Berlusconi cut from same cloth

White House Briefing Materials Describe Italian PM as "Amateur", "Hated by Many"

Posted by Lindsay Beyerstein, AlterNet at 12:43 PM on July 8, 2008.

WH apologizes to PM Berlusconi, a close ally of Bush and backer of Iraq war.

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The White House has apologized for circulating briefing materials which described Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi as an amateur presiding over an administration of corruption and vice who is hated by many:

The White House has apologised to Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi for a briefing describing him as a political "amateur" who is "hated by many".

The "insulting" biography was included in a press kit distributed to reporters travelling with President George W Bush to a meeting of world leaders in Japan.

He was "one of the most controversial leaders" of a country "known for governmental corruption and vice".

Only last month, Mr Bush visited his old ally, calling him a "good friend".

The four-page description of Mr Berlusconi had been taken from the Encyclopedia of World Biography.

It refers to the Italian prime minister as a man "hated by many but respected by all at least for his bella figura (personal style) and the sheer force of his will".

It says Mr Berlusconi was said to be "regarded by many as a political dilettante (amateur) who gained his high office only through use of his considerable influence on the national media". [BBC]

Lindsay Beyerstein a New York writer blogging at Majikthise.

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From friends in Italy [Report this comment] Posted by: Misha2 on Jul 8, 2008 3:21 PM Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] there isn't a great deal of respect for him any ways. [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] Clorox teeth himself, [Report this comment] Posted by: weathered on Jul 8, 2008 4:08 PM Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] Sarkozy, Merkel and the crime lords from Israel, a cabal of Ugliness all very carefully packaged and processed for MSM consumption. [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] Sure that was filed right? [Report this comment] Posted by: Lilah on Jul 8, 2008 9:11 PM Current rating: 5 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] Hmm. "Amateur" and "Hated by many" better double check to make sure that wasn't George W being described.... [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] » RE: Sure that was filed right? Posted by: Dboy What's also sad... [Report this comment] Posted by: Figfest on Jul 9, 2008 8:15 AM Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] ..is that a "briefing note" of any kind was considered necessary for the well-read and worldly wise White House press corps. They should know who Berlusconi is without any guidance. [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] Forgotten aspects [Report this comment] Posted by: Kuressaare on Jul 9, 2008 8:36 AM Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] Do remember that the Italian republic was declared after the King (Vittorio Emmanuele III) was exiled with his very much loved Queen, Eleni,one of the many princesses from the astonishing royal family of Montenegro who made some fantastic marriages: thus, King and Queen exiled, House of Savoy, should be loved by Berlusconi's Lombard League northern-only party. Not so. The New King and Queen back about '47), Umberto and Marie-Josée from Belgium were kept interned during the "campaign", and even so the republic won by only 51 vs. 49%; no one believed it anyhow, remember the "red north", meaning Bologna, Modena, etc. That plebiscite was right afer the war, but until Berlusconi I never heard about the north being anything but red. Truth is, Italy was and is two counries. Before Garibaldi,the section of Naples down to the bottom of Sicily was the Bourbon Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Berlusconi wanted to break up the country in favour of his Lombard League robber barons. Bourbons were of the Spanish school, and now, good thing, the south is fighting back. Connected to this is, the King of Spain is Juan Carlos I de Borbón y Borbón, Bourbon father and Bourbon mother, she being a princess of Bourbon Two Sicilies, and now there is a group,-- look for "Due Sicilie" in google. I surely wish them well, I may love north Italian food, prosciutto, easter gorgonzola, most of it, but a lot is to be said for bread of Calabria and more. Now Bersulsconi gets the axe from Bush: these are divine twins in Roman theology, really meant for each other. Back to Napoleon up to Garibaldi (think of "Tosca"), The Neaplolitan/Palermitan Kings of The Two Sicilies were maybe the worst in Europe, reactionaries and repressive. Like Bush now. But fact remains, the South was and is still monarchist, and the north is supposedly republican. The incomparable delights of Milan and Bologna (art and cuisine both) are their wonders; their politicians did not start out, as did the Mafia and other protection groups, to render some kind of help to poverty-stricken country and townsmen both. The ageing parents of a dear friend of mine are both about 4'6-8" tall, and that is witness to childhood malnutrition. Some of us hide when we are supposed to hear Verdi's "Otello", but there is from Catania in Sicily, marked now with an incomparably beautiful and quite miniature half-xize opera-house named for the very great Vinceno Bellini, who gave us "Norma" ('Casta Diva," for one) and "I Puritani." Who has not heard Dame Janet Baker in Bellini's "I Capuleti e I Montecchi" (Romeo &Juliet)? Even the Big Wigs in Rome did not goof this one, having on the last series of Lire banknotes Vincenzo Bellini on front and his Norma on back, that was the L.5000 note I think, so now they have sterile non-subjects in the Euro notes. An arch, a bridge, a washout. Sometimes I think some countries should divide like the amoeba, -- I am looking forward to it. But we need to remember: even some of the greatest can fall under the boot-heel of the most evil men. [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] Talk about hypocracy! [Report this comment] Posted by: weslen1 on Jul 9, 2008 8:39 AM Current rating: 5 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] The worst, most hated, most ridiculous, ignorant, warmongering, murderous and crooked "president" in US history is calling someone else hated and an amateur? WOW [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] Berlusconi cut from same cloth [Report this comment] Posted by: dougo on Jul 10, 2008 4:15 PM Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] He was "one of the most controversial leaders" of a country "known for governmental corruption and vice". Mr Bush visited his old ally, calling him a "good friend". Gee,this sounds so familiar. [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

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» RE: Sure that was filed right? Posted by: Dboy