The joker

Berlusconi Under Fire for Obama ‘Joke’
By Rachel Donadio

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi of Italy, left, and President Dmitri Medvedev of Russia on Thursday. (Pool photo by Alexander Zemlyanichenko)Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi of Italy did it again.

Meeting in Moscow on Thursday, Mr. Berlusconi told President Dmitri Medvedev of Russia that President-elect Barack Obama “has all the qualities to get along well with you: he’s young, handsome and suntanned, so I think you can develop a good working relationship.”

Italy’s leading daily, Corriere della Sera, ran a video of the scene.

The leader of the center-left opposition, Walter Veltroni, said Mr. Berlusconi’s remarks “seriously damage the image and dignity of our country on the international scene,” Corriere della Sera reported. Mr. Veltroni — who has been called the Obama of Italy, except that he lost the election –­ added that such “cabaret one-liners” showed a “lack of respect” unworthy of a statesman.

He called on Mr. Berlusconi “to offer official apologies.”

But Mr. Berlusconi said the remark had been all in fun: “Are there really people who don’t understand it was a cute thing to say?” he said, according to Corriere. Adding: “God save us from imbeciles. How can you take such a great compliment negatively?”

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