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Vendetta! I suppose that, one way or another, this will all get smoothed out in the long run but, nonetheless, we can enjoy it while it lasts:
Gerhard Schroder, the German chancellor, called off his summer holiday to Italy yesterday, as the worsening row between the countries began to unravel years of carefully orchestrated co-operation at the heart of Europe.
More and faster, please.
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This is great! But you can see they’re doing to Mr Berlusconi & Co what they did to Jorje Haide and the Austrian citizenry. The wall of sound. The rigid, fascist manipulation, the sinister threats to the Italian population that their government may be responsible for an economic disaster if they continue to support it. You can only be a prime minister approved of by the sinister EU. That you were elected in your own country in a democratic election is totally irrelevant. The electorate made “a mistake”.
In the name of EU unity I would like to throw petrol on the fuse and light the petrol……
Did I mention that I am betting on an Italian win to this round ??
Will the Froggies come to the aid of their Kraut “brothers in arms” again ???
As I mentioned elsewhere, the EU’s treatment of the voters reminds me of that old Babylon 5 episode where Garibaldi is smashing some saps head into the bar top.
“I’m going to ask you again *smash* and again *smash* until we get it right…”
I think the Irish Nice referendum has to be the best example, but Haider and now Berlusconi look to be getting similar treatment.
Find another PM, *smash*, this one is wrong.
Shaun Bourke – I’m also betting on the Italians to win this one. I like the cut of Stefano Stefani’s gib. So Shroeder and his family stay home in Germany and free up a few poolside loungers. And?
LIBERTY BELLE
It’s not “Jorje Haide”, but Jörg Haider or Joerg Haider according to new orthography now in vigour in Germany (although Haider is Austrian).
I sincerely hope Berlu is more praiseworthy than Haider. Hitler (an Austrian) too was elected democratically.
******
Is the “fight” opposing Schröder to Berlu the ultimate postmodern instance of clownacy or is it that Berlu is diverting yawning European audience from his political emptiness?
Yup. It’s happening. Someone called Mr Schili, who is a German interior minister, has already got up on his hind legs and gone on record as saying, with regard to Mr Stefani, “If I was the head of government of Italy [yes, Mr Schili, and if I were the Queen of Sheba], this gentleman would no longer be in office. The Italian government would be well advised to bring this into order.”
The sheer, breathtaking arrogance of this nonentity is one thing, but that he made these comments confident that he would not be slapped back, or fired, is another.
OK. There have been some stupid German remarks like “the Italian minister of tourism should be killed or replaced” >>> that was really offensive & hugely distressing.
I can’t get round to the prospect we’re going for a count to establish which of each, Italian or German, has the greatest bullshit-per-minute rate.
Berlu, though, has the immense privilege of having started this annoying & pathetic word-war as he was merely asked a question by Mr Schultz, a German EuroMP.
I’m with Kodiak on this one… orthographically at least. Save the umlaut!
(Worth noting that Hitler wasn’t installed by the popular vote (the Nazi share had begun to decline), but was installed as chancellor by post-electoral political manoeuvring. Someone else made the machinery of dictatorship available to him.)
As I understand it, Mr Schultz was busy barracking and waving placards at Berlu, deliberately trying to get a response, as Berlu has a rep for that sort of thing.
So Schultz’s indignance is a bit rich. Really, seems like Schultz got precisely what he wanted. it’s even working too, with the EUrocrats all baying for Berlu’s blood. I bet Schultz feels real proud of himself.
So… a bit less of the incredulity and the wounded pride is in order, I think?
Actually, Kodiak, Berlusconi was being heckled by your socialist buddy.
And there is no such word in English as “clownacy”. Nice try Moliere.
“I suppose that, one way or another, this will all get smoothed out in the long run…”
Nah. It’ll keep going on and on until the collapse of the EU project.
There’ll always be a few Europhiliac sociology lecturers in red-brick universities thinking they are somehow relevant to the universe, of course. But, they won’t be.
GUY
With you on the Umlaut stuff. “Die Tür” (the door) looks better than the new “die Tuer”, doesn’t it?
The only thing I’m conservative-oriented is spelling.
Why write “die Majonäz” instead of “die Mayonnaise”?
Hopefully not all Germanophones are picking up this phenotypic change…
Also I prefer “colour” to “color”, “analyse” to “analyze”. But “truck” is definitely better than “lorry”.
😉
******
THE LAST TORYBOY
Schultz may have been cynical & secretly hoping to manipulate Berlu. But Berlu was not forced to jump into the trap & to look grotesquely ridiculous & vulgar.
******
D2D
Believe it or not: I never voted left in my life.
Berlu wasn’t heckled by anyone: he was asked questions in an incredibly more gentle manner as Italian courts in Milan actually “asked”.
I thought there was no Académie Anglaise & thus no control over word inflation. OK: do you have a funny & percussing synonym for “clownacy”?
Kodiak –
I like “clownacy”. I vote we keep it. It captures so much of the essence of modern politics. It also cognates nicely – “Schultz is a clownatic.”
