prostitute that was at least not underage, then it shouldnt be a big deal, but she was underage which would make describe him to be a pedophile. I mean that is their leader, a pedophile, i understand if he were a bit too drunk but still his actions must be accounted for .
I think that scandal and political image are important in determining the fate of a public political figure such as this figure in Italy. I think it does matter what is giong on politically and on the side...becuase it could effect how he rules and how he represents Italy...which right now is not in the best light.
I agree with Jason in that I don't think that a political leader's personal life should be something to consider if it doesn't affect the leader's ability to lead and run the country. However, if the leader starts to break the law, then the issue becomes something entirely different; in Berlusconi's case, he should be punished if it is proven that he broke the law.
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