Berlusconi: Publicly bitch slapped by his wife. Ouch.I don’t know if you guys have been following the whole scandal involving Israeli President Moshe Katsav, but it’s getting pretty hard to ignore. Apparently he’s been ordered to leave the Presidential residence, and forty Knesset members are trying to get impeachment proceedings started on the grounds that he forcibly undressed and assaulted women who worked for him.

Looks like he won’t be lonely in jail, because former Israeli Justice Minister, Haim Ramon, is being charged with kissing a young soldier against her will. The trials for both cases probably won’t be for awhile, but it’s pretty sad to see that the guy whose job it is to make nice and look pretty can’t keep his hands off his secretaries. And the guy who’s supposed to be a moral authority kisses young girls at random. So gross.

Sometimes I wish I lived in Italy, because in Italy, if you’re Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, and you make inappropriate comments about other women around your wife, she bitches you out in a open letter published on the front page of a major daily newspaper.

Moshe Katsav: Is it me, or is he looking down that woman's shirt?A little except from the Washington Post article linked above: "In an act of venting pent-up exasperation, Berlusconi's wife, Veronica Lario, took him to task in a letter on the front page of a major daily newspaper for openly ogling and commenting on starlets, and demanded a public apology for the 'damage to my dignity.'" Several hours later, she got one.

"Dear Veronica, here is my apology," wrote Berlusconi, 70, a man not easily humbled, blaming on pride his earlier failure to ask forgiveness. "I was reluctant in private, because I am playful but also proud. Challenged in public, the temptation to give in is strong. And I can't resist."

Lario, 50, a former actress, was objecting specifically to remarks the flamboyant media tycoon reportedly made to female admirers last week as he greeted a showbiz crowd at an Italian television awards ceremony. The remarks were, as quoted in her letter: "I'd follow you anywhere" and "If I weren't already married, I'd marry you.""

It’s funny to me that Lario seems to have bigger balls than Berlusconi. Mostly I just think it’s awesome. It wouldn’t work in the case of any of the women bringing charges against Katsav or Ramon, but it’s still a great strategy. You want to objectify me? Won’t be so fun when I splash on the front page of the Post, asshole!