Tag Archives: Berlusconi

Le monde entier est un cactus: the Berlusconi gaffe

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The whole world is a cactus and it’s impossible to sit down…

Photo courtesy Scribbles of a Dutch/Polishman.

Do Bianchi’s habitual albeit well-meaning detractor often chides me for including geo-political commentary and notes on Japanese food on the blog. And he’s right: I really don’t have any business posting on either topic. But I do feel the recent Berlusconi gaffe merits a word or two since I do know something about Italian politics: when I worked as an interpreter for the Italian Mission to the United Nations during Italy’s EU presidency, among my other responsibilities, I was foreign minister Franco Frattini’s personal interpreter and I viewed the Italian political world from the inside out.

A lot has been written about Berlusconi’s recent and past off-color remarks. (My personal favorite is “Mussolini sent people on holiday.”) But, as far as I can see, no one has pointed out that his words were doubly offensive to the many Africans who live in Italy, a country whose citizens are only now beginning to address issues of race and identity. According to The New York Times, the gaffe was not mentioned in a “long, cordial” talk between Obama and Berlusconi and I think Obama was right to ignore the imbecilic wisecrack. But I also feel it’s important to note that in a country like Italy, a former colonial power in Africa and now one of the biggest stakeholders in Africa’s future (in both its commercial and humanitarian enterprises there), such racist slurs are doubly obscene.

Berlsuconi is a cactus lover and his Villa Certosa in Sardinia is famous for its extravagant garden of cacti (more than 500 species, according to some). As the song goes, Dans leurs cactus, il y a des cactus, even in their cactus there are cacti.

*****

Le monde entier est un cactus
Il est impossible de s’assoir
Dans la vie, il y a qu’des cactus
Moi je me pique de le savoir
Aïe aïe aïe, ouille, aïe aïe aïe

Dans leurs coeurs, il y a des cactus
Dans leurs porte-feuilles, il y a des cactus
Sous leurs pieds, il y a des cactus
Dans leurs gilets, il y a des cactus
Aïe aïe aïe, ouille ouille ouille, aïe

Pour me défendre de leurs cactus
A mon tour j’ai mis des cactus
Dans mon lit, j’ai mis des cactus
Dans mon slip, j’ai mis des cactus
Aïe aïe aïe, ouille, aïe aïe aïe

Dans leurs sourires, il y a des cactus
Dans leurs ventres, il y a des cactus
Dans leurs bonjours, il y a des cactus
Dans leurs cactus, il y a des cactus
Aïe aïe aïe, ouille, aïe

Le monde entier est un cactus
Il est impossible de s’assoir
Dans la vie, il y a qu’des cactus
Moi je me pique de le savoir
Aïe aïe aïe, ouille, aïe aïe aïe

— Jacques Dutronc

Par condicio: Pian delle Vigne 2003 sample sampled

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Par condicio is a Latin expression used historically by the Italian legislature and subsequently by the Italian media to denote, among other things, “equal [air] time” for Italian political candidates (it’s modeled after the expression par condicio creditorum or as per agreement with creditors).* It’s an Italian political campaign convention much criticized by the hegemonic Forza Italia (Go Italy!) party and its leader Silvio Berlusconi, who happens to own and control a majority stake in Italian national television — private and public. (Silvio made The New York Times today for his prudish — yes, prudish! — attitudes. See below.)

When my buddy Lance invited me to attend an Antinori tasting over at Wine House in West LA, I felt a sense of moral obligation to swirl, sniff, savor, and spit. In particular, I was curious to taste the 2003 Pian delle Vigne, Antinori’s controversial, once-impounded, and now-cleared 2003 Brunello. (See this recent interview with Antinori winemaker Renzo Cotarella here.)

Anyone who reads my blog knows that I am not a fan of modern-style Brunello and frankly, Pian delle Vigne is not a wine that I drink. But in the spirit of “fair and balanced” coverage, I am compelled to report that, judging from the color of the wine and its flavors and aromas, it was 100% Sangiovese (see the bright, clear color of the wine in the photo above). And although it was wooded, it did taste like Brunello: frankly, I found it to be more traditional-leaning than other bottlings of Pian delle Vigne. In all fairness, it’s a very well made wine.

One question remains, however: why were we tasting hand-labeled “samples” of the 2003 Brunello when the wine was presented in the U.S. as early as January 2008 with printed Antinori labels? There are certainly bottles of 2003 Pian delle Vigne in this country — many undoubtedly shipped before the April controversy, when Siena authorities impounded the wine. The wine has since been “cleared” by the Siena magistrate (as has Banfi’s, as of yesterday). So, why the need for “samples”? Food for thought…

Americans continue to adore Antinori’s wines and gauging from the stampede for the Guado al Tasso, Solaia, and Tignanello last night, the Marquis has not suffered from the recent Brunello controversy. It’s remarkable how much wine he makes and in how many regions. I had no idea, for example, that he makes a nice Franciacorta (Montenisa) and I was really impressed by his La Brancesca 2006 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Santa Pia, traditional in style, for under $40 retail.

In other news…

Separatist Italian agriculture minister Luca Zaia approves bag-in-box packaging for DOC wines. See this report.

In other other news…

Tiepolo’s titties tethered by Italian chieftain in “The Truth Unveiled by Time” tela!!!

In an unusual act of prudish countenance, the Berlusconi government ordered the nipples in Tiepolo’s “The Truth Unveiled by Time” covered. The painting appears in the backdrop of the Italian prime minister’s press conferences. See this report in The New York Times.

* “One of the cardinal principles governing the liquidation of insolvent estates is the equal treatment of creditors—the classical par condicio creditorum. Debtors on the eve of bankruptcy, either of their own volition or under pressure, may accord preferential treatment—by way of payment or security—to certain creditors.”

Source: “bankruptcy.” Encyclopædia Britannica. 2008. Encyclopædia Britannica Online.

Berlusconi and Brunello

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To read my translation and commentary of Emilio Giannelli’s political cartoon above, click on the image.

Italy’s controversial prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, probably appears in at least one political cartoon every day, but Saturday’s vignette in the Corriere della Sera was different: Brunello di Montalcino, it seems, has become a political metaphor (click the image above to read my translation and commentary at VinoWire.com).

Berlusconi and the Bush administration made the English-language newswire (and headlines in Italy) a few weeks ago. On the occasion of the G8 Summit in Japan, someone at the U.S. State Dept. plagiarized an unflattering profile of Berlusconi word-for-word and printed it in the U.S. government’s “background” briefing materials for press.

According to the bio and our government, Berlusconi is “one of the most controversial leaders in the history of a country known for governmental corruption and vice… regarded by many as a political dilettante who gained his high office only through use of his considerable influence on the national media until he was forced out of office in 2006.”

The Bush administration promptly apologized for the gaffe. Bush and Berlusconi consider themselves “good friends” and Berlusconi was a vocal supporter of Bush’s war in Iraq.

In case you’ve never seen Mascarello’s famous “No Berlusconi, No Barrique” label, check out Wolfgang’s post over at Spume.