George Bush, whose political collapse in recent months has been spectacular, is about to meet up with an even cheaper little punk who is on a similar trajectory in Italy. Silvio Berlusconi faces re-election in five months, and his close ties to Bush and the Iraq War are threatening to drag him down. Like many Republicans who in the past wrapped themselves around the legs of the Great Leader, Berlusconi appears to be trying to build some political distance. Last week he issued a categorical denial that his government had anything to do with the Niger Yellowcake scandal...notwithstanding all the evidence to the contrary. And this past weekend, things took a really bizarre turn.