Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou's call for a referendum on the EU bailout package seems to have prompted media outlets to rummage through their store of Greek cliches.
The Washington Post's editorial against "Mr. Papandreou's ill-advised announcement of a referendum" led with a classical reference:
Not since the night when soldiers emerged from the belly of a giant wooden horse in ancient Troy has Greece engineered a more stunning surprise.
On the CBS Evening News (11/1/11), Mark Phillips weighed in with a culinary metaphor:
This was supposed to be the week that world leaders gathered in France to chart the next course of the economic battle. All through the week, the demonstrators gathered to tell them what they were doing wrong. Now the whole agenda has been tossed up in the air like a Greek salad.
Is that what people do with Greek salads? I thought it was plates they were supposed to throw around.
And on the Today show (11/2/11), CNBC reporter Mandy Drury skipped the imagery and just vented directly about how irritating she thought Greece was:
Yes, that news that Greece has called a referendum on its bailout scuttled stocks yesterday, and it looks like it could be a drag on stocks today as well. I know, it is so annoying that one small country could have that much of an impact on worldwide markets and indeed, essentially, your 401(k), but there you have it, our globalized and interconnected world.
On a happier note, though, starting today Starbucks is going to collect donations of $5 or more from customers in order to stimulate jobs through its Jobs for USA program. I guess that's just another reason to reach for the java, Natalie.
Well, thank goodness for Starbucks.
About Peter Hart
Starbucks' seeming largesse brings to mind a term with its origins in the Greek:
Hypocrisy
Talk about the Java Jive …
[...] http://www.fair.org/blog/2011/11/02/its-all-greek-to-them/ . [...]
I just hope those reporters are getting good six-figure salaries for that incisive journalism… it'd be a cruel injustice to see such prose go unrewarded.
Thanks again for reminding me why I don't watch any of these cable news stations, and for relieving any last vestige of guilt I may have had for not doing so.
A little more insight on whats going on…
Would European capital sacrifice Greece to protect profits?
"Answer: what do you think they've been doing? On Monday, the Greek Prime Minister announced that his government would hold a referendum on the latest Euro austerity package. And look at the reaction to this ostensible democratic naivete. Stock markets slide everywhere. The BBC expresses its disbelief: "For whatever reasons, George Papandreou was standing up for democracy." German and French politicians throw tantrums, demanding accountability. Papandreou has been summoned to Cannes to explain himself and get chewed out. PASOK MPs have defected, and the Blairites are calling for Papandreou to resign. The cabinet has backed the PM, but a no confidence motion is being raised in parliament, and the government could easily collapse by the end of the week. Yesterday, Greece's military top brass was sacked and replaced by the PASOK defence minister. The ides of march forestalled? I'll come back to that."
"The decision to hold a referendum is a tremendous risk for the government. As Costas Douzinas puts it: "Assuming it is not withdrawn amid all the political turmoil afflicting the ruling party, the vote is planned for January, and the issue will presumably be the latest bailout. But the real question will be: "Euro or drachma?"" As Papandreou has put it, the referendum would be on "our European course and participation in the euro". PASOK are talking as if they can win a referendum. Maybe they really believe this, because as yet most Greeks don't see the need to leave the Euro. Polls show that 70% favour staying in. But if the choice is between the Euro and a reasonable standard of living, it's very possible that people will choose their living standards. And even if a referendum happens now, it won't be over the present deal, which isn't going to be on the table. In the most polyannaish situation imaginable, Merkel et al would concede that things have reached a critical impasse, offer a much better deal, and allow Papandreou to put this to the electorate. But that looks very unlikely at the moment. Almost all the 'haircuts' applied to Greece's debts so far have been to the disadvantage of Greek banks, not French and German banks. Substantial further reductions would harm politically dominant class interests which makes it highly unlikely to happen."
http://leninology.blogspot.com/2011/11/would-european-capital-sacrifice-greece.html
Papandreou deserves credit for suggesting the people determine government policy instead of the wealthy plutocracy, which controls Greece as much as plutocrats dominate the U.S. His later change of mind is harmful for democracy, which originated in Greece. – George Beres, a Greek-American.
