The prime minister of Italy, arguably one of the cradles of modern democracy, appears to be going off the deep end. He’s been defending himself in court a lot recently - he’s being charged with multiple accounts of fraud. To make matters a little easier in the future, he pushed a new law down the throat of the (admittedly weak) Italian parliament, stating that members of the cabinet are from now on to be granted total immunity from legal proscecution. God knows it’s annoying to have to show up in court for money laundering, when you really should be busy running AC Milan, I mean, the country.
Yesterday, Italy took over the position of chair of the European Union. It changes among the member states every 6 months.
As a protest to the immunity law Berlusconi passed, some left wing German MP’s were holding signs saying “Everybody is equal under law”, in Italian.
What happened next is a scene straight out of an old Spitting Image episode.
Fuck this shit. Berlusconi already is a threat to Italy with his Mafia style emporium of media companies, football clubs, newspapers, and what have you (he’s incidently the wealthiest man in Italy as well). And now this thug thinks THIS is the proper way to address a critical MP?
I don’t know who has the power to pull Silvio from his seat of power after a mere 48 hours, but for the love of God, rid us of this disgusting piece of shit hiding behind a tanned face, a fake smile, and expensive suit, and a shitload of money.
He’s a fucking shit. A spoiled, whiny little shit who wouldn’t know accountability if it fucked him up the arse with a ski pole.
You know, I was thinking if the EU were an internet messageboard, he’d have had his arse kicked from here to Rome and back. He’d have been warned publicly and privately, and quite possibly already banned for previous misdemeanours. And everyone would say “Godwin’s Law. You lose” and he’d have automatically lost the argument. You’d have given him very short shrift here (I’m thinking you personally as well as the other mods), as would the general Doper populace. Same thing on other boards where I post and mod.
I was sure that Italy was going to have its ass handed to it after the police brutality at Genoa. Instead, we get this asshole as head of the EU.
I think he’s the foreign leader I’ve Pitted most often. (Last year I believe it was about how we should convert Muslims to Christianity, or maybe it was something homophobic, I don’t recall and his ass is not worth the time for a search.)
Coldie, I belive you owe tacky thugs as a group an apology - sure, they’re thugs (and tacky, to boot), but do they deserve to be tarred with that specific brush ? (Tarring Berlusconi, on the other hand - now there’s an image to dwell on.)
He generally speaking opens his mouth only to replace what foot was previously lodged in there. But in his little deluded egomaniacal world, I’m sure he believes he’s a tell-it-like-it-is straightforward kind of guy. :mad:
One of the better arguments I’ve seen so far against the EU chairmanship moving among the member states.
The man he was addressing has the surname of Schulz. There was a character in the TV show named Sgt. Schulz (trivia: who was played by a Jewish actor).
Yeah, it’s pretty obscure. It was called “Rome,” and they had this thing called a “Senate.” Somebody should write a book about it or something; it’s pretty interesting. No reason it should have disappeared into the mists of history the way it has.
True story, one which only the Irish dopers will appreciate.
Bunch of Leinster House employees sitting around in the canteen talking about the Berlusconi incident. One comments that it sounds like something Michael McDowell [sub](right wing Minister for Justice)[/sub] would say.
Suddenly guess whose voice comes across the room (from far enough he definitely could not have overheard the employees’ conversation) saying “Well I don’t blame him, the way that German guy was winding him up …”
Wow! Hey Tamerlane, is that true? Is that his daughter? I looked at the URL you quoted and it was almost like someone’s private photo journal if you know what I mean.
And Coldfire… great thread… and I must say… incidents like this remind me how tenuous the European Union can be at times. It strikes me as being far more of a co-op held together by good will than it is a cohesive nation state.