Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Time
Italy has long been famous for toppling governments. The current government is the 56th government since the end of world war II. There have been premiers who have been associated with the Mafia who were backed solely because they were anti-Communist. There are all kinds of old roman connections to be made, but truly Italy is a political creature in and of itself. This is a country that famously elected a porn star to Parliament next to members of parliament who were practically bought and paid for by the Catholic Church. The strikes are famous for leaving all the mail pile up until demands are met, then when the mail carriers go back to work, they toss out all the old letters and start again; side note, this is why the Vatican's biggest export is stamps. However, this time, a new scandal is rocking Italy and the famous Teflon prime minster Silvio Berlusconi. He's been investigated so many time Jon Gotti looked ignored and even tried to write a law saying no politician can be investigated (this was later severely weakened). Now, he's in trouble for illegally intervening on behalf of dancer named Ruby. she was arrested on suspicion of stealing when the local police precinct got a call from Rome saying to let the girl as she was the granddaughter of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak. The girl was NOT President Mubarak's granddaughter, but Berlusconi was trying to help her anyway. Now, Ruby is trying to win the media over to her side by telling what she can and can't.
The young woman in question, who has just turned 18, is named Karima el-Mahroug but often went by the name Ruby Rubicuori, which roughly translates as Ruby Thief of Hearts. Her account with the media tells of a horribly abusive childhood which led her to run away, take up a new name and work as an exotic dancer and possible prostitute. Note, the age of consent in Italy is 14, but it's still a crime to proposition a girl under age of 18 for sex for money, which is at the heart of this. As people started to dig into WHY the Prime Minister would flex his muscles (as it were) for this girl, it started to come out that she was a frequent guest at his house. Both have long since denied any wrongdoing or any sex, but it came out she was 7000 euros (a lot USD) and that his dinner parties would sometimes devolve into games of Bunga Bunga, which is a kind of erotic game involving a powerful or important male and several nude and willing females. Details are a little scanty and honestly, given Berlusconi's in his 70s, it's probably better that way. While Ruby has said she never had sex with the Prime Minister, another escort has come forward to say she has and she witnessed the sexual exploits at these parties. Of course, there is nothing directly illegal about consenting adults having sex privately and behind closed doors. There's nothing illegal about a man giving a random woman 7000 euros. There IS something illegal about paying prostitutes for sex, but right now they only have the prostitute's word for it. Which is why the powers that be are calling for investigations and why his political friends are starting to run for cover.
Berlusconi's long time political ally, leftist politician Gianfranco Fini broke with him very publicly and helped trigger a vote of no confidence which failed by only three votes (314-311). Which means there was SERIOUS wheeling and dealing going on. In a parliamentary system like that, a vote of no confidence one of goes three ways. First, the premier wins by a landslide and it was just a few upset lawmakers who made enough noise to trigger one. Second, the premier loses, he's out of power, the government falls and new elections are triggered. Third, it's a squeaker, which means the premier was promising everything he could because he knew one wasn't going to happen and he wanted to prevent two. Gods only know what he promised to Italian lawmakers; let's hope it's not his services as party planner. It's a little unclear what favors he could promise given that since the Italian high court neutered a law meant to protect him, he might be under prosecution or out of power soon. No one has come forward acting like a new friend to him, no one is coming forward to apologize and no one has volunteered to help quelch any possible prosecutions or investigations. Even the famously libertine Italian public are a little fed up with his antics. A man having a healthy libido is one thing, the head of a country holding parties where he nails several beautiful women akin to a Roman emperor is a little much.
Of course, that might be the key to all this. Ruby just might be telling the truth. He might have heard her story (and it's a bad one, her dad poured boiling oil on her when she wanted to convert to Christianity, raped at 9 and well, it's bad) and decided to help her out. She was lying about her age (she told him she was 24), living on bad jobs and had a rough life. He's a powerful man and decided to help. Not out of pure altruism, but to be seen as a sort of benevolent compare which is something akin to "godfather" in the Coppola sense of the word. Like an old Roman patronus, he wants to be the powerful man who can fix problems. Not everyone's, just those who come to him and ask for help. It's the Italian version of noblesse oblige. Famiglia is not just the literal blood relations, it's your "house" which can include friends, people who want to do favors for you, people you have done favors for and generally your entourage. He could have seen giving this girl as simply taking care of his famiglia. Berlusconi is clearly a man who enjoys being powerful (that is the point of Bunga Bunga, after all) and there are few better ways to feel powerful than to help someone in need so much that person's entire life turns around and they owe everything they do to you. Sure, he's powerful, but there's nothing like feeling a little more powerful. What makes this all a little more messed up is that now poor Karima el-Mahroug is known as the thief of hearts. She didn't make great choices, but she tried to get herself by in this world. She's not gonna turn down help if she can, and the Prime Minister was too willing to provide it.
