This Man is Still Talking

Posted by Mika on Nov 30, 2011 in European Politics, German politics, Greek Politics | 3 comments

To those of you who have been suffering from my long absence from the blogisphere (and yes – I do I hate myself for using that word), I’m back. I’ve returned not so much to write something interesting as to silently gaze upon the scorched earth that is our international political community and let a single tear escape from a very stoic eyeball… then I’m going to shrug it off and google photos of politicians with their flies undone. Feel free to just mail me my Pulitzer, I won’t have any time to go out and buy spanx.

Besides learning that David Cameron has left-leaning policies in the pants department…. in my internet journeys I came across this article from German magazine DER SPIEGEL (yes, the title is constantly written in only capital letters. You won’t want the German language to accidental come across as soft and melodic now would you?). Believe it or not, it’s actually an interview with former Greek Prime Minister Giorgios Papandreou. You remember him right? He’s that guy everyone hates. Turns out that about five minutes after being kicked out of Government for being a general inconvenience to everyone everywhere, Papandreou marched out of that legislature, mustache high, told the haters don’t be hatin’ and is now attempting to solve Europe’s problems all by himself.

That’s right. What he couldn’t accomplish as the head of Greece’s government, he’s going to now do….. just as a guy. And if he can’t remember exactly why he failed, the reporter at DAS SPIEGEL has no trouble reminding him. Take this line of questioning, for example….

SPIEGEL: Nevertheless, if one is to believe the opinion polls, Greek voters yearn for a new conservative government, and your party faces a potential debacle in new elections.

Papandreou: We’ll have to see about that. The Greeks will understand that we have a systemic problem in Europe.

SPIEGEL: How did it feel, for you personally, to travel through Europe as a supplicant and beg for help and support? Did it change you?

Papandreou: This isn’t about me. As far as I’m concerned, the important question is whether I can save Greece from a financial catastrophe, and whether I can reform my country. I placed my own ambitions behind the national interests, the interests of my people.

SPIEGEL: It doesn’t look that way in a photo that was printed in the European media. It shows you standing in front of (German Chancellor) Angela Merkel, with sagging shoulders, at the G-20 summit in Cannes in early November. Had you already realized at the time that you had failed in your efforts?

Papandreou: No. The crucial battle still lies before us. We are fighting hard and I have the necessary fighting spirit. But for my country, not for myself.

(this only works if you do SPIEGEL is a German accent.)

SPIEGEL: How does if feeel to be a big failyah and have everyone hate you?

P: Oh…hate me… well… I don’t know about that…

SPIEGEL: How does it feel to beg for money on your stomach like a worm?

P: I was not a worm.

SPIEGEL: YOU WERE A WORM!!

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