Tim Blair links to an article in the Spectator in which Berlusconi explains his reasons for likening the German Social Democrat MEP, Martin Schulz, to a Nazi camp commandant.
It was I who was offended, my government and my country. I replied with a joke. I wanted to be humorous. The whole of the parliament laughed. My reply was taken and exploited against me. But you know what? It was a reply that was virtually impossible for me to resist because I once broadcast 120 episodes of Hogan’s Heroes in which there was this Sergeant Schulz. You remember? I didn’t even think about it. Schulz was shouting at me — no? And it just came to me off the cuff.Well I guess it’s hilarious if you grew up watching Hogan’s Heroes, with Sergeant Schultz as the gullible, bumbling prison guard who refuses to take sides in the war.
Schultz: Colonel Hogan if you ever escape...
Hogan: Yeah?
Schultz: Be a good fellow and take me with you.
