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The Papas And The Papas: Greece's First Family
With the resurgence of Greece back to the top of global news, incompetence and labor strikes charts (just like back in 2010 at roughly this time, which is to be expected since 2011 has been following the 2010 script to the dot) there has been far too little focus in the mainstream media on the family whose actions were responsible for Greece's rise to glory and subsequent collapse into default. As Associates Press notes in its report the ruling family, "One family has dominated Greek politics for more than half a century: the Papandreous." For all those who are wondering who the men behind the curtain, or as the case may be, front and center, are, the following expose is for you.
The Papandreous: Greece's first family
One family has dominated Greek politics for more than half a century: the Papandreous.
A
George Papandreou was in charge in the 1960s at a time of
constitutional upheaval. And a George Papandreou rules now amid a
financial crisis that threatens the nation with ruin.
The current
prime minister's father, Andreas Papandreou, and his namesake
grandfather were larger-than-life leaders credited as reformist
architects of modern Greece but also blamed by many for the country's
mountain of debt.
In a historic irony, George Jr. is being forced
to dismantle state projects championed by his leftwing father, who
poured borrowed billions into job guarantee schemes and expensive
development ventures that fostered corruption and helped lay the
groundwork for the current crisis.
"The son is paying for his father's sins," said author and political commentator Nikos Dimou.
The scion of the Papandreous is the ultimate insider who's also seen as something of an outsider.
He's
known as "George the American" because he was born in St. Paul,
Minnesota, where his father taught at university. He studied at Amherst
College and Harvard University, among other prestigious overseas
educational institutions. During anti-government rallies, protesters
have chanted "George, Go Home!"
Papandreou now faces the near
impossible task of sweeping away graft, party patronage and corruption,
while fixing wrecked national finances.
He is under immense
pressure from just about everyone: European and IMF lenders, hostile
opposition parties and the protesting public, even one-time staunch
supporters of his Socialist party, including powerful unions and civil
servants' groups.
A failure by Greece to pay back its debts could
plunge many other EU countries into financial turmoil and threaten the
fragile global economic recovery. At the same time, Papandreou has to
manage the anger of a public hit by savage budget cuts and spiraling
unemployment.
Many say Papandreou's approach to Greece's recovery
is valid, but that he lacks the strong leadership skills and charisma of
his father and his grandfather.
Andreas Papandreou's mastery of
populist politics and his powers of persuasion were exemplified in
rousing speeches to hundreds of thousands of supporters at mass rallies.
They helped earn him three terms in office in the 1980s and '90s as
leader of the party he founded — the Panhellenic Socialist Movement
party, or PASOK.
He was credited with taking on the country's
entrenched rightwing elite but also blamed for expanding the established
patronage system that packed the public sector with loyalists in
exchange for votes and allowed Greeks to live beyond their means. The
country's public debt under his rule through the 1980s shot up
dramatically.
"George Papandreou must somehow undo what PASOK has
done throughout its history," said Dimou, including taking on powerful
trade unions loathe to lose privileges.
It's a daunting task for
George Papandreou who has spent much of his career in politics living up
to the expectations of his powerful family and an aging core of
Socialist supporters.
George Papandreou Sr. was also a three-time
prime minister whose involvement in Greek politics dated back to the
1920s. His friendship and support of Greek liberal statesman Elftherios
Venizelos vaulted him to the forefront of the country's political scene
and kept him there for decades.
His liberal politics earned him
powerful enemies among Greece's right-wing establishment. But it was his
staunch anti-monarchist stance that prompted the political crisis that
saw him ousted from office and eventually led to a 1967-74 military
dictatorship.
After military rule collapsed, George Sr.'s son, Andreas, galvanized the center-left vote and swept to power in 1981.
Even party loyalists question whether the younger Papandreou has the political strength to deal with Greece's financial woes.
Commentators
point to Papandreou's difficulty in quelling dissent within his party
over the deeply unpopular austerity package that has caused the
Socialists to slip behind the rival conservatives in opinion polls.
Publisher
George Kyrtsos argued that Papandreou mistakenly pandered to unions and
other party backers after losing a 2007 general election in order to
keep his position as party leader.
"He's a victim of his own tactics," Kyrtsos said.
He
described Papandreou as an intelligent politician who grasps the "big
picture" of unfolding events, but who is let down by his own weak
management style and inability to keep track of details.
Analyst
George Tzogopoulos said there's still some doubt as to whether
Papandreou can tame the trade unions and rein in party dissenters.
