Berlusconi Jokes About Hitler At Youth Rally

ROME — Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi says young women should follow the money when looking for a partner, noting that women seem to like him and "I'm loaded."

Berlusconi, who was embroiled in a sex scandal last year and is known for his gaffes, also raised eyebrows with a joke about Hitler's followers urging him to return to power.

The billionaire businessman appeared at a convention Sunday of the youth wing of his People of Freedom party. When questioned by one of his Cabinet ministers – a woman – he joked about marriages of convenience, saying women were lining up for him because "I'm a nice guy" and "I'm loaded."

He also recalled a much-criticized TV interview he once gave, when "I said to a girl to look for a wealthy boyfriend. This suggestion is not unrealistic."

He also claimed women favor older men, thinking that "he's old. He dies and I inherit."

The 73-year-old Berlusconi was engulfed in a sex scandal last year centering on his purported dalliances with young women, including an escort. Berlusconi's wife Veronica Lario said last year she was seeking a divorce. They are now separated.

The media baron has said he is "no saint" but denied ever paying for sex.

In Italy, a divorce can only be sought after three years of separation. Media reports this summer suggested that Berlusconi's wife has rejected his early proposals for a financial settlement.

Berlusconi often gets criticized for his earthy sense of humor, and this time an opposition political demanded he apologize to Italy's Jewish community for his Hitler joke.

Before telling it, he said "I already know I am going to be criticized."

Berlusconi, who claims prosecutors have led corruption investigations against him because they are left-wing, also appeared to be poking fun at himself when commenting on the loss of his AC Milan soccer team on Saturday. He contended the referee robbed the team of three goals and that Milan often gets "leftist referees."

Comments

[Harry Bridges]

09:20 PM on 09/16/2010

Tried to respond, hit the wrong key halfway through, which TOTALLY proves your point about hitting the wrong key by mistake! We are cool. I was just amused by and curious about the tag and the remote possibility that I was the target of some vindictive, literate, tech-savvy hippo. My fear of rabid raccoons and bats is enough - mutant hyper-evolved hippos with a vendetta against me might put me over the edge.
Peace to you and may you stay clear of all hippos and cape buffalo.
And rabid bats and raccoons as well.

[LeftLeanWing]

04:33 PM on 09/15/2010

Addressing a convention of the youth wing of his People of Freedom Party, the billionaire businessman said: “A little after Hitler died his supporters discovered he was in fact still alive.

”They went to look for him to convince him to come back and he replied: ‘Yes I will return but on one condition...

this time I will be evil, right?’“

[Guytar]

02:09 PM on 09/15/2010

Berlusconi needs a wake up call. His free-wheeling jokes about Hitler youth are not funny.

His hair is ridiculuous. His delusions about his appeal to women are hilarious.

[Max is Back]

11:22 AM on 09/15/2010

Was he remembering his participation in that organization, or was he expressing his frustration at not having had the opportunity to be a member?

This guy is what would happen if Rupert Murdoch ran for president of the USA...

[bozzers]

06:55 AM on 09/15/2010

Hitler's always good for a laugh...'trouble is, most can't take a joke. What exactly's in AIPAC's Gigglebook that we are permitted to find amusing?

[sole]

02:31 AM on 09/15/2010

Lame article, what's the Hitler joke? Bait the viewer to see the uncouth fool in all his glory, then deny the reader?

Berlusca is a joke. How the italians put up with this guy is beyond my comprehension. Hopefully, they call election soon, and vote him out.

I live in Italy 6 months out of the year l for the last six and what he gets away with here is just sadly amazing.

[cliffhammond]

03:47 AM on 09/15/2010

The other joke is all those people so easily offended at the mention of a name. They should all treat themselves to a Mel Brooks movie. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K08akOt2kuo

[LeftLeanWing]

04:31 PM on 09/15/2010

Mel Brooks IS JEWISH...

And his works on Hitler are viewed as parody.....

[m2b]

12:31 AM on 09/15/2010

Well, this article is completely pointless because it doesn't even cite the joke. From what I read in this article he said nothing offensive apart from his sexist rants about women.

[unitedjerusalem]

11:58 PM on 09/14/2010

I guess to a few derranged souls "Dolphie" was just a real scream,huh??

