Mara Carfagna, we shit you not, is a member of the Italian cabinet. 

Have you guys been following the meteoric rise, breathtaking fall, and meteoric rise of Italy's Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi? The 71-year-old king(pin) has been carrying on the good name of Italian politics for many years now, and this latest story of corruption, "pimping," and extramarital affairs with other politicians is but one of many sensational highlights...

Here's the rundown:

1) Italian prosecutors suspect Berlusconi of corruption, so they decide to tap his phone.

2) Berlusconi, who is married, is heard to say "inappropriate" and "raunchy" remarks about "the most glamorous" politician in Italy, "Mara Carfagna, the 32-year-old Minister for Equal Opportunities... a former model and television showgirl." Berlusconi reportedly remarked on an earlier recording that he would marry Carfagna if he was only single. His wife responded with a memorable public outcry.

3) On another recording, the Prime Minister

pressuring Agostino Sacca, head of drama at the state-owned RAI broadcaster, to give parts to several attractive young actors.

In one exchange, Mr Sacca promised Mr Berlusconi that he would find work for Elena Russo. Mr Berlusconi tells him: "If you can do me this favour, it's as if you're doing it for her. But you're doing this favour directly for me." Mr Berlusconi also described the actors and dancers whom he admires as his "little butterflies".

4) The outrage has been unanimous and brutal. One politico noted that Bill Clinton's sex scandal was bad enough, but at least he didn't make "Monica Lewinsky... Secretary of State."

Antonio di Pietro, a former prosecutor and now the leader of the small centre-left Italy of Values party, accused Mr Berlusconi of being a "pimp" who is "busy finding work for showgirls" rather than playing the role of a statesman.

5) Berlusconi promised to do an interview in which he would lash out against this kind of "porn politics," but canceled at the last minute.

6) Calling judges and others that leak to the press "a 'cancer' on democracy," the PM pushed a law through the legislature that specifically imprisons journalists who publish recorded phone calls before trials where those calls are used as evidence.

7) On Wednesday, Berlusconi will learn whether he is to be tried for corruption. If he does end up facing a judge, there will likely be a flood of new recordings in the papers...

 

Via The Australian: Berlusconi Accused of Pimping His "Butterflies" 

More photos of Mara here.