Whilst spreading our indignation, lets not forget to slop a little onto the protesters waving the signs comparing Berlusconi to a Mafia don. Talk about your ethnic stereotyping!
I stayed tuned to National Public Radio (US) this morning, because they promised an in-depth look at the conflict between Italy and Germany. Unfortunately, what I got was an in-depth look at Italy and the difficulty Berlusconi’s having with his own coalition.
Eh. The good part about NPR is that it examines stories at greater length than commercial radio. The bad part is, it does it from…a very definite perspective.
T. Hartin
Yep: clownacy, clownatic, clownastically, clownacyhoodness & quasipostclownacity.
What about clownery, clownagery, clownitude, clownanteria, clownstery & clowntry?
Which would you choose?
People whinge about politicians all being lying, deceitful, manipulative etc. but when a politician actually speaks bluntly and off the cuff, the response is typically Mon Dieu!.
I don’t hold Berlu’s biting against him, I find it a bit refreshing really. Bit like Rumsfeld, you may or may not agree with the man but he doesn’t beat about the bush.
I am more willing to forgive Berlu’s lack of restraint, than the manipulative verbal ambush set for him by Schultz. It’s a pretty cynical ploy on Schultz’s part, to conspire to get yourself insulted just to score political brownie points.
The Brit parliament is pretty rowdy but Schultz’s placard waving antics would have got him a tonguelashing from the Speaker, I’m fairly sure.
The Last Toryboy
1/ When grinning & deploring what could have been happening within the skull limits of Mr Schultz, you are expecting he had bad intentions. You are not proving anything.
2/ When taking Berlu’s actual words (“you could act as a perfect Nazi kapo” or something like that) too easy, you’re making a choice.
Combining 1/ & 2/ is a bit acrobatic, isn’t it?
Well, do you doubt Schultz is not now laughing up his sleeves? I saw his antics on the TV and wasn’t impressed. Berlu’s ranting isnt so impressive either, but the abuse Berlu has caught from it from the EUrocracy is ridiculous. Why is it OK to bait Berlu, and not OK for Berlu to do anything about it?
As for the Taboo of Berlu’s comment…
Berlu’s comment was actually drawn from Schultz sharing a name with Sergeant Schultz of Hogans Heroes. He does have the same name, no? 😉 If I was talking to a German called Klink, I may not be crass enough to point it out to him (dont mention the war) but I would be thinking about Colonel Klink for sure…
Headline #1
Berlu compares German MEP with Nazi gas chamber thug!
Headline #2
Berlu compares German MEP with comedy character from Hogans Heroes!
Which is more sensationalist? Which is probably a more accurate reason for Berlu’s choice of insult? Not that I think it’s all that relevant mind, because…
Is Schultz really, truly, deeply offended? Of course not. He’s laughing his ass off, mission accomplished. So why all this talk of how mortally offensive Berlu was to him? It’s all an act, to score brownie points.
Holy shit, toryboy! Don’t tell me we actually exported Hogan’s Heroes? Is my face red!
I’ve always thought that had to be the most surreal sales pitch in the history of Hollywood: “No, see, it’s a comedy about this German POW camp in WWII. And it’ll have lots of Nazi officers and kooky, madcap escape plans and zany homemade radios and…hilarity will ensue. Trust me.”
What were we thinking?
TLB
“laughing up his sleeves” >>> sorry I don’t know this idiomatic phrase.
Berlu isn’t exactly the the Little Red Riding Hood being eaten by the Big Bad Wolf. It’s not OK to bait Berlu, but it’s OK to ask him questions (accountability).
OK, Colonel Klink is a funny fictional twerp living in Stalag 13, but Mr Schultz is an actual person who asked a question.
I don’t know if Mr Schultz is a paragon of duplicity. Yet Berlu may surely be compared to an uneducated donkey at best, a cynical pest at worst.
Heh. re S.Weasel.
I’ve never actually seen it to be honest, and I don’t know if it was on TV here. (I don’t really watch TV). But I’ve heard of it, yes. Hasn’t everybody? Everybody knows who Colonel Klink is, no?
RE. Kodiak, I’m not really saying Berlu is the paragon of good taste. Yes, he acted somewhat oafishishly, and he could have showed more restraint and tact. I think the Speaker would give him a tonguelashing too should he be an MP.
What I am saying is that I think the storm which has blown up over it is really overblown. Berlu’s comment doesn’t make him the Antichrist. Schultz is not whiter than white, he was asking for it. Seeing the German press baying for blood is a bit hypocritical.
I thought Haider was slime personally, if half of what I heard about him was true. However, the storms of protest aimed at him were wrong and undemocratic, and we don’t need the thought police to make sure the wrong man doesn’t get in. Let him speak, and if his views are nuts, let them be shot down in a public debate.
TLB
With you on Haider (if no double meaning can surface). Anyway he’s more or less back in Styria to take care of pettier things than infecting Austria with old, stinking habits.
Berlu’s urbanity is the one of a fishmonger (sorry for them). A “Stateman” is expected to deliver more elevated opinions than topics referring to Colonel Klink or Spiderman or Barbara Cartland.
