Americans who watched the bizarre clip from last week's G-20 Summit of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi shouting, "Meester Obamaa, Meester Obamaa!" to the evident irritation of the British Queen--and who were shocked at his infamous joke about Obama's being "tall, handsome, and suntanned"--might be wondering: What's up with this guy? Does he have an Obama problem?
Just to put everyone's mind at rest, the quick answer is: No, he does this to everyone! Or something equally bizarre. Only a few days after the "Meester Obama" episode, Berlusconi embarrassed German Chancellor Angela Merkel by emerging from his limousine for an official visit while talking on his cell phone as she waited on a red carpet to greet him. He turned his back on her and talked for several minutes as she stood there with her hand out, until, finally, with obvious annoyance, she gave up and went inside.
Things like this have been happening since Berlusconi first became prime minister in 1994. At one of his first international meetings, he made the "sign of the horns," or of the cuckold, over the head of the Spanish foreign minister while posing for a group photograph. When people objected, he insisted it was a "friendly" gesture meant to create a sense of camaraderie. In 2001 he referred to a German member of the European parliament as a concentration camp kapo; in 2002 he called the Danish prime minister Anders Rasmussen the most handsome politician in Europe and suggested he might make a good match for Berlusconi's own wife, who at the time was rumored to be having an affair with the then-mayor of Venice, Massimo Cacciari. "He's much better looking than Cacciari," Berlusconi said at a press conference. "I'll explain later," he added to the puzzled Rasmussen.
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