[rmreddicks]

10:44 PM on 09/14/2010

Since most sites have censored the Hitler joke, I'll provide a link below:

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Berlusconi-sinks-to-new-low-with-his-Hitler-joke/681390

Like Berlusconi's other jokes (and Berlusconi) it isn't funny. But I don't see any need for it to be censored. If we hide our collective head in the sand I'm doubtful that Hitler-ism will ever go away.

[aristippe]

12:26 AM on 09/15/2010

i thought it was funny

[nubret2008]

06:33 AM on 09/15/2010

I wouldn't brag so loud with that

[cliffhammond]

03:54 AM on 09/15/2010

Well you know how it goes; there's politically correct and then there's politically correct. The news has gotten in such a habit of letting the tail wag the dog that they've gotten just as neurotic as the cranks on the other end. I think it's time we move on and they can either get over it .... or not. Who cares?

[Momklok]

04:35 PM on 09/14/2010

Could Italinas please vote him out of office and send him off to some island somewhere so we don't have to listen to this idiot. I volunteer a few dozen American politicians to join him.

[zimbabwechic]

06:53 PM on 09/14/2010

It's weird when I lived there they all seemed to dislike him but he's still in power. He's like the wind baby you can't touch him lol.

[jfor]

04:23 PM on 09/14/2010

Billionaires live in a very thick bubble, surrounded by people who use the word yes.

[GeorgieMark]

04:04 PM on 09/14/2010

Berlusconi is the side-effect of operation Gladio the clandestine "stay behind" NATO operation.

The southern flank of NATO (Greece and Italy) after WWII emerged with strong communist inclinations and there was a real threat of losing these countries to the USSR.

NATO overtly in Greece aided conservatives to defeat communists in a bitter civil war that started almost immediately after the end of WWII! There were countless NATO sponsored coups after that up till 1975 when Greece lost half the island of Cyprus to its historic enemy Turkey (another victim of Nato's stay behind operations).

In Italy Operation Gladio and the links between the country's military and political system to the CIA and NATO were known only to the upper government echelons. After the collapse of the USSR people began talking. Then an independent judicial ruling that a senior politician had accepted a bribe from a small cleaning company in Milan made politicians spill out the beans.

With new evidence pouring down inside judicial halls, judges and prosecutors launched operation Mani Pulite (clean hands) an anti-corruption campaign throughout Italy. It's crowing achievement? Uncovering the full extent of Operation Gladio and how much power NATO yielded in Italian politics! Before the end of 1992 almost all of Italy's political parties vanished alongside veteran politicians who were accused of grand scale corruption and left a power vacuum.

Berlusconi filled that vacuum and since 1995 there was no other viable alternative to Berlusconi.

[rmreddicks]

10:52 PM on 09/14/2010

Would you agree that NATO would be a misnomer for the intervention in Greece? Essentially it was a U.S., Great Britain operation. NATO, as an organization would not have been up to that capability. Certainly NATO was an important fact in Italy by the 70's (and Greece, also). But still more as cover. I'd say it wasn't until the Yugoslavia debacle that NATO actually acted as a force majeure. And not terribly well at that.

Just thinking out loud, here.

[GeorgieMark]

10:40 AM on 09/15/2010

I stand corrected; thank you for pointing out the erroneous statement of NATO intervention during the Greek civil war (officially ended in 1949 ).
The intervention was primarily backed by the British (RAF was carrying out sorties in the greek countryside) with the US joining later.

[bisbeeornotbisbee]

11:40 PM on 09/14/2010

Fascinating post, GeorgieMark. Fanned and faved.

[drsoos]

03:43 PM on 09/14/2010

This is about a Hitler joke? Coulda fooled me. This article is about his advice to women.

[m2b]

12:34 AM on 09/15/2010

Yeah there wasn't anything about his joke.

[IDIOTA]

03:31 PM on 09/14/2010

See? Money is speech -- his money leads to such statements. Dave Chappelle said it best -- I'm rich, biotch (therefore, I can say the most outrageous things).

[Kyle Kingma]

02:55 PM on 09/14/2010

So where was the joke?...

[dim]

04:27 PM on 09/14/2010

It's not very good.

A little after Hitler died his supporters discovered he was in fact still alive. They went to look for him to convince him to come back and he replied: ‘Yes I will return but on one condition... this time I will be evil, right?'