Luttwak has certainly met a lot of prominent people. I suppose one of his qualities is the ability to keep secrets, or at least to tell the truth strategically, otherwise he wouldn’t get to meet all those people.
“Berlusconi the energetic playboy, who at different times kept an entire harem of young girls to be made available to visiting political leaders who were so inclined, as most were.”
I’ll bet they were. There’s a political witch hunt for Trump unfolding, including charges related to his relationship with a stripper. I wonder how many of the pious, supposedly woke, global leaders would face charges if their exploits with Berlusconi’s harem were known.
Who keeps those secrets, I wonder? Were there hidden cameras? Is that what the Russians used to call Kompromat? I bet Bill Clinton would be at the very top of the list, but, of course, there are global forces at play to protect him and others. Not all conspiracy theories are wrong.
by an Italian who lives in Italy… I remember that period in 1993 and I would like to point out that the strategy of “preventive detention” was absolutely necessary: those 4,000 people – entrepreneurs – were LITERALLY killing the Italian economy because any funding for public works had to be accompanied with a “money bribe” to be donated to Italy’s three main political parties… this “criminal and carcinogenic” system of illicit financing was truly killing every aspect of our Italian economy (e.g. the construction of the Milan Metro, and the one of Rome, had a much higher cost for each mile of track rather than the same costs incurred for the construction of other subways in other European cities … like London, Paris, Madrid). This higher costs has happened because the Italian builders – those same entrepreneurs – were forced to pay those bribes in money and this “extraordinary cost” has meant that there was a lack of funds for the actual construction of a large underground network (infact, nowaday, the subways of Milan and Rome are really so short in terms of length of tracks because at that time the politicians and the entrepreneurs have LITERALLY drained in their pocket all the money budgeted by the community for the execution of those public works.
And I would also like to underline the fact that italy, unlike the United States, is a nation surrounded by dozens of other nations: it is really very easy to escape abroad (take your car and in 30 minutes you are at the border with Switzerland from where is absolutely not easy – for Italian authorities – to get a quick draw… especially if you are a wealthy entrepreneur who already has bank accounts… and some diamnonds in your pocket… deposited there in Switzerland).
The “preventive detention” was absolutely necessary to prevent those criminals from escaping abroad and continuing to pursue their criminal “modus-operandi“.
“Hounded”? He was defended by women claiming to be “feminists” (one publicly stated she would give him a ****job for his stance on abortion). His hideous consort was all over television claiming first that his grotesque priapism was a “vast Right-wing conspiracy”. Then she went on to claim Lewinsky was an unstable stalker.
What does it matter that Clinton is no longer in office? The powerful politicians who indulged in Berlusconi’s harem are likely the same who enjoyed the sex slaves on Epstein’s island. Why don’t we know who they are? Or am I being too relentlessly houndy?
“Hounded”? He was defended by women claiming to be “feminists” (one publicly stated she would give him a ****job for his stance on abortion). His hideous consort was all over television claiming first that his grotesque priapism was a “vast Right-wing conspiracy”. Then she went on to claim Lewinsky was an unstable stalker.
What does it matter that Clinton is no longer in office? The powerful politicians who indulged in Berlusconi’s harem are likely the same who enjoyed the sex slaves on Epstein’s island. Why don’t we know who they are? Or am I being too relentlessly houndy?
I agree something went on there, with conspiratorial cover-up and an concerted effort to discredit anyone who publicly mentioned the connection. For me, the problem–or overreach alert–is when people go from there to “Plandemic”, #Moonlandingfake, 911 Inside Job, or Alien Pyramids, etc.
