意總理再張大嘴 稱奧巴馬伕婦被曬黑
Italy's opposition newspapers criticised Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on Monday for again calling US President Barack Obama "suntanned" even though he caused a political storm when he first said it last year.
At a rally on Sunday night Berlusconi said: "I have to bring you some greetings, greetings from a man, what is his name, what is his name -- just a minute it was someone with a tan -- Barack Obama."
He then added: "You won't believe it but they went together to the beach to get a tan because even his wife is suntanned."
Berlusconi had just returned from the G20 summit in Pittsburg where he met the Obamas and Italian newspapers noted that she only shook his hand while she kissed other leaders.
L'Unita, the newspaper of the main opposition party, the Democratic Party, put the comments on its front page with a photograph of Michelle Obama.
"He makes us look ridiculous before the whole world," the newspaper said, adding that the comment was "a racist gaffe." The left-leaning La Repubblica said it was a "reckless comment."
Berlusconi was also criticised by Italy's only black parliamentarian Jean Leonard Touadi, who is of Congolese origin.
"By repeating these quips that are out of place, the prime minister continues to damage the image of Italy," he told the Italian news agency from Washington, where he was meeting black members of the U.S. Congress.
Berlusconi first got into hot water over Obama last November when, during a trip to Moscow, he called the then president-elect "handsome, young suntanned."
The next day in Brussels, when an American reporter asked whether he would apologize to Obama, the prime minister told the reporter he was worthy of a place on his list of "imbeciles."
Berlusconi is no stranger to gaffes and controversial comments. In 2003 he likened a German member of the European Parliament to a Nazi camp guard and in 2005 he suggested that he had wooed Finnish President Tarja Halonen to ensure her backing for Italy to host the European Food Safety Authority.
日前，意大利總理西爾維奧•貝盧斯科尼再次稱美國總統奧巴馬“被曬得黝黑”，意大利數家反對派報紙本週一批評了總理這一言論。貝氏在去年的類似言語曾激起一場政治風波。
在上週日晚間的一次集會上，貝盧斯科尼說：“我從他那裏爲大家捎來了問候，他叫什麼名字，叫什麼來着？容我想想，是一個皮膚曬得黝黑的人，我想起來了，是巴拉克•奧巴馬。”
他接着說：“你們也許不會相信，他們夫妻倆一起去海灘日光浴，因爲他的妻子也被曬黑了。”
貝盧斯科尼剛從匹茲堡出席完G20峯會回國。意大利報紙報道稱，貝盧斯科尼在此次峯會上遇到奧巴馬伕婦時，奧巴馬伕人僅僅和老貝握了握手，但卻與其他領導人親吻致意。
意大利主要反對黨派民主黨所轄的《團結報》在頭版刊發了貝盧斯科尼的言論，並配了一幅米歇爾•奧巴馬的照片。
該報稱：“貝盧斯科尼讓我們在全世界面前顯得非常滑稽。”該報還稱，貝盧斯科尼所言是一種“種族主義言論”。左翼的《共和報》稱這是“魯莽的言論”。
貝盧斯科尼還受到了意大利唯一一名黑人議員吉恩•倫納德•多瓦迪的批評，這名議員具有剛果血統。
吉恩•倫納德•多瓦迪在華盛頓接受意大利通訊社採訪時說：“總理常常說出一些不當的言論，不斷地破壞意大利的形象。”當時他正在會見美國國會的黑人議員。
貝盧斯科尼去年11月在莫斯科訪問時，稱當時的美國總統候選人奧巴馬“帥氣、年輕、皮膚曬得黝黑”，這也是他首次因嘲諷奧巴馬惹上麻煩。
第二天在布魯塞爾，一名美國記者問貝盧斯科尼是否打算向奧巴馬道歉，總理先生告訴記者他該把他列入他的“蠢人”名單。
貝盧斯科尼屢屢口無遮攔，其言論常引發爭議。他曾在2003年將歐洲議會的一名德國議員比作納粹陣營的衛兵。2005年，他暗指自己曾向芬蘭總統塔裏婭•哈洛寧求愛，以確保她支持將歐洲食品安全局的總部設在意大利。
Vocabulary:
gaffe: a social blunder, faux pas（出醜，失態）
quip：a sharp, sarcastic remark; a cutting jest（諷刺，嘲弄）
out of place：unsuitable to the circumstances or surroundings; inappropriate（不合適的）
get into hot water: 陷入困境，惹麻煩
imbecile：a dunce; blockhead; dolt（愚蠢的人）
woo：to seek the favor, affection, or love of（求愛，追求）
