We've marveled at Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi's ability to remain in office despite his fondness for Holocaust jokes, underage Moroccan runaways named Ruby the Heart Stealer, and 'bunga bunga' parties at his villa outside Milan, which include everything you'd expect from a 'bunga bunga' party hosted by Silvio Berlusconi. How to explain the man's remarkable resiliency? We'd suggest that the 74-year-old embattled prime minister--like countless other 74-year-old embattled prime ministers before him--has benefited from the press heretofore refraining from publishing any photos of the aging prime minister "naked in the company of young women."

That could be changing, now Italian tabloids are in a bidding war for new images of Berlusconi "naked in the company of young women." Reporting from Venice, The Telegraph's Nick Squires says 1 million euros is the starting bid for the photos "alleged to have been taken by one or more of the showgirls who attended the Italian prime minister’s so-called 'bunga bunga' parties at his mansion outside Milan." (Of course.) Berlusconi says it's nonsense, but has already "filed complaints with judicial authorities and Italy’s privacy watchdog as a precaution against publication." (Also, of course.)

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Ray Gustini