I agree something went on there, with conspiratorial cover-up and an concerted effort to discredit anyone who publicly mentioned the connection. For me, the problem–or overreach alert–is when people go from there to “Plandemic”, #Moonlandingfake, 911 Inside Job, or Alien Pyramids, etc.
by an Italian who lives in Italy… I remember that period in 1993 and I would like to point out that the strategy of “preventive detention” was absolutely necessary: those 4,000 people – entrepreneurs – were LITERALLY killing the Italian economy because any funding for public works had to be accompanied with a “money bribe” to be donated to Italy’s three main political parties… this “criminal and carcinogenic” system of illicit financing was truly killing every aspect of our Italian economy (e.g. the construction of the Milan Metro, and the one of Rome, had a much higher cost for each mile of track rather than the same costs incurred for the construction of other subways in other European cities … like London, Paris, Madrid). This higher costs has happened because the Italian builders – those same entrepreneurs – were forced to pay those bribes in money and this “extraordinary cost” has meant that there was a lack of funds for the actual construction of a large underground network (infact, nowaday, the subways of Milan and Rome are really so short in terms of length of tracks because at that time the politicians and the entrepreneurs have LITERALLY drained in their pocket all the money budgeted by the community for the execution of those public works.
And I would also like to underline the fact that italy, unlike the United States, is a nation surrounded by dozens of other nations: it is really very easy to escape abroad (take your car and in 30 minutes you are at the border with Switzerland from where is absolutely not easy – for Italian authorities – to get a quick draw… especially if you are a wealthy entrepreneur who already has bank accounts… and some diamnonds in your pocket… deposited there in Switzerland).
The “preventive detention” was absolutely necessary to prevent those criminals from escaping abroad and continuing to pursue their criminal “modus-operandi“.
Clinton visited Epstein’s Island something like 18 times. So he probably visited Burlusconi a few times as well.
J Bryant
10 months ago
Luttwak has certainly met a lot of prominent people. I suppose one of his qualities is the ability to keep secrets, or at least to tell the truth strategically, otherwise he wouldn’t get to meet all those people.
“Berlusconi the energetic playboy, who at different times kept an entire harem of young girls to be made available to visiting political leaders who were so inclined, as most were.”
I’ll bet they were. There’s a political witch hunt for Trump unfolding, including charges related to his relationship with a stripper. I wonder how many of the pious, supposedly woke, global leaders would face charges if their exploits with Berlusconi’s harem were known.
Who keeps those secrets, I wonder? Were there hidden cameras? Is that what the Russians used to call Kompromat? I bet Bill Clinton would be at the very top of the list, but, of course, there are global forces at play to protect him and others. Not all conspiracy theories are wrong.
AJ Mac
10 months ago
“he was then in his maximum harem phase, with a dozen young girls housed in a luxury dormitory from which they were ferried to attend his after-dinner entertainments.”
Good guy overall though, right? (Yeah, probably not). It’s one thing to say he wasn’t only a “bunga bunga” hound or make the valid point that most men have a horndog side to us that many would indulge if given the resources and opportunity. But that doesn’t make it ok, not at this scale of drooling sleaziness, and it wasn’t ok with Slick Willy or Donny Dames (Trump) either.
Do we need to be ever-so-scandalized or indulge in some stereotypically-American puritanical hypocrisy? Nah, of course not. We can still ask for leaders that aren’t this trashy, this given over to their appetites after reaching middle-age and beyond. A matter of degree, not absolute moral purity or corruption.
Last edited 10 months ago by AJ Mac
AJ Mac
10 months ago
“he was then in his maximum harem phase, with a dozen young girls housed in a luxury dormitory from which they were ferried to attend his after-dinner entertainments.”
Good guy overall though, right? (Yeah, probably not). It’s one thing to say he wasn’t only a “bunga bunga” hound or make the valid point that most men have a horndog side to us that many would indulge if given the resources and opportunity. But that doesn’t make it ok, not at this scale of drooling sleaziness, and it wasn’t ok with Slick Willy or Donny Dames (Trump) either.
Do we need to be ever-so-scandalized or indulge in some stereotypically-American puritanical hypocrisy? Nah, of course not. We can still ask for leaders that aren’t this trashy, this given over to their appetites after reaching middle-age and beyond. A matter of degree, not absolute moral purity or corruption.
