Political Dwarf
I caught only a very small part of Jeremy Paxman's interview with the odious Silvio Berlusconi, but I agreed with the observation of Janice Turner in The Times that the great 'Paxo' failed to live up to his billing because of the obvious language barrier which ought to have been apparent before the project was even set up.
So instead of being able to confront Berlusconi with some of the vile things the former Italian President has said on the record, the great interrogator was reduced to the role of spectator as Silvio danced away from his questions.
The only saving grace is that Janice Turner nailed the old fool with the description that compared to Angela Merkel, Berlusconi is a political dwarf.
Paxo serves up sexism with a sneer and a snigger
By Janice Turner - The Times
Notebook
Angela Merkel. You wouldn’t would you? I mean, Angie, you may be de facto head of the EU, ranked the fifth most powerful person in the world and returned as German chancellor in a thumping victory, but, love, look at your bum in that skirt.
This wasn’t the private ranting of the Premier League’s Richard Scudamore but the sniggering subtext of a public interview. “When Paxman met Berlusconi” was flagged by Newsnight as the moment Jeremy dared ask Silvio if he’d called Europe’s longest-serving leader “an unf***able lardass”. Paxo, eh, what a lad!
Enthroned like a Medici noble in his glorious garden, Berlusconi denied saying anything so vulgar. His eyes twinkled and Paxman gave a wry smile.
Here was a disgraced politician, convicted for having sex with an underage prostitute and allowed to shrug off countless others charges against him as his enemies’ trifling plots.
The problem, it seemed, was that Paxman doesn’t speak Italian. Thus he’d lob Berlo a subject, allow him to babble his innocence at length, then listen to the translation. Paxman, therefore, was powerless to interject, let alone take Berlusconi to task.
But that wasn’t the point. This was Spitting Image TV —an encounter between two cartoonish figures for public hilarity. Let’s gawp at Berlusconi’s hairline or revel in his Tony Soprano charm. Forget his corruption and sex crimes while we titter again at a crude slight against a woman who makes him look a political dwarf.
Notebook
Angela Merkel. You wouldn’t would you? I mean, Angie, you may be de facto head of the EU, ranked the fifth most powerful person in the world and returned as German chancellor in a thumping victory, but, love, look at your bum in that skirt.
This wasn’t the private ranting of the Premier League’s Richard Scudamore but the sniggering subtext of a public interview. “When Paxman met Berlusconi” was flagged by Newsnight as the moment Jeremy dared ask Silvio if he’d called Europe’s longest-serving leader “an unf***able lardass”. Paxo, eh, what a lad!
Enthroned like a Medici noble in his glorious garden, Berlusconi denied saying anything so vulgar. His eyes twinkled and Paxman gave a wry smile.
Here was a disgraced politician, convicted for having sex with an underage prostitute and allowed to shrug off countless others charges against him as his enemies’ trifling plots.
The problem, it seemed, was that Paxman doesn’t speak Italian. Thus he’d lob Berlo a subject, allow him to babble his innocence at length, then listen to the translation. Paxman, therefore, was powerless to interject, let alone take Berlusconi to task.
But that wasn’t the point. This was Spitting Image TV —an encounter between two cartoonish figures for public hilarity. Let’s gawp at Berlusconi’s hairline or revel in his Tony Soprano charm. Forget his corruption and sex crimes while we titter again at a crude slight against a woman who makes him look a political dwarf.
