One of the principal allies of the Vatican in the fight against gay rights in Italy is Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi who claims to be a "family values" type of guy. I previously looked at his wife's announcement that she was divorcing him in part because of his affair with an 18 year old model. Now, the proverbial shit is hitting the fan as photos - like the one at left - from some of Silvio's parties have been printed by the news media. How do we spell HYPOCRISY?? Adding to the stink is the fact that Berlusconi has apparently been using government funds to transport his party crowds to his villa. I suspect the Vatican will pretend to know nothing about Berlusconi's partying habits. As America Blog notes:*
Spanish newspaper El Pais published a few photos of a party that Berlusconi was hosting at one of his houses. The photos include a few naked women as well as a former Czech prime minister who is, ahem, excited at the idea of taking a shower or whatever excuse Berlusconi tried to offer.
*
It would seem that Berlusconi's about as much of a family values guy as Senator David Vitter who has a fondness to prostitutes. Hopefully, this scandal will help usher Berlusconi out of the Prime Minister post. Here are a few highlight from an English translation of the El Pais story:
*
Zappadu's photo feature shows the atmosphere at Villa Certosa, the people with whom Berlusconi socializes and how he spends his spare time. The property covers 60 hectares and is near Porto Redondo, an area concentrating most of the tourism of Costa Smeralda.
*
Those pictures have led to an investigation of Berlusconi?s alleged illegal use of flights financed by the State. The journalist says that "almost every weekend", official planes flown by the 31ยบ Squadrone dell' Aeronautica Italiana delivered at the airport the prime Minister's friends, artists, dancers and velinas (television hostesses).
*
On August 2008, Berlusconi passed a new regulation that broadened the official flights to include different categories of companions, based on the needs of the Prime Minister.Zappadu's pictures bear witness to the fact that four months before the new regulation came into effect, Berlusconi travelled to Olbia with his friend the Napolitanian singer Mariano Apicella and an alleged flamenco dancer.
*
The pictures from Villa Certosa reveal that there is an obvious lack of inhibitions in the mansion, which is protected by strong security measures. Berlusconi himself said that one of the men in the pictures is the Czech ex-Prime Minister, Mirek Topolanek. This newspaper has not been able to check the identity of the man who appears naked in one of the photos.
No comments:
Post a Comment