Last edited 10 months ago by AJ Mac
Frank McCusker
10 months ago
There should be a law against businessmen and TV stars getting into high office. They’re either dumb, or autocratic, or both. Berlusconi was a dickhead
If the RAI TV channels are anything to go by, he was also a mysoginistic buffoon.
Frank McCusker
10 months ago
There should be a law against businessmen and TV stars getting into high office. They’re either dumb, or autocratic, or both. Berlusconi was a dickhead
Christopher Barclay
10 months ago
Luttwak does not address the question of whether Italy deserves its reputation for corruption or not. He does not ask whether the business men imprisoned were guilty of the charges against them. He does not ask whether they named other people whom they knew were guilty of stealing public money. The Christian Democrats disbanded itself because the electorate saw that the party was rotten to its Andreotti core with corruption and links to organised crime.
The deaths of Epstein and many other people in the US show that people committing ‘suicide’ often have helping hands. The same probably applies in Italy.
Christopher Barclay
10 months ago
Luttwak does not address the question of whether Italy deserves its reputation for corruption or not. He does not ask whether the business men imprisoned were guilty of the charges against them. He does not ask whether they named other people whom they knew were guilty of stealing public money. The Christian Democrats disbanded itself because the electorate saw that the party was rotten to its Andreotti core with corruption and links to organised crime.
The deaths of Epstein and many other people in the US show that people committing ‘suicide’ often have helping hands. The same probably applies in Italy.
Jonathan Nash
10 months ago
It would be interesting to know more about those negotiations with Sobchak and Putin, who were then building their relationship with the Petersbourg mafia which ran the port.
Jonathan Nash
10 months ago
It would be interesting to know more about those negotiations with Sobchak and Putin, who were then building their relationship with the Petersbourg mafia which ran the port.
Luttwak has certainly met a lot of prominent people. I suppose one of his qualities is the ability to keep secrets, or at least to tell the truth strategically, otherwise he wouldn’t get to meet all those people.
“Berlusconi the energetic playboy, who at different times kept an entire harem of young girls to be made available to visiting political leaders who were so inclined, as most were.”
I’ll bet they were. There’s a political witch hunt for Trump unfolding, including charges related to his relationship with a stripper. I wonder how many of the pious, supposedly woke, global leaders would face charges if their exploits with Berlusconi’s harem were known.
Who keeps those secrets, I wonder? Were there hidden cameras? Is that what the Russians used to call Kompromat? I bet Bill Clinton would be at the very top of the list, but, of course, there are global forces at play to protect him and others. Not all conspiracy theories are wrong.
by an Italian who lives in Italy… I remember that period in 1993 and I would like to point out that the strategy of “preventive detention” was absolutely necessary: those 4,000 people – entrepreneurs – were LITERALLY killing the Italian economy because any funding for public works had to be accompanied with a “money bribe” to be donated to Italy’s three main political parties… this “criminal and carcinogenic” system of illicit financing was truly killing every aspect of our Italian economy (e.g. the construction of the Milan Metro, and the one of Rome, had a much higher cost for each mile of track rather than the same costs incurred for the construction of other subways in other European cities … like London, Paris, Madrid). This higher costs has happened because the Italian builders – those same entrepreneurs – were forced to pay those bribes in money and this “extraordinary cost” has meant that there was a lack of funds for the actual construction of a large underground network (infact, nowaday, the subways of Milan and Rome are really so short in terms of length of tracks because at that time the politicians and the entrepreneurs have LITERALLY drained in their pocket all the money budgeted by the community for the execution of those public works.
And I would also like to underline the fact that italy, unlike the United States, is a nation surrounded by dozens of other nations: it is really very easy to escape abroad (take your car and in 30 minutes you are at the border with Switzerland from where is absolutely not easy – for Italian authorities – to get a quick draw… especially if you are a wealthy entrepreneur who already has bank accounts… and some diamnonds in your pocket… deposited there in Switzerland).
