Silver-tongued Silvio and the Patrizia-gate scandal

Will Patrizia-gate bring down silver-tongued Silvio?

Political leaders and scandals of a sexual nature don’t tend to make good bedfellows – no pun intended.  Italian PM , Silvio Berlusconi, no stranger to controversy seems to have taken a leaf out of Bill Clinton’s book with his secretly tape-recorded dalliances with glamour model Patrizia D’Addario. 

On the other hand, similar liaisons have boosted the reputation of the protagonist.  When news of the affair between the then England soccer boss Sven Goran Eriksson and fellow Swede Ulrike Jonsson came to light, Sven once regarded as a dull, emotionless tactician suddenly became a sexy nordic lothario, a jack-the-lad lauded by the tabloid press for tasting forbidden fruit in the garden of Sweden.

Berlusconi’s position as PM is suspect in its own right.  What other country would elect a loud-mouthed, outspoken and disreputable businessman as its leader?  Imagine if Ryanair director Michael O’Leary became Taoiseach.  Perish the thought – although such an idea is not as far-fetched as it may seem when you look at the career of a certain deceased CJ Haughey.

The question is will Patrizia-gate bring Berlusconi’s tenure down?  Or can he keep it up?  I think only Patrizia can answer that question.

Advertisement

BBC Sachs Jonathan Ross and Re-brands

If only the first part of the above statement were true.  Not entirely accurate, but it goes well with the crap pun.  To be blunt about it I can’t stand the bastard. He’s little more than an overpaid egomaniac.  As well as being (along with his mate Brand) one of the most obnoxious, arrogant, smug, irritating tossers on TV.

I was in Romania when the scandal broke.  I had no idea it would still be in the news by the time I got back to Blighty. And in fact I’m getting rather bored with the whole thing.  The latest news at the time of writing is that the BBC bosses are being hauled over the coals by a parliamentary select committee of MPs and getting a right bollocking for their trouble.  It’s vey simple really – sack Brand and Ross, slap them with a heavy fine and take out an injuction banning them from ever appearing on TV or radio again – and then move on and forget about it.

Predictably enough the apologists for Brand and Ross cite cutting edge comedy or pushing back the boundaries.  Any immature obnoxious schoolboy could phone up and elderly pensioner who masquerades as a Catalan waiter in a Torquay hotel and leave a message on his answerphone claiming to have fucked his grand-daughter. There’s nothing cutting edge about that.

I don’t find either Brand or Ross remotely funny.  Or remotely likeable for that matter.  But neither am I one of those Daily Mail reading types who enjoys being offended and gets their kicks by writing serial letters of complaint.  I’m very glad Brand and Ross pulled off this pathetic stunt though – as it shows them up for what they are – and gets them off our TV screens and off the airwaves.  Hopefully for good.