A certain prominent Liberal mouthpiece has been going after the New Democrats for supporting the Syriza government in Greece. Unfortunately this fellow conflates the government of Alexis Tsipras, who only came to power at the end of January this year, with the centre-right governments of the past who bequeathed a fiscal nightmare to the Greek people.
This self-proclaimed "progressive" knows all about what's going on. He's read a couple of newspaper articles after all, one of them from the Star. I expect he hasn't wasted too much time dwelling on what Joe Stiglitz or Paul Krugman have been saying - for months - or Thomas Piketty for that matter. No, it seems he likes his reality German-style or from a rightwing Russian ex-pat who has been busy grinding his axe at Forbes, Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal.
Of course what progressive would object to a one-sided, crushingly punitive deal that even the IMF knows would saddle the Greek people with a debtload they could never pay off? Why would you demand something you know the other side could never deliver? Could it be that recovering on the debt owed is not the driving consideration? Why, imagine that? Could it be that you don't want the others - Spain, Portugal, perhaps Italy, getting any fancy ideas? Could it be that you're afraid that Podemos might win the Spanish election that will be called later this year? Is kicking Greece to a pulp an object lesson, as Voltaire put it, pour encourager les autres?
Perhaps the only way the European Union can stay together is by subjugation of the weakest. That's certainly one context in which irrational demands begin to make sense and it reeks of desperation.
If that's okay with what passes for Liberals these days then it's time for me to write them off for good. If I've gone Left it's only because they've gone so far Right. Via con diablos my old friends.
Here is a bit from an interview with Piketty. Very interesting since it says what my cousin's wife has been saying all along. She is from Crete. My cousin and she spent years in Luxemburg working for the Luxemburg government for years and retired back to Crete. She has said many times Germany is the problem regarding Greece. Piketty says the same thing...extremely interesting.
ReplyDeleteThis interview originally appeared in Die Zeit. The German original may be read here. English translation by Gavin Schalliol, an amateur rabble-rouser based in Hamburg, Germany.
Thomas Piketty: ‘Germany Has Never Repaid its Debts. It Has No Right to Lecture Greece’
Since his successful book, Capital in the Twenty-First Century, the Frenchman Thomas Piketty has been considered one of the most influential economists in the world. His argument for the redistribution of income and wealth launched a worldwide discussion. In a interview with Georg Blume of Die Zeit, he gives his clear opinions on the European debt debate.
DIE ZEIT: Should we Germans be happy that even the French government is aligned with the German dogma of austerity?
Thomas Piketty: Absolutely not. This is neither a reason for France, nor Germany, and especially not for Europe, to be happy. I am much more afraid that the conservatives, especially in Germany, are about to destroy Europe and the European idea, all because of their shocking ignorance of history. Submitted.....Anyong
The so called liberal mouthpiece is working for his newest client , the CPC. The blathering posts go along with the ad space they bought on his site. The LPC and NDP refused the offering.
ReplyDelete"centre-right governments of the past who bequeathed a fiscal nightmare to the Greek people."
ReplyDeleteYou forgot about PASOK
Anon 2:46 - you're right. It was PASOK and New Democracy that mismanaged Greece and both were corrupt as hell.
ReplyDelete@ Willy - I don't know, you could be right. A lot of what he writes does sound to me like he's already switched teams.
ReplyDelete@ Anyong - yeah, I read that report. Interesting comment about your cousin's wife. Thanks.
While I like the term "Grevolt" there is no point in providing money to the fellas who cannot handle it properly. Greek or not.
ReplyDeleteA..non
@ A..non. I'm not sure there's a lot of good hearted altruism in the Troika's offers of assistance. I also don't think you can lay this off on Syriza either. They only came to power at the end of January. Are you familiar with the reforms Tsipras wanted to introduce, including pension reform and slashing Greece's insane military budget or big tax increases on the rich (who haven't paid their share) and going after tax dodgers? A lot of what is being fed us in the Canadian media is pretty questionable and plainly biased - and it's working very well to shape public perception.
ReplyDeleteSeen on a milk carton.
ReplyDeletePoorly regarded political operative needs work after being rejected by anyone with any sense. Integrity for sale to the highest bidder; or any bidder for that matter.
