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Such artwork as this, only Banksy can be suspected..... Here, Berlusconi, as Napoleon, rides a horse with a hog's head, and pulls a cart of Disney-like mouse bimbos.
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- From several sources
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Silvio Berlusconi,
Italy's longest reigning post-war
Prime Minister is stepping down. His political record is impressive - he headed three of approximately
20 governments since the end of
WWII. Further, he is third longest reigning
Prime Minister in
Italy's entire history, after dictator
Benito Mussolini and
Giovanni Giolitti. So why have
graffiti artists gone to such great pains to attack him?
Well, for starters, "
The Knight" - as he is nicknamed - is somewhat less than chivalrous - his armor more than slightly less than shining.
Berlusconi is first and foremost a businessman - politics has been his toy; politics and the premiership were the biggest items on his shopping list of goodies.
Forbes had him down for a net worth of about
US$9 billion in
2010. But it wasn't a big pile of money that made him the dark knight of
Europe, it was how he got it. And what he did with it once he had it. In hindsight, money bought power, power begat more money, and then corrupted totally.
Berlusconi was criticized for his dominance over the
Italian media whilst he held political office. It wasn't just 'dominance', however, it was coercion of others while he supported his brother in his own media ventures - to wit, his company
Mediaset remains the largest in
Italy. After promising to divest himself of interests in
Mediaset after his election, he never even entertained the notion to honor that election promise. To date, it remains the predominant, purple and swollen example of his several conflicts of interest.
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- Contributor does not claim to be source
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If it were just a matter of raising the ire of international leaders from
Obama to
QEII with tasteless and tactless remarks, that would be one thing, but considering the depth of his involvement with the dark side, that kind of 'small change' doesn't even register on the meter.
Berlusconi was, and is also heavily invested in the fields of television, cinema, finance, banking, insurance, and even sport (owner of
AC Milan). In the course of pursuing these business interests, for the most part while still in office, he has been brought up on
insider trading, false accounting and
tax fraud, as well as
corruption and
bribery of both police officers and judges. Add to that -
giving false testimony and multiple
real estate scandals, where auditors could not determine the sources of his profits.
But all of this is relatively tame compared to his being charged with involvement in the
international drug trade, and his dealings with the
Mafia - the wiretap revelations of his conversations with
Mafia boss
Giuseppe Guttadauro were a news sensation, and would have ended the career of a lesser monied, lesser influential person, and would likely have ended him up in prison.
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Roughly translated: "You pay for the Crisis !"
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- Contributor does not claim to be source
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In the international political arena, it was revealed that while in office, he had made secret, behind-closed-doors agreements with
Russia's
Putin and
Libya's
Ghaddaffi for the securing of petrochemicals solely for
Italy - much to the surprise and objection of his
European trading partners. While on the home front, he joined
Licio Gelli's secret quasi-Masonic lodge
Propaganda 2. A scandal arose when police discovered that
Propaganda 2 aimed to change the
Italian political system to a more authoritarian regime through a 'quiet revolution'.
His administrations were also heavily tainted by several sex scandals, to include most recently, the blatant procuring of foreign, under-aged prostitute
Karima el-Mahroug.
Valter Lavitola, who was actually stupid enough to attempt to blackmail
Berlusconi on his sexual transgressions was told by
Berlusconi: "The only thing they can say about me is that I screw around.... Now they're spying on me, controlling my phone calls. I don't give a fuck. In a few months ....I'll be leaving this shit country that makes me sick."
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- Contributor does not claim to be source
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All the while, the Teflon-coated
Berlusconi continued to skate on all legal charges brought against him - he kept receiving
amnesties,
acquittals and
statute of limitations dismissals, much to the amazement of the rest of the world. His currently ongoing, and still unresolved, court trials are:
- The attempted bribing of lawyer
David Mills (corruption to influence a judiciary sentence).
- Corruption of senators of the
Romano Prodi government camp.
- Paying an underage girl,
Karima el-Mahroug, for sex, and abuse of office relating to her release from detention.
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- Contributor does not claim to be source
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If, as
Waylon Jennings said, '
All we do or say is all we ever will be," then have a listen to what
Berlusconi said in
2003, during an interview with
Nicholas Farrell, then editor of
The Spectator magazine, "
Mussolini had been a benign dictator who did not murder opponents but sent them 'on holiday'." Well,
Mr Berlusconi, now that you are stepping down, have a nice 'holiday'......
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