Too late, the winner of the Palio horse race realized Dr.

Hannibal Lecter had wormed his way into the crowd.

"They can have their votes of no-confidence but it's not going to

make the determination about who serves in MY government.

Likewise, I'm the one who decides if my wristwatch broke down on

the streets of Rome or if my limo was stolen by an Albanian pickpocket."

Too late, Silvio Berlusconi realized he could

have had a V-8.

Prime Minister Prodi's yawn momentarily threatened

to inhale Italy's lower house of parliament.

Massimo D'Alema, the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs,

couldn't believe he had blurted out, "Mahmoud Abbas,

your doctoral dissertation really blows!"

In last night's American-style

presidential debate in Italy,

Silvio Berlusconi used a clever

stratagem to keep his opponent,

Romano Prodi, in the dark.