Demagogue

The past several days demonstrate that Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi may be as careless with his mouth as Dick Cheney is with a shotgun. As this Scottish newspaper reported:

Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has caused a political storm by comparing himself to Jesus Christ. The claims came just a week after he said his achievements during his first five years in office were akin to Napoleon.

Mr. Berlusconi is trailing his challenger, Romani Prodi, in opinion polls prior to April's Italian elections.

His Napoleon remark caused scornful remarks from opposition leaders, some of whom warned he may soon meet his Waterloo, the battle in which Napoleon was defeated by the British.

"No, I was just joking," Mr. Berlusconi told supporters at a dinner at Ancona. He went on to complain that he feels like what he called "the Jesus Christ of Italian politics."