Seen on a milk carton.
ReplyDeletePoorly regarded political operative needs work after being rejected by anyone with any sense. Integrity for sale to the highest bidder; or any bidder for that matter.
Seen on a milk carton.
ReplyDeletePoorly regarded political operative needs work after being rejected by anyone with any sense. Integrity for sale to the highest bidder; or any bidder for that matter.
Yup, this mouthpiece has just predicted that Harper is going to win again. Of course, it actually is better this way because he was so wrong about the Ontario election when he predicted Hudak the Con was going to sweep the province, including Northern Ont. where the Dippers had been the dominant party. He had also supported Pupatello against Wynne, Olivia Chow against Tory, and Iggy (before he apparently had a fallout with the latter's team, just as he apparently did with the Chow team). Had he predicted Harper was going to lose, I would have been really worried that we would be doomed with another 4 years of Harper, eh? LOL
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68zccrskOqQ
ReplyDeleteJust to keep things straight, PASOK is (was?) a centre-right party. Much like Hollande's "Socialists" in France or "New Labor" in England, it says socialist on the tin but right wing in the policies.
ReplyDeleteHey, I think I just came up with an answer. Why don't the developed nations do an honest calculation of their contribution to the carbon loading of our atmosphere (it really is almost entirely theirs), calculate the present value of the damage they've caused and the future cost they'll inflict mainly on the poorer nations, including the millions of deaths they'll directly cause and the losses and suffering for which they will be unquestionably responsible. Then all the big players of the developed world can bankrupt themselves raising a fund to give to the IMF to wipe out the poor nations' debts and distribute the balance to help them adapt to what's coming. That would teach those poor nations what this responsibility we keep harping about really is - a concrete object lesson. Except we really think they should give us a pass, forgive us the terrible loss we have inflicted on them, even as we completely renege (default if you like) on our modest commitments to help them weather what's coming. You see we're wealthy and advantaged which means we're not accountable for the damage caused in the process of getting that wealthy and advantaged. They, however, are neither wealthy nor advantaged which means they are accountable for every last fucking dime.
ReplyDeleteThanks for calling that blowhard out! It's getting absurd, from wanting to jump into every conflict with all of our military to constantly bashing the NDP because his party is a lame duck. He supports the nonsense Trudeau is spouting about having climate policy; which is not a policy at all but a vague promise to make the provinces do it all (Harper?). Honestly, I don't know how the guy is on progressive bloggers, he occasionally spouts some popular things and that seems to be enough.
ReplyDeleteJust for the record, Tim, I'm not a Dipper. For almost four decades I was a committed Liberal, holding my nose when that was necessary but sticking with the party I had supported since I was old enough to vote. That began to wane during the Dion years. I thought him unsuited to running the party much less the country. However it was Ignatieff who ended my Liberal days when he and Layton weighed anchor and drifted to the Right.
ReplyDeleteToday I don't trust either party and I despise the NDP for allowing themselves to be Blairified centrists and leaving the Left undefended at a the worst possible moment in our country's entire existence.
That said, this criticism of the NDP over the Euro problems was shallow, sloppily informed, even lame. This character proclaims himself a master of the dark arts of political campaigning. I chuckle as he refers to Chretien as "my Boss." Look at all his bosses ever since - Ignatieff, Pupatello (sp?) OLP, Olivia Chow - not a great track record and yet he's bitter that Team Trudeau won't give him the time of day. He wants to play in a game where you're only as good as your last campaign.
I read his stuff once or twice a week and I'm surprised he hasn't simply gone to the Tories. His views seem more aligned with the Conservatives than even the Liberals. Judging by his regular commenters, he's not appealing to Liberals but to folks who seem to enjoy him skewering Liberals. It just seems to me that would be a more natural fit for him. He wouldn't be the first Liberal to turn Conservative as he got older. I think even Harper was, at first, a Liberal.
MOS:
ReplyDeleteI read his stuff for a while and found some worthwhile. Lately I scan the blurb and go to the comments. The centrist/progressive s who used to chime in have been replaced by far right reformatories.
By their followers shall you know them.
I agree, Rumley. My guess is he's getting positioned to flip. Maybe not but I'm getting that vibe.
ReplyDelete