"It's his last chance," Tzogopoulos said. "I give him a bit over 50 percent that he'll succeed."
What's more, Papandreou has been ineffective in communicating the gravity of Greece's predicament, commentator Dimou said.
"This
government has lost the game not only on handling the economy, but also
on public opinion," he said. "The government hasn't managed to
sufficiently explain the situation and that these measures are
necessary."
He also lacks his father's populist touch, Dimou argued — a trait that could be useful when facing a wave of public discontent.
"George
Papandreou doesn't have the same personality, the charisma," he said.
"It's like telling an actor without any talent to play Hamlet ... He
doesn't possess the talent."
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G-Pap is a failure of a leader, his country insolvent and broke.
Must have a Wall Street background. ;>)
Well he is a Harvard graduate! Greeks are in trouble indeed.
Ah, but was he in the Greek system while at Hahvad?
No Greek system at Harvard.
Lots of Greek sex, though, especially in the Adams House pool. :~)
eurozone so insolvent and bankrupt, it can't even print it's debt away.
But fear not, little serfs. China comes to the rescue...again!
http://cgi.ebay.com/200-euro-bank-notes-special-practice-voucher-100-poi...
Amen.
The Ivy League aristocracy seems to have its sticky fingers in nearly every corrupt thing done by governments, NGOs, banking, Crony Capitalism and even sex slavery in eastern Europe.
Fine bunch of people. You can trust anyone with a PhD.
But a great success as an Oligarchy Sock Puppet. A model for all the sock puppets around the world, including the golf playing one we have here in the US.
I think the thing people need to really take a long hard look at is how dynastic these so called democracies are. Therein lies the rub.
Nothing has changed since the days of greedy kings. Not a thing, only skin and name.
We have the Gandhi's here in India. Total farce.
ORI
http://aadivaahan.wordpress.com/2011/06/21/thunder-perfect-mind/
+100
Great stuff as usual.
I think it is interesting what has happened in the last week, Greece problems, Bernanke admiting US is crappy, and oil problems too. A crazy week, I am guessing there is a bigger move coming on the market.
Been following this guy for a while, his trading advice is killer and is very accurate.... latest video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKP90DrpfzQ
The Mamas & The Papas - California dreamin http://bit.ly/mCA6kU
Greece is beyond dreamin which is delusion ;)America is beyond delusion.....for a long time. Speaking of John Philips........
http://www.davesweb.cnchost.com/nwsltr93.html
15 November 2006 - Global Debt Saturation - The Human Reckoning
http://www.alternativeinsight.com/Tulips_of_Stone.html
As our dearest friend Nate explains.
Debt Saturation
http://economicedge.blogspot.com/2010/03/most-important-chart-of-century.html
Nick Papas taught me everything i know!
what how to clean his Fathers dirty laundry?
1. Never report or pay any taxes
2. Never trust a gypsy
3. Sour cream tastes good on anything
4. the word "malaka" works in every sentence.
That pretty much covers all the things in life i know for certain.
+1 ... got to ad the sea somewhere in there ...
Maybe now we can dispense with the am I my brothers/fathers keeper nonsense ;-)
OT, n. I read the reply to my comment the other day, but I had read it the next day, since I had gone to bed. Too late to reply. You were discussing federalism and the Bond supreme court case. I read the opinion you linked to, and totally agree that Kennedy tipped his hand on Obamacare. Also, I am quite interested in states rights, nullification, and the 10th amendment movement. Looking at Texas and the tsa groping case, currently. Also interested in the great american redoubt in and around Montana. Thinking about voting with my feet. It's getting bad up here in the northeast. You guys in Fla. are still livin freer than us, if not free enough.
Kennedy was pretty clear (without saying) on why he was not retiring...heh.
The tenth amendment is there for a reason, the reasons we are confronted with today. Just because people run around here whining about the Constitution being shredded doesn't mean the idea or the logic and fairness of it is dead. It remains with us.
It just means those who we put forward as leaders don't respect it enough to control themselves and so they in turn are disrespected by us.
"It's getting bad up here in the northeast. You guys in Fla. are still livin freer than us, if not free enough."
LOL!...I don't know if we can ever be "free enough"...legally. We all take our chances in one form or another, I just got back from riding shotgun with squire nmewn on some dirt backroads (teaching him to drive)...he's twelve.
On the legal non-compliance scale I would rate this a one...Barney Fife might not ;-)
Teaching the young un to drive, eh? 12 is about right, I think. Don't teach him too good, yet! I'm sure your gettin some new gray hairs from it anyway. Gonna hit the hay early tonight. Nite.
