Well here's an aww moment: Italy's Chief Bad Boy Silvio Berlusconi has been convicted of somethingorother. The staff and management at Underbelly Central expresses warm approval, along with doubts that he will ever see the inside of the il solitario di pietra. UB's Wichita bureau hopes for house arrest, tarted up as a reality show.
The conviction certainly does come at an inconvenient time for Old (sic) Silvio: his party just sorta kinda won Italian the election. He must be wondering whether he will wind up as il presidente or--wait a minute, there's another choice: he might wind up like his distinguished predecessor, Bettino Craxi who fled with his tail between his legs to live out his life as a cosseted exile in Tunisia.
It happens I've been to Tunisia, along with countless European tourists. Not a bad place, Tunisia, at least in time of peace. And now that I think of it, Tunisia, aka Carthage, was the home turf of another celebrated public nuisance, Hannibal Barca, who won and then lost his great roll of the dice against Rome--and then went off and spent his exile cowering behind the thrones of Rome's eastern enemies (like Cleopatra, he ended his life with poison to avoid falling into the hands of his great adversaries).
And--but I am wandering. Closer to home, it's diverting to think that Berlusconi tonight shares some of the perplexity facing his distinguished neighbor, Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI who must be considering whether he dare leave the Vatican for Italian soil, lest he be (say) Pinohcheted off to a slammer at The Hague for arraignment before the International Court of Justice. (for one of the less nutty accounts, go here). I wonder, is Castle Gandolfo Vatican sovereign territory? And would the Carabinieri shoot down a Papal helicopter? And is Pinochet a verb?
The conviction certainly does come at an inconvenient time for Old (sic) Silvio: his party just sorta kinda won Italian the election. He must be wondering whether he will wind up as il presidente or--wait a minute, there's another choice: he might wind up like his distinguished predecessor, Bettino Craxi who fled with his tail between his legs to live out his life as a cosseted exile in Tunisia.
It happens I've been to Tunisia, along with countless European tourists. Not a bad place, Tunisia, at least in time of peace. And now that I think of it, Tunisia, aka Carthage, was the home turf of another celebrated public nuisance, Hannibal Barca, who won and then lost his great roll of the dice against Rome--and then went off and spent his exile cowering behind the thrones of Rome's eastern enemies (like Cleopatra, he ended his life with poison to avoid falling into the hands of his great adversaries).
And--but I am wandering. Closer to home, it's diverting to think that Berlusconi tonight shares some of the perplexity facing his distinguished neighbor, Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI who must be considering whether he dare leave the Vatican for Italian soil, lest he be (say) Pinohcheted off to a slammer at The Hague for arraignment before the International Court of Justice. (for one of the less nutty accounts, go here). I wonder, is Castle Gandolfo Vatican sovereign territory? And would the Carabinieri shoot down a Papal helicopter? And is Pinochet a verb?
1 comment:
Some unfortunate turns of phrase in a discussion of Berlusconi?
... tarted up as a reality show.
... who fled with his tail between his legs ...
Or just having some fun?
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