Maybe there’s a salivating-on-the-corpse media attitude. And? Berlu is not 13 anymore.
Berlu is not 13, and he is not a particularly diplomatic man, but he is elected. Maybe the electorate of Italy didn’t care if he was a statesman or not? They’ll get the chance to remove him and put someone more Prodiesque in in good time.
It’s not for the Germans, or indeed for you, to censure him because he fails to match your own high standards.
As an aside…
Imagine the argument if some earthy, rowdy miner MP got thrown out of the Commons for being crass like Berlusconi? Like, say, Dennis Skinner. There would be -hell to pay- for turfing out this hard working demagogic Man of the People with coal dust in his hands.
Double standards for lefties.
TLB
Who’s speaking about censuring Berlu when just a question was asked??? Be fair.
Berlu will be holding Europe’s presidency for 6 months. Why can’t a citizen or a EuroMP ask him a question wihtout being suspected to launch an impeachment conspiracy or -worse- to censure him?
Sorry TLB. I don’t know who is Dennis Skinner.
The Last Toryboy and others – A friend who works in Germany emailed that his German colleagues are finding all this hysterical. They’re loving it in the same way that we’re loving it. So forget the German press, the Germans themselves seem to be doubled up with laughter. And whether the German press likes it or not, Berlusconi is the elected prime minister of Italy. This fact is indisputable the EU will have to live with it or find a way round it. Ooops!
TLB + LB
Of course everybody is laughing to death about the Romano-Teutonic farce. Including the Germans & the Italians. So no wonder you found someone in Germany who’slaughing about the tragicomical diplomatic incident.
The real point is about Berlu’s Statemanhood according to usual standards (this has nothing to do with political ideas) or about Berlu’s vulgarity.
Your & others’ insinuating that pointing out Berlu’s lack of elementary education is equating to plotting a coup d’Etat is just not fair.
All you’re doing is wallowing in gross underhandedness.
This is all extremely silly.
Even so, Schily is right to call for the dismissal of somebody like this:
Anyway, the Italian government already has apologized, Italy doesn’t want to risk that the 10 Million Germans who usually enjoy their vacations there might go elsewhere (not that anyone except Schröder will do that).
Does anyone know when the next Italian elections for Council Presidency are due?
Italy minister quits over remarks
Italy minister quits over remarks
Blimey!
PLEASE FINICKY ADMIN: DO NOT CONSIDER THIS AS PROPAGANDA
THIS IS JUST A COLLECTION OF BERLUSCONI’S WORDS FROM “L’EXPRESS” (a French right-wing newspaper) INTENDED TO ESTABLISH THAT BEYOND THE LATE “COLONEL KLINK” OUTBURST THERE’S MUCH MORE INVOLVED.
1/ “I have an immoderate superiority complex” (…) “nobody on the world scene compares to me”
2/ Attending a football game in Milan’s stadium, Berlu comes across a disabled man in a wheeled chair:
“Stand up and walk!”
3/ About people affected by AIDS:
“they should put sand on their faces” (…) “to get accustomed to living under ground”
4/ Commenting illegal immigrants drowned as they crossed the Mediterranean on a pedalo (pedal boat):
“The pedalos haven’t been damaged”
5/ “Charging me with corruption is like arresting Mother Teresa of Calcutta on the ground a little girl from her institute has stolen an apple”
6/ “The judges are communists”
7/ “I’ve been accused of claiming that communists have eaten babies. But if you want, I can arrange a conference where I’ll establish that communists have actually eaten babies & have done even worse than that”
8/ As President Gnassingbé Eyadéma of Togo was reporting the tragedy endured by millions in Malawi, Berlu seized the microphone & went:
“For it isn’t a tragedy at all, your intervention needs shortening. We too are hungry now” (…) “Thanx for coming & now let’s go for lunch. The food is 100% Italian & shall certainly please you all”
9/ Having dinner with the King of Spain, he’s telling Juan Carlos sex jokes…
10/ Berlu is praising PM Anders Fogh Rasmussen of Denmark for his physical beauty & propose him to be introduced to Mrs Veronica Berlusconi. Berlu says to the Danish PM:
“You’re much more gorgeous than Cacciari”,
Mr Cacciari being Veronica Berlusconi’s unofficial lover & accessorily a former mayor of Venice…
11/ To French PM Jean-Pierre Raffarin (a tacky, provincial, ugly-dressed, non-looking twerp):
“This way Jean-Pierre. Be ready for the picture. France has to be chic”
12/ During a big meeting in Barcelona many Statesmen are posing for an official picture. Among them there’s the Spanish foreign minister & guess who?… Berlu! Standing ust behind the Spanish minister & jeering at him (he’s raising two fingers above the head of the Spaniard as if he was having horns…).
13/ During the G8 summit in Genoa he demanded that extra lemons be imported & hung with nylon threads on the city’s trees cause the lemon season was over in Italy.
14/ In September 2001 he claims that “the western civilisation is superior”…
All that was funny and/or dreadful.
The most dreadful is his media empire (90% of the Italian media).
Berlusconi isn’t exactly persecuted by anyone…