Italian leader: Obama 'handsome and even tanned'

[mollymongold]

MOSCOW -- Italy's famously impolitic Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi described U.S. President-elect Barack Obama on Thursday as "young, handsome and even tanned."

Berlusconi appeared to be joking about America's first black president at a news conference following talks with Russia's president.

The Italian leader, who has a history of controversial remarks, was asked by a reporter about the prospect for U.S.-Russian relations, which have plummeted to Cold War-levels in recent months.

Berlusconi responded by saying that the relative youth of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, 43, and Obama, 47, should make it easier for Moscow and Washington to work together.

Then he said, smiling: "I told the president that (Obama) has everything needed in order to reach deals with him: he's young, handsome and even tanned."

Medvedev did not visibly react to the comment.

Italian news agencies said Berlusconi later defended the remark to reporters as he returned to his hotel in Moscow, calling the statement "a great compliment"

"Why are they taking it as something negative? ... If they have the vice of not having a sense of humor, worse for them," the ANSA news agency quoted him as saying.

Berlusconi is infamous for eyebrow-raising comments.

He once compared a German lawmaker to a Nazi camp guard, asserted after the Sept. 11 terror attacks that Western civilization was superior to Islam and more recently, that the new Spanish government had too many women.

Italy's only black lawmaker, Jean-Leonard Touadi, called the comment embarrassing.

"In the United States, a joke like that wouldn't just be politically incorrect, but a great offense to this amazing example of integration, which it seems the Italian premier should take as an example," Touadi said.

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/world/AP/story/759676.html

[liberalmuse]

1. He's almost like an Italian George W. Bush.

Scary!

[jobycom]

2. I'm curious about the language.

I suppose this was said in Italian. Did he mean "in addition tanned" or "tanned in an even manner?" And does tanned have any further meaning than suntanned in Italian? In English, "tanned" has an implication of leisure, even elitism in a way ("tanned, rested, and ready" was a joke about Nixon's time off). A good tan implies a person spends time on the beach or tennis court, rather than working. Is that true in Italian?

What I can't figure is whether he was insulting Medvedev by the comparison (bringing up Obama's color when comparing him to Medvedev might be a racial slur aimed at Medvedev), or whether he meant to insult Obama, or whether he was just ignorant.

[mollymongold]

3. I do think he was trying to compliment Obama.

[NotThisTime]

4. From the context I think he was making a well intentioned joke? It wasn't malicious....

[jobycom]

6. No, I doubt it. But what else was he doing?

I mean, you can interpret what he said, if the translation is decent, as basically "Medvedev should have a lot in common with him. He's young, handsome, and "tanned."" Given Medvedev's described reaction, this sounds like he took it as an insult. If "tanned" implied leisure, laziness, for instance, he was saying that Medvedev and Obama are both young and inexperienced, or lazy, or spoiled. If "tanned" was meant racially, then maybe he's calling Medvedev a slur, which would be an insult to both leaders, as well.

On the other hand, maybe he's just an idiot, like when Bush asked the Brazilian PM if they had black people in Brazil.

Just trying to guess where the future world tensions lie.

[TheCoxwain]

5. Wow ...Bush managed to look like an Idiot even among that crowd ..