"Well, boys, if all goes well, I'll really bring the showgirls," Silvio Berlusconi told laborers building new homes for earthquake victims near L'Aquila in central Italy last week. "Otherwise, we'll all come across as gays."

Such are the antics of the Italian prime minister, aka Il Cavaliere — the knight. Most Americans received their first introduction to the Italian billionaire turned politico with his remarks last November about the new American president: "He's young, handsome, and tanned." The comment shot through the global newswires and elicited rebukes from members of his opposition, but it seemed of little consequence when the pair met in April for the G20. A rather iconic picture emerged of Obama, Russian President Dmitri Medvedev and Berlusconi all grinning, Obama flashing a thumbs up with the Italian's arms draped over his and Medvedev's shoulders.

These two instances are the hardly the body of evidence when it comes to Berlusconi's eccentricity. He appointed Mara Carfanga to his cabinet as the minister of equal opportunities in May 2008; Ms. Carfanga's resume includes a sixth-place finish in the Ms. Italy contest, time as a hostess on Mr. Berlusconi's TV network, and work as a topless model and showgirl. When a Spanish paper published pictures of half-naked young women and a naked man at Berlusconi's villa earlier this month, he threatened to sue the paper. Such images have been barred from publication in the Italian press. The pictures came alongside an admission that that prime minister finds himself under investigation for using state funds to fly entertainers to the villa.

After their first meeting, Berlusconi famously said that Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen "is not only a great colleague, he's also the best-looking prime minister in Europe." He continued: "He's so good-looking, I'm even thinking of introducing him to my wife."

There's also a YouTube clip of Berlusconi from his days before his premiership that should not be missed. It shows him leaving a building and walking toward his car before he spots a meter maid bent over the hood of the car behind his own; he stops, approaches, and begins thrusting forward into the woman while smiling at the camera. The surprised woman turns only in time for a smile and a wave from the tycoon as he steps into his own vehicle.

Put the Italian prime minister alongside several other pieces of anecdotal evidence and one gets a bit worried: The current parliamentary expenses scandal in Britain, which has led 50 Labour Party members to stand down at the next elections and at least 100 conservative members to repay embarrassing debts; French President Nicholas Sarkozy's recent charade of addressing the parliament at Versailles — complete with full honor guard — the first time France has seen anything of the sort since 1875; and meager European Union elections last year in which Europe saw the lowest voter turnout in the history of the body. It might be too much to describe democracy in Europe as sickly, but it's hardly the picture of health.

Indeed, this has been a rough summer for democracy around the world with the failure of elections in Iran, the sacking of Honduran president Manuel Zelaya last week, and Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi's reiteration of his desire to step down — albeit once again without definitive action to accompany such statements — after 18 years of rule.

The Italian prime minister, for all his travails, boasts nearly a 50 percent approval rating, though he cites a figure closer to 61 percent from his internal polls. It seems his unwillingness to be bound by the politically correct temper of the day has drawn his countrymen, if not his countrywomen, to his favor politically.

But will the Italian's wild side catch up with him? Time will tell.

Brian Till, one of the nation's youngest syndicated columnists, is a research fellow for the New America Foundation, a think tank in Washington. He can be contacted at [email protected]. To find out more about the author and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.