There are 300 deputies in the Greek Parliament (for a population of about 10 million). Of them 21 are (Stalinist) communists, 13 are (former) Eurocommunists, and 266 are rightists or "socialist"-rightists.
These 266 male and female individuals, cannot walk on any Greek street, cannot go to a restaurant (alone or with their family and friends), cannot visit their home town, cannot stand on the usual elevated platform as officials during national or religious holidays to honor the parading military and students, and so on.
Yet, these 266 persons, although they live every minute of the above situation and are naturally terrified not only for their "reputation" but even for their physical safety, ridiculously, pretend that all is normal and all is business as usual.
Their nemesis is the majority of their fellow Greeks, who up to now have used as "instruments" of protest and insult yogurt, eggs, tomatoes and the "moutza".
["Moutza" (pronounced: moo'tza), a palm-gesture with all fingers extended apart. For the Greeks the "moutza" is more potent an insult than the Anglo-Saxon middle finger, plus the verbal "mother f…", plus more. There have been cases of one driver killing another one in a traffic incident after the exchange of such an insult.]
March 25th is the "4th of July" for the Greeks, as that date is supposed to be the day in 1821 that the Greeks revolted against the Ottoman Empire, after four centuries of occupation. Actually, you can find towns in the US that were named to honor that revolt. For example the town of "Ypsilanty" in Michigan. Inevitably, on that day, all over Greece, there are parades of the military, the police, the students, the elementary school pupils, etc., etc. Also, inevitably there is an elevated platform for the officials to be honored by the parading … "robots". The familiar nationalistic and comic stuff.
Unfortunately (or "fortunately") for Obama, Merkel, and the Greek government, ten days from today (March 15) it is going to be "March 25th", the date of the Greek National holiday.
During the last six months or so, whenever there was a religious or other local celebration plus a parade the officials on the platforms were insulted mostly through a collective "moutza" by parading students, and others. Also, by crowds of protesting citizens.
So, four days ago the Prime Minister of the Greek Democracy (an MIT graduate!), and the top ministers of his cabinet assembled to discuss and program their reaction to the, probably, most important event of the last few decades in Greece; the possibility of having half a million Greeks greeting the members of the government at Syntagma Square with a collective "moutza" as they are standing on their elevated platform during the "March 25th" parade.
Besides the ridiculous side, there is a very sinister one on this matter. As mentioned in previous ZNet Commentaries, Obama, Merkel, and the Greek Right (pure or "socialist") are terrified of the possibility of the Greek Left winning the elections, scheduled to be held during the last week of April 2012. Also, there is an even more sinister side. A leftist government in Greece is a very "unpleasant" development for Israel. For example, the criminal gang of the US-Israeli elites will not be able to dictate who is entering or leaving Pireus, the port of Athens, as they have been doing for decades, while the deeply "patriotic" Greek elites were licking the hands of the above members of the "chosen peoples"; the US and Israel. Also, there is the developing saga of oil in the Aegean Sea, etc.
Therefore, for Obama, Merkel, et al, the upcoming Greek elections must be postponed or…
"Fortunately", there is a way out of this problem for the above "leaders" of the world: The "March 25th" parade in Athens. A provocation during the parade, preferably a bloody one, could be a cause for postponing the elections or for worse developments in Greece.
Already the Greek government is assembling an army of policemen to protect the officials at Syntagma Square, during the parade. The Greeks who would be allowed to stand on the sidewalk opposite the officials will be chosen by the government and should have printed invitations or something, allowing them to attend the event as if they have an invitation for the … opera.
Also, covertly, there is probably an idea of using Neo-Nazis and recently-manufactured militia (a la the USA) to assist in a provocative act.
However, what if there are half a million "moutzes" by ordinary Greeks in Constitution Square during the parade? Will the "leaders", native or foreign, be able to use violence against such a mass of people? Or, what if there are hundreds of "moutzes" by the marching students? Will they beat up the students? Even worse, what if there are "moutzes" by the Greek soldiers themselves as they are parading? Will they court-martial the soldiers?
My estimate (and hope) is that the world "leaders" and their local minions are in trouble. They do not know what to do. Their basic aim, to prevent a victory of the Left, seems to be difficult to attain.
The latest opinion poll shows:
– Around 40% for the Left (if they unite)
– The Right and the "Socialists" (who are expected to unite): 36.5%
– The Neo-Nazis 8.5 % (who are playing the immigrants card).
As with the "potatoes" and the elimination of the middlemen, Greece will be in the news on the 25th of March.
The Ridiculous in the US and in the UK
Watching and hearing Rick Santorum after his "victory", might seem ridiculous, but there is a very serious side for the smiling relatives in the background of their hero addressing the celebrating "faithful" and telling them that "We did it again!"
Do these relatives know that the US elite are killing innocent people with their drones, that they have destroyed a significant part of the History of the human race in Iraq, that poverty and misery is prevalent in their own country, that most people consider the US elite as the most important danger for the survival of the planet, that religious irrationality is poisoning the people of the US, that there is Guantanamo, that the crimes committed in Gaza are unbearable for normal humans, and on, and on.
The answer is that they know. Which means, that being so close to the Santorums of the world makes them equally responsible, if they do not react against the evil committed by their illustrious relatives. Will the ordinary people of the world forgive Michelle Obama or Hillary Clinton?
Of course, the same holds, as to their responsibility, for the "faithful" that Santorum is addressing, even though they are not related to him.
Now, there is a new man in the UK: David Cameron! A well-fed, well-groomed, well-educated and rather pathologically violent and arrogant person, yet obliged to kiss the "hand" of an American negro. Quite a ridiculous situation, for a person with such an impeccable British accent!
However, the problem is not the ridiculousness of Cameron or Blair. The problem rests with the 2/3 of normal humans in the population of the UK, who allow the Camerons to peddle their little selves on the streets of London and in the world.
Hate in the US
The US soldiers urinating on corpses, or the US soldier that killed the children and women in Afghanistan a couple of days ago, for the US elites are riffraff that are expendable and if their hate-motivated acts are too embarrassing they are executed by these elites (see the Oklahoma case, etc.).
On the other hand, these same US elites consist of persons whose hate is titanic. It involves the entire human race. Examples: Elliott Abrams, Dick Cheney, John Bolton, John Negroponte, (the late) Jeane Kirkpatrick, Heinz Alfred Kissinger, the Bush Family, and so on. Their hate is not measured by a couple of dead humans it numbers in the hundreds of thousands to millions of dead humans.
Why is there so much hate in the richest society of the world? This is a matter that the US academics should start examining.
Hate in Greece
I have stopped driving a car for the last 7 or 8 years. So, having to tend to some family matters, for the last three days I had to move around Athens in a taxi. Naturally, the conversation with the taxi drivers was solely about politics and the situation in Greece. These were ten different taxi drivers. All ten (repeat: all ten), expressed their deep hate for the Jews. Also, one of them expressed his hate for the Jews, but simultaneously expressed his sympathy for the … Israelis!
As for all humans, 2/3 of the Jewish population on earth are normal humans. Who are the 1/3 of the Israelis that do what they do in Palestine and elsewhere?
I tried to explain that to the taxi drivers. I did not succeed.
Indeed, humans are complicated beings. Yet, we, the "2/3" or the "67%", are capable of eliminating the ridiculous and the hate from our societies.