Busy Berlusconi

I loathe politics but I’m fascinated by Italy, which prompted me recently to read a bio of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. Although he’s had a blustery, scandal-ridden political career, the story of his early years is endearing to me.

Did you know Berlusconi paid his way through law school in the late 1950s by selling vacuum cleaners in residential neighborhoods and working singing gigs aboard cruise liners? And that his preliminary vocation focused not on practicing law but on building businesses? Milano 2, a modern suburb of his home city of Milan, was his brainchild during the 1960s. He also became a television magnate.

I have no opinions about his politics (having never examined them), but any guy who worked his way through college as a vac salesman and semipro entertainer has to warrant some repect (IMHO).