Silvio Berlusconi and the “bad apple” in his team

Wednesday, January 30, 2013. After being slammed as “bad apple” by AC Milan's owner Silvio Berlusconi only a couple of weeks before, footballer Mario Balotelli wears the red-and-black shirt for the first time.

Super Mario Balotelli

Former striker of Inter Milan and Manchester City and Italian National football team's player Mario Balotelli is  travelling to Milan today, as hundreds of texts and tweets anticipated in the previous days.

A jubilant Barbara Berlusconi – member of AC Milan's board of directors and Silvio Berlusconi's daughter – declared to Italian news agency ANSA how the team could manage to make a major hit by acquiring from British football club Manchester City the talented Mario Balotelli, while her father – in mid January – said that the young striker was a “rotten apple” (alluding to the young talent's sometimes problematic behaviour) who could "infect any group or team, even AC Milan" and there was no interest in him.

Silvio: "Rotten apple"

In Silvio's words: "No one from my club has held any talks with him, and neither [Vice Executive President and CEO Adriano] Galliani nor I has identified him as a transfer target.". The AC Milan's management seemed also wary about spending 20 million euro (£17.2m or $27m) in order to sign the player of Ghanaian descent (here's the Mario's page on Wikipedia).

Well, in the world of football it is a widespread (and somehow understandable) practice to deny any interest in players when a negotiation is on course, but did Silvio Berlusconi really have the necessity to call Mario a “rotten apple” and say that he is prone to "infect" his team, only in order to apologise the day after?

Barbara: "Major hit"

Sometimes it looks like if the former prime minister of Italy just love to say things that well soon need any apology, perhaps in order to get exposure to the media twice: when he says something nasty or rude, and when he makes amends, playing good cop/bad cop all by himself. Have a look at Silvio's quotes, to get an idea...

Massimo Moratti - the president of AC Milan's derby rival Internazionale Milan - said to journalists that the signing of Mario "Bad Boy" Balotelli will be "useful to Berlusconi in many ways" hinting at  political motives. Forecasters state that the player's transfer might contribute to the former prime minister's People of Liberty party's polls with 2 percentage points in next month elections.

One's for sure: as you can see from the photo, Mario Balotelli's (commonly known as Super Mario, for his talent) hairstyle is not going to improve the “hair war” within the Italian football team (see our blog's article “Silvio Berlusconi and the cockscomb of the Pharaoh”).

Mario Balotelli: is he worth 400,000 votes?

Silvio Berlusconi reckons Benito Mussolini did quite well, actually, apart from those racial laws

Sunday, January 27, 2013. On the International Holocaust Remembrance Day Silvio Berlusconi finds it compelling to defend Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini's deeds, another victim of the “German power”, before taking a nap on a ceremony about the Shoah he wasn't even invited to.

Sleeping the sleep of the just?

It hasn't been the first time that Silvio Berlusconi felt like defending "poor" Mussolini, who – in the view of the former Italian prime minister – was a “benevolent leader”, who “never killed anybody” and just used to “send people on holiday”, but this time the timing seemed to be really dodgy, even for the prone-to-blunder media tycoon. 

On Sunday Silvio took part in the inauguration of a monument to the deported of the Shoah, and he must have though "what a better occasion than this one, to praise good ol' Benito?".

Silvio Berlusconi and the (Italian) clash of the century, with his nemesis Michele Santoro

Thursday, 10 January 2013. Silvio Berlusconi enters the lions den, where Michele Santoro and Marco Travaglio were looking forward to devouring the former prime minister.

Santoro and Berlusconi

Allegedly Silvio Berlusconi kicked Michele Santoro out of Italian public TV RAI, back in 2002, that's why the clash between the former prime minister and the left-wing anchorman was described as the duel of the century by many.

Silvio Berlusconi was supposed to walk out in anger, after Michele Santoro and his associate Marco Travaglio would have grilled him properly.

Almost 9 million Italians were glued to the video (one third of the audience, up to 50 per cent in the heat of the discussion), as the Santoro-team attacked on waves.

