Most Persecuted Person in History

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The law giving Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi immunity from prosecution has been struck down by Italy's Supreme Court. The Prime Minister now feels unjustly put upon since he will need to defend himself from what promises to be an onslaught of criminal charges, including bribery and corruption. OK. Innocent until proven otherwise.

But...these responses as reported in the BBC probably won't help him much:

"In my opinion, and not only mine, I am the best prime minister we can find today."

"I am without doubt the person who's been the most persecuted in the entire history of the world and the history of man..."

and the best -

...explaining that the money had gone on paying "consultants and judges", before correcting himself to say "consultants and lawyers". Freud would be nodding his head.

Stay tuned for a mountain of quotables as the trials loom and lumber forward.

Blogging from Paris

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Actually, I'm not. I'm on a blogging break. But, some news items caught my attention.

The first is the Russian Akula class subs patrolling in international waters off the coast of the United States. This, it appears, have the right wingers in the US all atwitter (pun intended). They need to take a pill and go home for a mental health break. First - these boats are old tech. Second - these boats are manned by crews who have not had this type of long distance experience in a decade. Third - these boats are loud (therefore easily tracked). Fourth - the Pentagon doesn't care. This all is news? Guess it's August.

Another bit of news is the Clinton effort that successfully freed two American journalists from North Korean clutches. Good. And, right wingers, it was a success. Not a failure. Not a concession to North Korea. End of story. Go back to your holes under the rocks.

Third. Putin and Erdogan are meeting in Moscow. Putin will have been in power for a decade. He also invited Berlisconi. How important is this meeting, exactly?

On a sad note, Sam the Koala, a survivor of a bush fire (not the ex president) in Australia, died in surgery. RIP

Also, former Senator Edward's mistress is in Federal Court for some reason. Could not open the web site because my connection is not so great and it, truthfully, bores me (but not prudish Americans).

Finally, Paris is hot. It is over 35 (for the centigrade challenged, that's hot). But, the wine and cheese is still great. The city is still beautiful. And their health care system is so superior to the one in the US, it is not measurable.

Back from Versailles today and off shopping tomorrow.

A bientot.

Italy's Leader

Am I alone in thinking that PleasureofConquest PM Berlusconi is just plain strange?