A “Civilized” Italian Minister

Italian Reforms Minister Roberto Calderoli, following statements by Iranian President Ahmadinejad last November saying Israel ‘should be wiped off the map’, said Rome should recall its ambassador from Tehran. “I believe one cannot have a civilized relationship with people who have shown themselves to be uncivilized,” the Italian minister said.

(source: http://www.ynetnews.com/Ext/Comp/ArticleLayout/CdaArticlePrintPreview/1,2506,L-3163905,00.html)

The Italian minister must be a great expert on civilized conduct in a civilized society: he is now distributing T-shirts displaying cartoons satirising the Prophet Muhammad. “I’ve had T-shirts made with the cartoons that have upset Islam and I shall start wearing them today”, he said, adding that it was “time to put an end to this story that we need to dialogue with these people”, and asking: “What have we become, the civilization of melted butter?”

(source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/europe/4714548.stm)

If that’s Italy’s great “civilization”, no wonder some people would rather be barbarian.