Swingin' Italian PM: "I'm No Saint"

(CBS)  Could you imagine an American politician keeping his job after being accused of fooling around with a high-priced hooker?

Well, things are a bit different in Italy, where the prime minister is no stranger to scandal, as CBS News correspondent Elizabeth Palmer reports.

Silvio Berlusconi admits it himself: he's "no saint."

Many Italians see him as an indiscreet but ultimately lovable old rogue.

He's the guy who bellowed at President Obama during the G-20 summit in April - upsetting the Queen of England; who gave rabbit ears to Spain's foreign minister in an official photo in 2002; and who told earthquake victims to view the experience as a camping weekend.

Berlusconi has been involved in sex scandals in the past. But his most recent sex-capades have finally - according to polls - dented his popularity.

"When you publish every single word taped in the bed, you know, it's embarrassing," said Giuliano Ferrara, a journalist and former Berlusconi spokesman.

Doing the taping was Patrizia D'Addario, a call girl who claims to have recorded this conversation at the prime minister's home:

Berlusconi: I'm going to take a shower too. And if you finish before me, wait for me on the big bed.

D'Addario: Oh, how cute! The one with the curtains.

Berlusconi swears he didn't pay for the alleged sex. But this spring, his wife filed for divorce after he attended an 18-year-old's birthday party.

Soon afterward, pictures appeared of naked and near naked guests partying at Berlusconi's villa in Sardinia.

Predictably, there's been outrage among voters. One called it "a disaster." "No comment. I hate him," said another.

But there's also admiration: "I like him," "He's a powerful man."

It's power he seems unlikely to lose, in spite of the scandal - thanks to a slim majority of Italians happy to accept a little private sin in public life.

[mejordelahistoria]

Berlusconi is a typical right winger except that he is not gay like his american counterparts and he doesn't hunt moose. Other than that he takes brives, he makes fun of the poor (specially if there is a tragedy like the earthquake), he steals from them to give to the rich. Nothing different than what bush cheney would do. The italians with that mentality have helped keep organized crime in control of their lives.

[John_Merritt]

He's powerful? That is what is so endearing to others? It does not matter if the sins of the flesh, and infidelity to his wife, family and the public that support mean nothing? I disagree, and he should not just slough it off as 'boys will be boys'. If this is his 'another day at the office' approach to his responsibilities,; the Italians could do much better.