Silvio Berlusconi - RIP
Discussion
It’s 30 years since I made any real effort at studying Italian politics - and it was a complicated mess then - so I’m hardly an authority on the man.
But he always struck me as a bit of a nob.
We come from different cultures and what not so my impression counts for nothing.
I expect Italy will be wildly divided (as ever) in its grieving at his loss.
But he always struck me as a bit of a nob.
We come from different cultures and what not so my impression counts for nothing.
I expect Italy will be wildly divided (as ever) in its grieving at his loss.
scenario8 said:
It’s 30 years since I made any real effort at studying Italian politics - and it was a complicated mess then - so I’m hardly an authority on the man.
But he always struck me as a bit of a nob.
Good mate of Putin, and proud of it. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-63315546But he always struck me as a bit of a nob.
So "a bit of a nob" doesn't really come close.
deckster said:
Good mate of Putin, and proud of it.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-63315546
So "a bit of a nob" doesn't really come close.
My immediate thought too when I heard the news.https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-63315546
So "a bit of a nob" doesn't really come close.
Trying to find something positive to say...erm...well I suppose he was "a bit of a character"...
deckster said:
Good mate of Putin, and proud of it. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-63315546
So "a bit of a nob" doesn't really come close.
Think of me as polite.So "a bit of a nob" doesn't really come close.
scenario8 said:
deckster said:
Good mate of Putin, and proud of it. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-63315546
So "a bit of a nob" doesn't really come close.
Think of me as polite.So "a bit of a nob" doesn't really come close.
I grew up in Italy and was 16 when he entered politics. I detested him then, and was supportive of the continual legal cases the Italian magistrates kept lobbing at him.
I had Berlusconi derangement syndrome.
Right now, I don't feel the same. The rest of the political landscape has slid massively and even he looks like a giant among the inept parasites who inhabit Italian politics.
I have exactly the same feelings about Thatcher and Trump.
I had Berlusconi derangement syndrome.
Right now, I don't feel the same. The rest of the political landscape has slid massively and even he looks like a giant among the inept parasites who inhabit Italian politics.
I have exactly the same feelings about Thatcher and Trump.
stuckmojo said:
I grew up in Italy and was 16 when he entered politics. I detested him then, and was supportive of the continual legal cases the Italian magistrates kept lobbing at him.
I had Berlusconi derangement syndrome.
Right now, I don't feel the same. The rest of the political landscape has slid massively and even he looks like a giant among the inept parasites who inhabit Italian politics.
I have exactly the same feelings about Thatcher and Trump.
I'm an Italian citizen raised in the UK but with close ties to the country of my family. I appreciate he was a divisive figure and not a polished spin-doctor controlled celebrity politician like many these days, and was probably better for it. He wasn't from a privileged background and made his own way in life before entering politics and that marks him as head-and-shoulders above the career politicians and silver-spoon beneficiaries that most of the others are in my book.I had Berlusconi derangement syndrome.
Right now, I don't feel the same. The rest of the political landscape has slid massively and even he looks like a giant among the inept parasites who inhabit Italian politics.
I have exactly the same feelings about Thatcher and Trump.
My cousin worked for a glazing company supplying windows for one of Fininvest's construction projects and he said that despite already being a very wealthy man at that point, Berlusconi was not aloof and was on site daily, rubbing shoulders with the guys in overalls and hard hats and chatting regularly to the workies. He was charismatic yet straightforward. Somehow that is seen as a flaw in politicians now.
Four Litre said:
He was certainly not perfect, but he knew how to throw a party. Just gutted I wasn't on the invite list.
RIP.
He was massively corrupt, he paid teenage girls to have sex with him, he was racist, he was a cheater and philanderer, he was homophobic, he has had 35 criminal cases against him, he remained 'good friends' with Putin until the end and blamed Ukraine for the war, he embraced populism, he committed tax fraud, and he was monumentally greedy at the expense of everyone else.RIP.
Probably best summed up by this quote: "Berlusconi considered his self-interest to be the national interest"
I'm not sure throwing a few parities attended by prostitutes is going to make up for everything else he did.
DaveE87 said:
The man was a scumbag, but his apparent crude comments about Angela Merkel were the sort of thing you'd expect to hear your mate say down the pub.
"Unf*ckable lard arse".
Two things spring to mind. Atleast he spoke his mind and a not entirely unreasonable opinion. "Unf*ckable lard arse".
He did seem like a dick though. One of those old white blokes that came out in support of Putin last year that probably said more than enough about any one of them.
Bet he had a cracking life though.
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