The “preventive detention” was absolutely necessary to prevent those criminals from escaping abroad and continuing to pursue their criminal “modus-operandi“.
You do realise that Clinton is no longer in office? And that he was hounded relentlessly over the Lewinsky affair?
“Hounded”? He was defended by women claiming to be “feminists” (one publicly stated she would give him a ****job for his stance on abortion). His hideous consort was all over television claiming first that his grotesque priapism was a “vast Right-wing conspiracy”. Then she went on to claim Lewinsky was an unstable stalker.
What does it matter that Clinton is no longer in office? The powerful politicians who indulged in Berlusconi’s harem are likely the same who enjoyed the sex slaves on Epstein’s island. Why don’t we know who they are? Or am I being too relentlessly houndy?
“Hounded”? He was defended by women claiming to be “feminists” (one publicly stated she would give him a ****job for his stance on abortion). His hideous consort was all over television claiming first that his grotesque priapism was a “vast Right-wing conspiracy”. Then she went on to claim Lewinsky was an unstable stalker.
What does it matter that Clinton is no longer in office? The powerful politicians who indulged in Berlusconi’s harem are likely the same who enjoyed the sex slaves on Epstein’s island. Why don’t we know who they are? Or am I being too relentlessly houndy?
Most conspiracies are not theoretical.
No, most are illusory.
Some are illusory, perhaps most. But some should be prefaced as spoiler alerts. The Wuhan lab leak, for example.
I agree something went on there, with conspiratorial cover-up and an concerted effort to discredit anyone who publicly mentioned the connection. For me, the problem–or overreach alert–is when people go from there to “Plandemic”, #Moonlandingfake, 911 Inside Job, or Alien Pyramids, etc.
I agree something went on there, with conspiratorial cover-up and an concerted effort to discredit anyone who publicly mentioned the connection. For me, the problem–or overreach alert–is when people go from there to “Plandemic”, #Moonlandingfake, 911 Inside Job, or Alien Pyramids, etc.
Some are illusory, perhaps most. But some should be prefaced as spoiler alerts. The Wuhan lab leak, for example.
No, most are illusory.
Clinton visited Epstein’s Island something like 18 times. So he probably visited Burlusconi a few times as well.
by an Italian who lives in Italy… I remember that period in 1993 and I would like to point out that the strategy of “preventive detention” was absolutely necessary: those 4,000 people – entrepreneurs – were LITERALLY killing the Italian economy because any funding for public works had to be accompanied with a “money bribe” to be donated to Italy’s three main political parties… this “criminal and carcinogenic” system of illicit financing was truly killing every aspect of our Italian economy (e.g. the construction of the Milan Metro, and the one of Rome, had a much higher cost for each mile of track rather than the same costs incurred for the construction of other subways in other European cities … like London, Paris, Madrid). This higher costs has happened because the Italian builders – those same entrepreneurs – were forced to pay those bribes in money and this “extraordinary cost” has meant that there was a lack of funds for the actual construction of a large underground network (infact, nowaday, the subways of Milan and Rome are really so short in terms of length of tracks because at that time the politicians and the entrepreneurs have LITERALLY drained in their pocket all the money budgeted by the community for the execution of those public works.
And I would also like to underline the fact that italy, unlike the United States, is a nation surrounded by dozens of other nations: it is really very easy to escape abroad (take your car and in 30 minutes you are at the border with Switzerland from where is absolutely not easy – for Italian authorities – to get a quick draw… especially if you are a wealthy entrepreneur who already has bank accounts… and some diamnonds in your pocket… deposited there in Switzerland).
The “preventive detention” was absolutely necessary to prevent those criminals from escaping abroad and continuing to pursue their criminal “modus-operandi“.
You do realise that Clinton is no longer in office? And that he was hounded relentlessly over the Lewinsky affair?
Most conspiracies are not theoretical.
Clinton visited Epstein’s Island something like 18 times. So he probably visited Burlusconi a few times as well.
