Tag Archives: Angela Merkel

October 23, 2013 · 8:45 pm

Sympathy for the Merkel

I must say, I don’t know the ins and outs of German politics and have never really bothered to form a definitive opinion about whether Angela Merkel is a good guy  or a bad guy.  Heck, I barely know what’s going on in Czech politics, and I’ve lived here for 15  years.

Yet, I follow U.S.  politics obsessively.  That might strike some as weird, but I don’t think it is really.  If you are a basketball fan, then you watch the NBA.  If you are a hockey fan, you watch the NHL.  Even Czech hockey fans follow the NHL, and there’s a perfectly good hockey league right here, chock full of former and future NHL stars.

Also, America is the dominant country in the world, the 21st century Rome, although the 21st century is young yet and that could change.  Anyway, back to Germany.

Poor old Angela Merkel sure has not had much luck with American presidents.  Creepy George tries to give her a back rub and now Barack Obama has her phone tapped.  Personally, I think Obama’s transgression is far more serious but, I’m not a woman.

OMG just defrnded B Obama #wuttajerk lol

OMG just defrnded B Obama #wuttajerk lol

What the hell is the point of tapping Angela Merkel’s phone?  Do we think she’s becoming BFFs with China behind our backs? Do we want to know if she’s gossiping about us with Sweden?  It’s not just paranoid, it’s juvenile.  We can be pretty sure she’s not planning on attacking the U.S., and that’s all we need to know.

There is some point in spying on country’s where there might be some conflict between the two of us.  I still don’t agree with it – I think in this Internet based world, we’ve got more legitimate, openly available information than we can deal with and if we want more, all we need to do is hire more analysts who speak those languages – but I can see the logic.

But it’s counterproductive to spy on your friends.  Didn’t Barack Obama ever read Harriet the Spy?  Didn’t he ever see Biloxi Blues?

These things always end badly.  As it has.  There’s only one thing for it now.  A full apology and make sure it never happens again.  I’m not holding my breath, but that’s what should be done.

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September 15, 2011 · 5:27 pm

Berlusconi’s Bad Day

U.S. politicians could learn a thing or two from Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.  Whether it’s having sex with prostitutes, being involved in criminal activity, or just saying something crude or offensive, most American pols limit themselves to one scandal at a time.

Silvio Showers His Ladies With Affection: Bunga Bunga Girl Sara Tommasi

Silvio had 3 in the course of one recent phone call.  He was talking to Valter LaVitola, editor of the Socialist newspaper Avanti.  Police suspect that LaVitola, along with Giampaolo Tarantini and his wife, Angela Devenuto, blackmailed Berlusconi for 750,000 euros.  Tarantini and Devenuto were arrested September 1st.  They were threatening to tell the truth at Berlusconi’s upcoming trial for underage prostitution, about how they supplied girls for Berlusconi’s famous Bunga Bunga parties.  The trial was supposed to start almost a year ago, but when you are rich and powerful and have good lawyers, the court’s schedule becomes a bit more flexible.  “Swift justice” is for common folks.

On the one hand, Berlusconi was the blackmailee, not the blackmailer, but he was hardly an innocent victim.  He paid the money.  I’m no expert on the Italian legal system, but I suspect that qualifies as witness tampering.  So, that’s one scandal.

But that’s not what the big brouhaha is about.  During the course of the conversation, Berlusconi referred to German Prime Minister Angela Merkel as a “culona inchiavabile,” which roughly translates as “unfuckable fatass.”  Now, it’s true that Merkel does not exactly resemble Ruby Maroug or Patrizia d’Addario, or any of the other Bunga Bunga babes, but that’s not the point.  She’s not running for Miss Universe, she’s the Prime Minister of Germany and her sexual attractiveness is as irrelevant as, for instance, Vaclav Klaus’s.  Yeah, think about that.

So, that’s two.  The 3rd scandalous thing, and the one that may piss off Italian voters the most, is that he said Italy is a shit country, he’s sick of it, and he plans to leave in a couple of months.  Not terribly patriotic of him.

But not terribly surprising, either.  If the court comes back with a guilty verdict, getting out of the country might be a real good idea.   Arrividerci, Silvio.

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