Berlusconi Condemned for ‘Deplorable’ Jokes

Although one can’t expect class from Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, is it too much to ask that he just not talk? After making a crack about Hitler, and another about Jews, even the Vatican’s official newspaper has publicly decried his jokes as “deplorable.” —JCL

The Guardian:

Never known for his sensivity—and already in trouble for telling a gag about Hitler—the Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi was today condemned for more “deplorable” jokes.

The Italian prime minister was filmed cracking jokes to members of the public which depicted Jews as money-grabbers, mocked the appearance of a female opposition MP and used the Italian language’s most offensive religious oath.

The jokes were described as “deplorable” by the Vatican’s official newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, which said they offended “the sentiments of believers and the memory of the six million victims of the Shoah”.

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