As IF Times

link The Caligulan court of Silvio Berlusconi laid bare – Telegraph.

On the other hand, you don’t have to worry about this guy being influenced by graft.  Regarded as one of the richest men in Italy, Berlusconi is presumably paying for all of this ‘amusement’ from his own pockets.  Usually, the politician is caught diverting the public’s  funds for personal gain.  Dictators like Yasser Arafat, Ferdinand Marcos and the recently deposed Zine Abidine Ben Ali of Tunisia come to mind.   All of these statesmen made off with billions of dollars of their citizen’s money and lived in relative dignity, right until the jig was up.

Of course, I risk falling into the trap of moral relativism, the typical liberal technique, but with all of the incompetent and corrupt personalities running nations today, Berlusconi is comparatively saint like.  He is not starving his people and lobbing missiles into South Korea like Kim Jong Il.   He is not robbing the nation, confiscating key industries and placing his family and cronies in their place like Ben Ali.  He is not hoarding the nation’s resource wealth and spreading it only to the extended “royal family’ while leaving the nation impoverished, like Saudi Arabia and most arab nations.  He is not financing antagonists who would bomb and harass the Western world who happen to disagree with his religion, again like some Arab rulers.  He is not allowing his sadistic sons to run around terrorizing the population as did Saddam Hussein during his happier days.   He is not ruling by decree and nationalizing state assets like Hugo Chavez.   He is not trying to transform the most successful nation state in the history of man to become a flaccid socialist one,  apparently the goal of the current U.S. president.

Compared to some of the illustrious statesmen running other countries today, Silvio’s peccadilloes are rather pedestrian.  No one can deny he is narcissistic like many men of wealth. He lives like Hugh Hefner without the campy trappings and oily personna. At least Silvio has the decency to put on a suit.   How quaint that running after girls is viewed with such distaste when the world is full of other self important egomaniacs with much more vile and sinister intents.  The Italians don’t know how good they have it.  His detractors look to hang him, but the people of Italy still appear to embrace him.  And he embraces them right back….well at least the women.

link Analysis: Khodorkovsky verdict confirms Putins grip on power – Telegraph.

It’s always been of great curiosity to me as to how despots get into power.  As interesting are the images they portray to the world.  Not that I’m claiming Putin is a despot, but there have been many anecdotal stories of his somewhat strong armed edicts during his career.  This latest news of the imprisonment of a political foe only underscores a history of such power moves.  In addition, over the past year, we’ve been treated to images of Putin riding bare chested on a horse, fishing in a stream and holding rifles, again bare chested as if he were posing for the cover of some bodice ripper.  The most recent imagery is of Putin in judo garb, presumably subduing an opponent.  In politics, but especially in communist/totalitarian type regimes, image is everything.  The West has been treated to a steady stream of G.I. Vladimir for quite some time now, so we know there is propaganda being foisted upon both their domestic population as well as the West.   Most recently, as if to augment his studly stature, there have been carefully leaked rumours of Putin squiring around a lovely young model. 

On that note, what aspiring dictator can blame him?  There’s no point wielding absolute power over a nation if you can’t get a hot chick as your consort.  As far as that goes, why not indulge a bit and to heck with what others think.  If Hugh Hefner can marry someone young enough to be his great granddaughter, why can’t Putin live a little?  Why should just the Capitalists have all the fun?  Putin is at least enjoying the fruits of a lifetime of scheming, subterfuge and political maneuvering to get where he is today.  If he wants to express himself a bit, who can blame him?  When you look at other iconic despots of our time, they look like comparitively miserable people.  Kim Jong Il, Castro, Hugo, Mahmoud; they all have that serious, no fun look about them all the time.  Surely it must be boring to wear the same old drab military fatigues all the time, or in the case of Ahmedinejad, the same suit.  There is that sameness of demeanor when you are the icon of totalitarian rule.  It must be tiring constantly having to appear stern and serious. Invariably, photos of them always depict them in mid-rant with their mouths open, an annoyed visage and a threatening finger stabbing the air for emphasis.

So refreshing to have someone like Vladimir living the life publicly that the other dictators wish they had the guts to emulate.  Riding horses, playing with guns, fishing, wrestling and dating hot women, all with with shirt optional.  In the West, people are even more repressed, as far as politicians anyway.  If there was any hint of these fun things occurring in the lives of Western politicians, the media and public would be all a-titter and the sqwawking would be heard clear to the next decade.  There would be big dollar investigations and scandalous revelations.  Just ask Bill Clinton, John Edwards, Mark Sanford etc etc etc.  Someone like Sarah Palin gets seen wielding a gun and shooting caribou and she gets labelled as a redneck.  Vladimir does it, he’s a strongman.  Here’s another case in point:  Silvio Berlusconi, the over hormoned Prime Minister of Italy who in a candid moment said,

“… I work extremely hard and, if every now and then I look at the face of a beautiful girl, then it is better to be passionate about beautiful girls than be gay…”

That didn’t play too well in a predominantly Roman Catholic society.  I imagine it wouldn’t play well in New York or San Francisco either.  So much for honesty.  Undaunted, there are reports that he bought gold rings for all of his 37 female cabinet members for Christmas.   Those Italians sure know how to treat women.

World politicians must look at Putin enviously.  In comparison to the West where they have to maintain the veneer of piety or in banana republics where they are obliged to portray strong humorless authority,  it must be so much more fun to be able to do what Putin does;  which is apparently, whatever he wants.   There’s a man who likes his job.