This is what happens when banks take control of governments. Democracy has been done away with. The greek government is now virtually under the banks control!
Banks ruined the economy. So why has blame shifted to the Greek people? The media has shifted the blame very neatly. Why is Greece not Wall Street, the scapegoat for this economic mess? Shouldn't the banks that cause it be the ones to blame?
Well Tom that is the easy class warfare game you want to export.Ask Germany how much more they want to donate to the Greeks way of living.How much harder they want to work so others in other countries don't have to.A demand has been placed on Greece to mend their ways and they are responding.You want them to blame the banks alone for their problems and take ten steps back.
So Michael, you are saying the Greek people are lazy? Kind of like the 14-16M in the US who are "lazy" according to this same deceptive reasoning? Michael wake up; the world is in a recession. The banks have screwed it to the people the world over — THAT is the truth. Germany controls the entire EU market, just like the US is doing in North America. People need jobs (not the Steve type) that pay well and offer some sort of economic stability.
It is the bankers, the corrupt government officials, and the hedge funds who are fat-assed lazy. What kind of labor do they do all day? They sit around all day pushing buttons to force the working class to work harder, for lower wages, cuts in health care, cuts in public services. Meanwhile, the rest of us — who are employed — run around like crazy trying to make ends meet. And then there are those who are fighting 5:1 odds in the employment lottery.
Compassion and a deep understanding of what is REALLY going on is what is needed right now, not more selfish and faulty, ineffective logic. People are starving and freezing to death, without healthcare. Don't perpetrate this misery by propagandizing the Orwellian world of Sachs and Friedman. Try therealnews.com if you want to hear the truth.
Greeks are not lazy.They have been wrong about a good many things on how to conduct their economy.They are trying to re-boot.I hope they succeed beyond our wildest dreams.
This idea that banks and bankers are the culprits is liberal nonsense.Save it.Actually the same rhetoric was used during the times of the Nazis.Those evil Bankers(jews).Do you not see the exact language?Read the history.It is being repeated.
Compassion we all have.But this hard press by the left in this country to ignite class warfare the world over is really horrifying.It really must stop…or be stopped.When Obama was elected as the great unifier , we on the right could only see his chicago thug style leading to the creation of class warfare.As we have all seen we were right.The negativism and disempowerment seeping from you Hal Goldfarb is palpable.This is far worse than even we could of believed.12 more months,and the calvary will be here.
Michael you don't even know what you are talink about.
"This idea that banks and bankers are the culprits is liberal nonsense"
Since when the liberals my friend became the enemies of the bankers? So you think that liberal democracy is a left wing thing? Are you kidding us?
"Actually the same rhetoric was used during the times of the Nazis.Those evil Bankers(jews)"
Did you forget that the Nazis were supported by the bourgeois (and of course the bankers)? Did you forget that the rise of fascism in Europe was a capitalist reaction?
"Ask Germany how much more they want to donate to the Greeks way of living"
Ask any Greek person if he/she expects any EU bail out. In fact, most of us DO NOT want ANY help from the EU. It is the government that asks for bail out but not the people. And see where is the popularity of the current government? Below 15% on the vote intentions. Governments never ask the people my friend. They act as they want. It is only an exception of some countries where referendums determine the final political decision (Switzerland, Iceland and a few more). For this very reason, the popularity of PASOK (the ruling party) is very low, perhaps the lowest ever.
Apart from that, who has asked me if I want to join the EU? Who has asked me if I want the Euro? Who has asked me if I want the IMF "help?"
Please get some facts straight.
It was obvious that money makes the world go arround so what is wrong if the banks are making pressure to the politicians and another funds too , i mean it is more then that , also it is very well known fact that geece is overcorrupted so there must be made more efforts in that way