Italians rally for press freedom

Not quite that simple, Mark. First, you are assuming that Italian law mirrors the law in the U.S. I suspect the two are not too far out of line in this area -- but there could be significant differences (I might look it up just for kicks and grins and will let you know what I find if I do).

If Italian law IS quite similar, there is still the issue of B being a "public figure." He has set himself out into the public arena, and there is a long line of common law that gives the public much more lattitude in the things they can say about such people. Heck, every U.S. President in living memory could have lived the lives of billionaires if they could sue anyone who ever published a lie about them. That doesn't mean that public figures can't sue for slander (spoken) or libel (written), but the burden of proof (how MUCH proof) and the standard of proof (the KIND of evidence) are different than if one engaged in similar conduct regarding one's neighbor, for example.

Lastly, proving the "truth" isn't always a barrel of laughs either. As much as we tell our children to always tell the truth, we as adults know that the concept can get a little fuzzy because people's perceptions are so different. While I, and the law, and probably his own church he is a member might consider a man sleeping with a woman not his wife to be an adulterer, if they have what is referred to as an "open marriage" he and his wife might consider his dalliance to be merely "adventurous behavior. Which is the truth -- because in a court of law, the two would be mutually exclusive (can't be both -- has to be one or the other)?

Ooops -- I meant to add that these are some of the problems Obama faces...in addition to the ones of being bogged and down and distracted by expensive lawsuits, being accused of censorship in "stifling dissent" (you know darned well that Beck, Hannity, et al. would actually argue that they were contributing to the national political discourse...while criticizing Obama for his choice of condiments...God, what a freakshow), and battling the PR problem of perceptions that he was "overly sensitive" or "too thin-skinned" or that only a weak President would go after such idiots (we are already seeing such comments by the intellectually-challenged right here on Current because the Administration took a brief moment to call FopNews on its latest public distribution of lies and distortions).

That doesn't even make sense.

Bush didn't go off and tell MSNBC they are liars...

that's what Obama has done, though. So if you really want to make a comparison you'll have to do it with the current administration.