(image via askmen)
Thus far the Presidential campaign for the White House between Senators McCain and Obama has been a one-dimensional "He's Old," versus "He's Radical" affair (Averted Gaze). So far it is not a Lincoln-Douglas campaign in America in 2008. We'd always assumed that, comparatively speaking, Europeans -- Kagan's "Venusians" -- were a high-minded sort that engaged in serious-minded elections, especially when it comes to generational change.
And then there's Silvio Berlusconi, who is sort of like the Ted Turner of Italy, only without the restraint. The Italians actually returned this clod to office. Berlusconi's ridiculously buffoonish, and it seems that nowadays the Italians -- who once gave us such great political thinkers as Gaetano Mosca and Machiavelli -- prefer a good commedia dell'arte to serious political dialogue. Remember: Even Machiavelli once penned the minor comedic masterpiece "La Mandragola." Berlusconi's lastest stand-up riff, from the salmon-colored weekly:
"Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said today he wants John McCain to be the next president of the United States -- because he's old.
"'And this is for a very selfish reason, and that is that I would no longer be the oldest person at the upcoming G-8,' said Berlusconi, referring to the annual meeting of the Group of Eight industrial nations, 'because McCain is a month older than me.'
Drum roll please ...
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