Nothing doing, the former prime minister fended off Santoro's lunges, ignored Luisella Costamagna remarks, and even returned fire to Marco Travaglio, by enlisting – written on a letter he abruptly pulled out of his pocket - ten lawsuits for defamation the journalist had lost.

Berlusconi cleansing the chair where Travaglio sat

Attacks regarding sex-scandals, Rubygate, and the paying of the 42 bunga-bunga army girls, the request of saying to the Italians he was sorry... all in vane. Silvio Berlusconi answers blending wit remarks, with shreds of statistics, smiles and provocations. And, once again, he gets away with it, and keeps on «gaining back who already voted for me, and perhaps convincing new voters», as he put it.

How to convince the Italians that the People of Liberty party is the right choice? Silvio Berlusconi's pièce de résistance is the abolition of a tax on proprieties, which yield would be – according to the former Italian prime minister – replaced by new taxes on tobaccos, spirits and gambling (the tax was introduced by Berlusconi himselft, but it's the Monti's government that made it applicable to owners of first homes).

Running out of options, Santoro also showed a video taken almost four years before (in April 2009), when Silvio Berlusconi had been keeping waiting German chancellor Angela Merkel while he was talking on the telephone (the video is available on our YouTube channel, click here> to watch it). Well, of course Silvio had an answer for that (he could have work out quite a range of replies, in four years...), but before replying to it – revealing he had been talking to Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan about a crucial topic of the summit - he said «Santoro, you're digging your own grave.».

“I'm having fun” would later declare smiling the former prime minister. Santoro – quite evidently – was not having fun, was visibly annoyed and refuse to shake hands with Silvio, at a certain stage. At least until Silvio left and he went on giggling with his cartoonist friend, Vauro Senesi, who showed the sketches he had been drawing during the programme, in what Santoro called «my communist moments.».

While enjoying his communists moments, Santoro might be an unaware supporter for Silvio, whose deficit had been reducing constantly, since the Italian politician started to show off on TV, without finding any credible opposition. So far.

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Video from our YouTube Channel: Berluschannel

Silvio Berlusconi and the would-be First Lady

Tuesday, 25 December 2012. As Silvio Berlusconi reaches a settlement with his previous wife, the alleged new fiancée Francesca Pascale is being raised to become the official partner of the Knight, starting with the official photos.

Official pictures of the would-be First Lady

25 December 2012, Christmas day, was the day of the final settlement of the legal separation between Veronica Lario and Silvio Berlusconi (even though he will try and recover a part of the 36m euro a bunch of "feminist and communist" judges sentenced him to pay), and the day of the first official photo shoot of the apparent heir of Mrs Lario, Miss Francesca Pascale, at the villa of the former prime minister and billionaire in Arcore, near Milan.

Four of the photos were published by Italian news agency ANSA, in order to let the public know how the young Francesca is taking seriously the new role, (apparently) hoping to fully take over Mr Berlusconi's former wife place and fully join the family as soon as possible...

The engagement with 27-year-old Francesca Pascale was announced by Silvio last December, on his own TV network's Canale 5's Sunday afternoon Domenica Live, on 16 December 2012. The event has been promptly added to Silvio's page on Wikipedia.

Silvio Berlusconi the conspiracy theorist

January 2013. Silvio Berlusconi keeps on discovering conspiracies planned by his enemies, in order to prevent him to deservedly get back to Italy's helm. And he keeps instigating his supporters to fight against this Communist plot.

Silvio revealed the umpteenth plot against him

Silvio Berlusconi, in the attempt to gain sympathy from the public before the general election set for 24-25 February 2013, is trying to portray himself in different ways, but mainly as a victim.

In his own view, Silvio is a victim of a series of conspiracies and plots, he has being disclosing day after day. In the past he informed Barack Obama and Angela Merket about this terrible conspiracy (did they care?). Behind those plots obviously hid some of his countless enemies.

Silvio Berlusconi and the “feminist and communist” female judges

Tuesday, January 8, 2013 (Blessed Eurosia Fabris Barban). Silvio Berlusconi labels judges in charge for his divorce settlement as “feminist and communist” on LA7 broadcaster's prime time television show.