Which might be why she went out looking for any new friends she could find. Even in the media.
So it is written, so do I see it.
The young woman in question, who has just turned 18, is named Karima el-Mahroug but often went by the name Ruby Rubicuori, which roughly translates as Ruby Thief of Hearts. Her account with the media tells of a horribly abusive childhood which led her to run away, take up a new name and work as an exotic dancer and possible prostitute. Note, the age of consent in Italy is 14, but it's still a crime to proposition a girl under age of 18 for sex for money, which is at the heart of this. As people started to dig into WHY the Prime Minister would flex his muscles (as it were) for this girl, it started to come out that she was a frequent guest at his house. Both have long since denied any wrongdoing or any sex, but it came out she was 7000 euros (a lot USD) and that his dinner parties would sometimes devolve into games of Bunga Bunga, which is a kind of erotic game involving a powerful or important male and several nude and willing females. Details are a little scanty and honestly, given Berlusconi's in his 70s, it's probably better that way. While Ruby has said she never had sex with the Prime Minister, another escort has come forward to say she has and she witnessed the sexual exploits at these parties. Of course, there is nothing directly illegal about consenting adults having sex privately and behind closed doors. There's nothing illegal about a man giving a random woman 7000 euros. There IS something illegal about paying prostitutes for sex, but right now they only have the prostitute's word for it. Which is why the powers that be are calling for investigations and why his political friends are starting to run for cover.
Berlusconi's long time political ally, leftist politician Gianfranco Fini broke with him very publicly and helped trigger a vote of no confidence which failed by only three votes (314-311). Which means there was SERIOUS wheeling and dealing going on. In a parliamentary system like that, a vote of no confidence one of goes three ways. First, the premier wins by a landslide and it was just a few upset lawmakers who made enough noise to trigger one. Second, the premier loses, he's out of power, the government falls and new elections are triggered. Third, it's a squeaker, which means the premier was promising everything he could because he knew one wasn't going to happen and he wanted to prevent two. Gods only know what he promised to Italian lawmakers; let's hope it's not his services as party planner. It's a little unclear what favors he could promise given that since the Italian high court neutered a law meant to protect him, he might be under prosecution or out of power soon. No one has come forward acting like a new friend to him, no one is coming forward to apologize and no one has volunteered to help quelch any possible prosecutions or investigations. Even the famously libertine Italian public are a little fed up with his antics. A man having a healthy libido is one thing, the head of a country holding parties where he nails several beautiful women akin to a Roman emperor is a little much.
Of course, that might be the key to all this. Ruby just might be telling the truth. He might have heard her story (and it's a bad one, her dad poured boiling oil on her when she wanted to convert to Christianity, raped at 9 and well, it's bad) and decided to help her out. She was lying about her age (she told him she was 24), living on bad jobs and had a rough life. He's a powerful man and decided to help. Not out of pure altruism, but to be seen as a sort of benevolent compare which is something akin to "godfather" in the Coppola sense of the word. Like an old Roman patronus, he wants to be the powerful man who can fix problems. Not everyone's, just those who come to him and ask for help. It's the Italian version of noblesse oblige. Famiglia is not just the literal blood relations, it's your "house" which can include friends, people who want to do favors for you, people you have done favors for and generally your entourage. He could have seen giving this girl as simply taking care of his famiglia. Berlusconi is clearly a man who enjoys being powerful (that is the point of Bunga Bunga, after all) and there are few better ways to feel powerful than to help someone in need so much that person's entire life turns around and they owe everything they do to you. Sure, he's powerful, but there's nothing like feeling a little more powerful. What makes this all a little more messed up is that now poor Karima el-Mahroug is known as the thief of hearts. She didn't make great choices, but she tried to get herself by in this world. She's not gonna turn down help if she can, and the Prime Minister was too willing to provide it.
Which might be why she went out looking for any new friends she could find. Even in the media.
So it is written, so do I see it.