Silvio Berlusconi, The Greatest Politician Ever?

The media loves nothing more than to uncover a good scandal. These scandals can sometimes blow out of proportion, and they can ruin someone's political and personal lives. These scandals can range anywhere from tax fraud or evasion, other financial issues, extra-marital affairs, prostitution, bribery, the occasional slightly racist remark, serious conflicts of interest, political corruption, more political corruption, and the list can go on. We've seen many people go through these types of scandals over the past few years with prominent figures such as Tim Geitner, Rod Blagojevich, Mark Sandford, John Edwards, Eliot Spitzer, Nathan Deal, and many others. Some of the most infamous scandals could be considered JFK-Marilyn Monroe, Clinton-Lewinsky, and of course Nixon and Watergate. These would be the most infamous because they involved the nation's highest office. Nixon resigned the presidency, and Clinton was almost forced out of office. Also you could add former-whatever to the many of the names above because the scandals that caught up to them. This is probably the way media and politics are most connected in America, and freedom of the press helps. Italy is a different story. If you want non-stop scandals then you need to check out Italy. These types of scandals are in the media as much as they are allowed to be, and you don't need to look at local politics at all. One of the scandals mentioned above is enough to sink any one person's political ship, but can you imagine if a single politician was involved in more than one or two of these scandals. What about all of the scandals and then some? You would think it would be enough to land someone in jail. This is the case of Silvio Berlusoconi. He is the prime minister of Italy, and there isn't a scandal that he may not be involved in. Just last week new charges of possible tax evasion came out in Italian news. The past couple of years he has dealt with sex and prostitution scandals. One which involved a possible 17 year old, and one that definitely involves an 18 year old aspiring model. Berlusconi just turned 73 years old a couple weeks ago. The corruption charges are ongoing as well. This is Italy, and the mafia is still relevant. They are still a major political factor, and they have tremendous power. He has been accused repeatedly of associating with the mafia. He has been formally charged on numerous occasions, but luckily he was able to pass a law saying that the Prime Minister cannot be charged with a crime and taken to trial. This was overturned by the courts a few years ago, but a similar law was passed earlier this year. So what else does Berlusconi have going for him? He owns one of the largest media companies in Italy, and this is where his fortune came from before he entered politics back in the early 90s.  As a matter of fact he is listed at #74 on Forbes Richest People in the world with a net worth of around $9 billion. If you are wondering how he has support and how he could still be in office then you're not alone. However, he has approval ratings around 50%, and he just won a vote of confidence a couple weeks ago so it doesn't look like he's going anywhere too soon. It's got to be easier to be a politician and get the media on your side if you run the country and the most of the media in the country. That is how mass media and politics are just on a totally different level in Italy than the U.S. I find it pretty entertaining, but if all of that was going on in America I probably wouldn't be too amused.