Berlusconi calls earthquake a "weekend of camping"

Italy just had its worst earthquake in 30 years - and the quake is putting Silvio Berlusconi's incompetence and insensitivity on display just as Hurricane Katrina did for Bush and his cronies.

The Republican Right was thoroughly out of touch with the needs of Katrina survivors. When Tom DeLay saw a group of young survivors huddled together in a stadium, he actually said, "Now tell me the truth, boys, is this kind of fun?"

Barbara Bush wasn't exactly in step with the situation either. With a chuckle, she said, "And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this - this is working very well for them."

Berlusconi's reaction to the L'Aquila earthquake has stunning parallels with this thoughtlessness. The embattled billionaire Prime Minister said the 17,000 people who lost their homes should view their plight as a "weekend of camping."

Meanwhile, quake survivors in the emergency camps have had to endure heavy rain and near-freezing temperatures. And the camps don't even have enough room for all the survivors.

I guess we can expect insensitive statements from incompetent authoritarians like Berlusconi. Berlusconi's tyranny has already been indicated by his proposal to censor news agencies that criticize him. In fact, he's one of the most dangerous types of dictators - precisely because everyone thinks he runs a democratic administration. If it was Russia, American observers would be less hesitant about calling him a dictator.

(Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/apr/08/italy-earthquake-berlusconi)