Luttwak has certainly met a lot of prominent people. I suppose one of his qualities is the ability to keep secrets, or at least to tell the truth strategically, otherwise he wouldn’t get to meet all those people.
“Berlusconi the energetic playboy, who at different times kept an entire harem of young girls to be made available to visiting political leaders who were so inclined, as most were.”
I’ll bet they were. There’s a political witch hunt for Trump unfolding, including charges related to his relationship with a stripper. I wonder how many of the pious, supposedly woke, global leaders would face charges if their exploits with Berlusconi’s harem were known.
Who keeps those secrets, I wonder? Were there hidden cameras? Is that what the Russians used to call Kompromat? I bet Bill Clinton would be at the very top of the list, but, of course, there are global forces at play to protect him and others. Not all conspiracy theories are wrong.
“he was then in his maximum harem phase, with a dozen young girls housed in a luxury dormitory from which they were ferried to attend his after-dinner entertainments.”
Good guy overall though, right? (Yeah, probably not). It’s one thing to say he wasn’t only a “bunga bunga” hound or make the valid point that most men have a horndog side to us that many would indulge if given the resources and opportunity. But that doesn’t make it ok, not at this scale of drooling sleaziness, and it wasn’t ok with Slick Willy or Donny Dames (Trump) either.
Do we need to be ever-so-scandalized or indulge in some stereotypically-American puritanical hypocrisy? Nah, of course not. We can still ask for leaders that aren’t this trashy, this given over to their appetites after reaching middle-age and beyond. A matter of degree, not absolute moral purity or corruption.
“he was then in his maximum harem phase, with a dozen young girls housed in a luxury dormitory from which they were ferried to attend his after-dinner entertainments.”
Good guy overall though, right? (Yeah, probably not). It’s one thing to say he wasn’t only a “bunga bunga” hound or make the valid point that most men have a horndog side to us that many would indulge if given the resources and opportunity. But that doesn’t make it ok, not at this scale of drooling sleaziness, and it wasn’t ok with Slick Willy or Donny Dames (Trump) either.
Do we need to be ever-so-scandalized or indulge in some stereotypically-American puritanical hypocrisy? Nah, of course not. We can still ask for leaders that aren’t this trashy, this given over to their appetites after reaching middle-age and beyond. A matter of degree, not absolute moral purity or corruption.
There should be a law against businessmen and TV stars getting into high office. They’re either dumb, or autocratic, or both. Berlusconi was a dickhead
If the RAI TV channels are anything to go by, he was also a mysoginistic buffoon.
If the RAI TV channels are anything to go by, he was also a mysoginistic buffoon.
There should be a law against businessmen and TV stars getting into high office. They’re either dumb, or autocratic, or both. Berlusconi was a dickhead
Luttwak does not address the question of whether Italy deserves its reputation for corruption or not. He does not ask whether the business men imprisoned were guilty of the charges against them. He does not ask whether they named other people whom they knew were guilty of stealing public money. The Christian Democrats disbanded itself because the electorate saw that the party was rotten to its Andreotti core with corruption and links to organised crime.
The deaths of Epstein and many other people in the US show that people committing ‘suicide’ often have helping hands. The same probably applies in Italy.
Luttwak does not address the question of whether Italy deserves its reputation for corruption or not. He does not ask whether the business men imprisoned were guilty of the charges against them. He does not ask whether they named other people whom they knew were guilty of stealing public money. The Christian Democrats disbanded itself because the electorate saw that the party was rotten to its Andreotti core with corruption and links to organised crime.
The deaths of Epstein and many other people in the US show that people committing ‘suicide’ often have helping hands. The same probably applies in Italy.
It would be interesting to know more about those negotiations with Sobchak and Putin, who were then building their relationship with the Petersbourg mafia which ran the port.
It would be interesting to know more about those negotiations with Sobchak and Putin, who were then building their relationship with the Petersbourg mafia which ran the port.
Word.
Word.
Genuinely glad you liked Silvio B.