Plus, from London's Independent, "Bloodied but unbowed, Berlusconi insists 'they won't stop me': Italian Premier held in hospital overnight after man attacks him with statuette":
The Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was last night rushed to hospital with his face covered in blood after being attacked at a rally in Milan.Also, at Gateway Pundit, "Crazed & Violent Leftist Bloodies Italian Premier Berlusconi at Rally (Video)." Plus, Chicago Ray, "When Euro Trash Attacks....Italian Leader Attacked Bloody WIth Statuette ..."
The 73-year-old Premier was not seriously injured, but the incident marked a further humiliation in what has been an annus horribilis for the billionaire media mogul, already beset by sex scandals, corruption charges, Mafia accusations and a bitter separation from his wife of 19 years.
Mr Berlusconi had been addressing a rally of his People of Freedom party yesterday evening in a pedestrian area in the centre of Milan, his home city. Shortly after, at 6.20pm local time while he signed autographs, a protestor in the crowd hit the Premier squarely in the face with a heavy object, thought to be a statuette of the city's famous gothic cathedral, behind which Mr Berlusconi had just made a long rancorous speech to political supporters.
A clearly shocked Mr Berlusconi appeared to lurch forward in response to the attack, before being bundled into a car by security staff and rushed to the city's San Raffaele Hospital.
Doctors announced that the Prime Minister's injuries were not serious. However, Mr Berlusconi had suffered a "small fracture" of the nose, two broken teeth and an injury to the inside and outside of his lip, according to Paolo Klun, chief spokesman for the hospital. Mr Berlusconi was being kept in overnight as a precaution.
"I'm fine, I'm fine. I'm still here and they're not going to stop me," the Prime Minister was said to have later told friends and colleagues in hospital.
Plus, the New York Times, "Attacker Fractures Berlusconi’s Nose."
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UPDATE: Shorter Michael J.W. Stickings: Berlusconi pretty much deserved it (and it wasn't just a "punch in the face").
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UPDATE II: Post corrected after heads up from Repsac3.
That's a shame, the Left are making comprehensive asses of themselves from Milan to Dopenhagen to DC...
ReplyDeleteAnd Berlusconi is quite a character, I get a kick out of him-
He got in trouble for telling this joke in public-
Guy's doctor says "we've got some bad news, the tests came back and you've got AIDS... I'm going to prescribe a mud-bath."
He says "you mean that will cure me?"
The doctor says "No, of course not... but you'll get used to being buried"
LOLOL- you gotta love him... good friend of the United States, too...
Thanks RR!
ReplyDeleteReaganite Republican: Sadly, Berlusconi is also best of friends with the head of the Russian mafiosi, a certain Vladimir Putin, and despite his battered nose, yesterday Berlusconi was accused of being in cahoots in laundering Russian mafia money.
ReplyDeleteAnd Berlusconi was a friend of the US until he stopped being friendly about a year ago and sort of went to the Petrostates [Russia, neutral Arab states] & began play all sorts of media games inside and outside of Italy. It could be American Amanda Knox is an innocent victim of the anti-American feelings stirred up in the endless tussling between Berlusconi and his leftist political enemies.
Not all men of the "right" are necessarily good, although on average that's the usual call!
After watching the video Berlusconi getting attacked, I have to say the whole situation looked pretty scary -- more like a mad mob than a rally
ReplyDeleteRead slower, Douglas... The "bricklayer" who "hated him" was the one who hit him with a camera in 2004.
ReplyDeleteThis guy who hit him with (or threw) the statue has a history of mental illness and, contrary to GP's headline, hasn't so far been identified as a leftist or accused of having a political motivation for the assault--as Hoft himself admits in his backtrack/UPDATE: "Pollce have not yet identified attacker Massimo Tartaglia as a leftist." (No job description for or quotes from Tartaglia were offered by the BBC.)
"The Italian prime minister was previously assaulted in the street on New Year's Eve 2004, when a tourist visiting Rome struck him with a camera at a rally in the capital's Piazza Navona.
His attacker, a bricklayer from northern Italy, reportedly told police he had attacked Mr Berlusconi because he hated him. The politician suffered a bruise." - BBC News
For the record, I think Niki's right, & you folks ought to reconsider your support for Silvio. Nobody deserves to get whacked in the face, but he ain't no political hero, either.
Hey Doug:
ReplyDeleteI linked you at ABC.