“I’m in a serious relationship”
Oh mr President when will you learn? My disdain for the man has increased ten fold after his public appearance on one of his several TV stations proclaiming that he did not have illicit affairs with a minor, and his defence for the whole case was… “at the time of these allegations surfacing, I have been, and continue to be in a serious relationship, all of which I have kept quiet to maintain the privacy of the person involved”.
I am of course talking about Silvio Berlusconi.
I don’t believe in writing thousands of words about this subject, too many will already be written, and in a way that will make my “analysis” seem irrelevant on so many levels. I will be brief, because in reality, the accusations are brief.
Silvio Berlusconi is accused of “having sex with an underage prostitute and abusing his position to influence the police”. That is all, for this case at least.
Ruby Rubacuori, the minor (at the time) upon which the investigation is focused on, also claims that there were sex parties taking place (casually referred to as Bunga Bunga parties), but she had no involvement in these, and that Mr Berlusconi did not take part in them as well.
These are the facts, the President is being investigated.
As a voter, and an Italian citizen, and as someone who did vote for him - yes I have the courage to say it - and a greater conviction to say that I made a mistake, this latest wave of allegations makes my blood seethe.
For it is not the allegations that bother me, it is the way in which he handles them, and then politicizes them that does.
As the head of the state, your duty is to represent it with courage, conviction and strong leadership. Political battles will always ensue, but that’s part and parcel of the job. And it has to be said, that, there are people who will attack Berlusconi on different levels simply because they do not like the man and not because he has done anything wrong in their eyes.
However, it also has to be said that he is his own worst enemy. Insulting the people that are investigating him, “she’s jealous because she was not invited to the parties” aimed at the magistrate looking into the case and commenting “it’s better to love beautiful women than be gay” are not the words you want coming out of the mouth of your head of state.
I would prefer to judge the man on his political contribution, I would rather never read about his personal life, but every time he mixes the two he blurs the line between his responsibility to the Italian people and his own self interest. That is not acceptable, that is not what the office for the head of state should be about.
His position in government is weakening and his power to charm his way into the Italians lives even more so. It is a question of time, rather than if it would happen at all, that Silvio Berlusconi leaves the political stage for pursuit of happiness in some other realm.