Silvio Berlusconi, enjoying Lilli Gruber's "tough questions"

Lilli Gruber, former RAI employee and left-wing politician, is the anchor woman hosting 8 e mezzo (“8 and a half”) prime time show, where Silvio Berlusconi was interviewed yesterday, and most people would have expected a fierce opposition to the former prime minister of Italy.

Well, it was not the case. Silvio just strolled through the interview, smiling and leading the dance for the entire 60 minutes or so (commercial breaks included).

Silvio Berlusconi and the reconciliation with the Northern League

Monday, January 7, 2013. Silvio Berlusconi and Northern League's Roberto Maroni sign an agreement. With not many clear points on it, but an blurry alliance is better then no ally at all, isn't it.

Silvio's smiling?

Actually Silvio Berlusconi and Northern League's (Lega Nord) Roberto Maroni agreed to disagree, yesterday, since the only sure thing about the pact is that the NL does not want the Italian former prime minister and media tycoon to stand for head of government, and he (I mean the tycoon) had to agree, otherwise he would find himself without an ally, and hordes of enemies. 

So, who will be the candidate for this centre-right coalition? "I already proposed he's candidacy, and I think it will be he again, Angelino Alfano" said the former prime minister, when interviewed by Italian radio broadcaster RTL.

Silvio Berlusconi and the uber-fast growing Twitter followers

Tuesday, 1 January 2013 (Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God). Waking up in the morning of the first day of the new year, Silvio Berlusconi finds out his Twitter account has gained 60,000 followers in one night.

@Berlusconi2013 Twitter account, before the miracle

It took some time for Silvio Berlusconi to get involved in the fast growing social media Twitter, being overtook by a generally traditionalist fellow politician, Pope Benedict XVI, with his @Pontifex, and competitor #1, member of the Senate of Italy and prime minister candidate Mario Monti, with his @SenatoreMonti.

But when he went into it, he did it with his usual vigour.

Starting in the beginning of December 2012, the account @berlusconi2013 had been attracting around seven thousand followers, until the new year's eve miracle: in one magic night Silvio's fan on Twitter grew to over 70,000. It's not a scandal, just a remarkable event.

According to some sources, 70 per cent of the... 73,504 fans (update: 4 January, 10:54 GMT) is a fake, and 80 per cent are South American and Arab accounts – perhaps not very interest in the political events of Italy. How many of them are women? Couldn't find any data about it, but we bet it's more than a few...











Pato and Barbara Berlusconi smile on Twitter



The former prime minister of Italy's Twitter account launched also a kind of “I don't vote for the Left” campaign, by introducing a @iononvotolasx user and ionovotolasx.com internet site (currently not available). These links seemed to have disappeared in the most recent hours, replaced by the ForzaSilvio.it link (“Go Silvio!”).






But The Kight is not the only member of the Berlusconi family to have discovered the tweets: in the meanwhile, also Silvio's daughter – Barbara Berlusconi – appeared on Twitter, publishing a photo just to prove that her relationship with former AC Milan's footballer Alexandre Pato is still on (even though her father sold the player to Brazil's Corinthians).






Some think that Silvio might be totally unaware of what's going on, and the initiation to the twitterati could really be a gift from the founder of the “Silvio ci manchi” (“Silvio we miss you”) club, the tycoon official fiancée Francesca Pascale.






What would be of the President (he has always been president of something) without his women?



(Update: On 4 June 2013, at 13:52 GMT, the Twitter account @berlusconi2013 has 59,290 followers. At the same time @Pontifex has been occupied by a Francis, apparently a migrant from South America. Where has Joseph Aloisius - aka Benedict XVI - gone? Anyhow, the account has now 2.5m followers... Finally, Barbara Berlusconi's last tweet dates back to 11 August 2012.).

Silvio Berlusconi and the friendly and funny gays

Monday, December 31, 2012. Giving an interview to Rome's Radio Capital, Silvio Berlusconi says that gays “are funny”. It's not the first time the former prime minister speaks his mind about homosexuality.

Berlusconi: new look with Borsalino hat

Silvio Berlusconi has not much time, less than two months, to run his one-man-band campaign, before general election will be held in Italy on 24 and 25 February 2013, so he needs to appear on media on a daily basis, free-wheel speaking about almost anything.