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Monday, November 14, 2011

Elections Are Overrated, Part II

It just hit me what the Italians are doing by circumventing elections and picking Mario Monti to be their new prime minister. They're naming a fall guy unassociated with any of the major parties. If the public goes bananas about necessary austerity measures, they can all blame him and claim they had nothing to do with it. It's brilliant!

Update: Dittos for Greece and their new PM, Lucas Papademos.
With his experience as a former ECB vice president and above the fray of Athenian politics, Papademos’s arrival has been hailed both by Greeks and by EU leaders who had lambasted the country’s failure to enforce tax payments, sell state firms, raise taxes and slash public jobs, wages and pensions.
"Above the fray of Athenian politics" means "he's not one of our boys, blame someone else for all this nasty austerity stuff."
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2 comments:

  1. tim eisele12:43 PM

    Well, yes. They're following a fine old tradition, here. And if Monti or Papademos manage to pull it off without getting themselves lynched, then everyone can claim credit for appointing them. It is really, truly a no-lose plan.

    Unless the fall-guys they installed suddenly turn around and install themselves as dictators (or get overthrown by someone else who wants to be dictator). Which is certainly not unheard of.

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  2. K T Cat1:06 PM

    Hmmm. Papademos does have a certain authoritarian, paternal ring to it.

    ;-)

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