no, really, berlusconi is AWFUL! i think he does think he's an emperor sometimes, he certainly acts that way. but it's possible to have a president that doesn't behave like him, many other countries have perfectly reasonable presidents. and most importantly they're elected - of course the voting system may have problems but it's better than someone being head of state and having tons of money and preferential treatment just because of who their ancestors are.
berlusconi abuses his power in the most crazy of ways and really should be stopped*, but at least he was elected at some point. yes his election may have been purely because of business interests and his clinging to power is totally undemocratic, but i'd rather that than just some idiot who happens to have famous parents/granparents/etc.
* although, thinking about this, what he does in terms of buying up the press/media and controlling politics that way is really no different to what rupert murdoch does via the likes of fox news (us), the sun (uk), etc - but he's never been elected either. at least by berlusconi being "elected" (sort of!) leader, he has some vague notion of accountability - it is at least feasible that he can be overthrown. murdoch controls politics through the press just as tightly in the uk and us (and to an extent australia) and has no accountability at all - his media can mostly say what it wants, it's no secret that politics are in the pockets of his papers/tv cos and do pretty much what they want, and there's no voting system on earth that can get rid of him. vile man.
you know newspapers, they always over-exaggerate