I got a few new gray sprigs at first on the backroads...he's doin pretty good now...cut him loose in the field doin doughnuts a few weeks back...got that out of his system for now I think, at least he knows what to expect going sideways and having the back end come around on him...LOL!...better with me to talk him through it all than with someone younger egging him on later and him trying to impress them.
Its pretty cool...life's good ;-)
Take care.
I'd bet that would constitute child endangerment in the eyes of the morons who use that term. Ironically, that was considered parenting when the majority of these asshats were being raised.
LOL...same people that don't have a problem letting complete strangers teach their kids morality & ethics...mileage does vary by school district ;-)
Probably the same people who would allow, what was for me, an untested vaccination for a media driven swine flu panic...there is no telling what was in those shots, now its in their children's bloodstream. Most of the parents in my town refused to allow it...I was a little more adamant to say the least...the numbers did not add up to the scare tactics being used.
The same that would not teach them to swim at the earliest possible age for their own safety.
Probably the same people who use schools as babysitters, never taking the time to ask their kids what they are being taught and then clarifying, reinforcing or even correcting what is being taught.
I once got a teachers note that had so many misspellings in it that it was painful to read...fourth grade.
Its as if some feel once a kid is born the parents responsibility is over, when in fact it has really just begun.
LOL..., there are several states where you would be headed to jail and then have some social working lesbian looking over your shoulder with the threat of more jail for the rest of your life. Anything good that may happen to your spawn during their lifetimes would be considered a success of the state. Anything bad would be because of you.
FWIW... you have my respect!
Ha!
I've been laying in the weeds waiting for one of the typical nanny's to chime in...imagine their shock and dismay by my allowing them to also ride 1000 pound horses who sometimes have different ideas about which direction and at what speed to take the "driver" on...LOL!
I thought we were going to move from gyros to spaghetti and meatballs. Well, maybe paella.
If you take a close look at the austerity programme so far you will realize that he has not really touched big government spending or the trade unions. It has simply attacked the middle class and the private sector with gross over taxation. That's just about it. You have to realize that PASOK is basically elected from the public sector which was systematically overstaffed with party members since 1981, and gifted with obscene benefits. For instance:
If you work for the railroads you get among other things 430Euro/month for washing your hands (no really)
For the Electricity company 870Euro/month for operating the Fax machine
For the entire public sector 300Euro/month for carrying files
Are you still reading this?
And for the coast guard we have 840Euro/month "propeller benefit". (Don't ask)
And the rest of the zerohedgeoids here wonder why Greeks don't want to pay taxes?
If what you say is true (and I don't doubt your honesty, I simply have no way to verify this), then it's amazing. Simply amazing. If I were I a German, I would be mighty pissed at having to bail out these corrupt public workers.
Have a look: It's the Greeks themselves saying it.
http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=el&u=http://www.tsantiri....
yeah - i am sure it is true, since it is in the internet ...give me a break ... i wish too there was such a thing as free money ....
If you like, dig a little deeper and maybe Google "IMF FUNDING SOURCES". You might be a little discouraged to find that not only Germans are paying, but YOU are also. To the tune of the largest contributor (U$$A).
Double post sorry.
Dead Can Dance - The Carnival Is Over
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtNFQ7RJbaQ
When they feel extreme pressure, they'll behave in ways only a toddler would. Just ignore their childish & idiol threats. Your in control, they're not.
Good luck!
G-Pap is a rock star bitchez!
WOW. This (the AP article) is the most tripping-on-neoliberal-kool-aid thing I've read in a long time. Even in the lamestream media it's rare for anyone to be this full of shit. Like, somehow we're expected ot believe G. Pap is actually doing the best thing for his people? What's next, an article about the supreme virtue of Caligula?
If you've been off the beaten track in Greece you'll see the mafia completely runs the place. That works especially well (for them) when they have a single puppet dynasty through which to funnel orders.
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz !!!!!!
For those who wonder why Greece makes the U.S. markets go hot and cold, they need only to see who’s behind the massive propaganda effort stretching throughout the U.S. media. For one, it’s the New York based investment banks. And this Associated Press story is completely in the tank for having the IMF get every pound of flesh possible from the Greek skeleton.
The AP's primary propaganda mantra is that unless the Greeks agree to surrender to the IMF, much of the world will pay a catastrophic price. And the brave Papandreou Family portrayed by this extremely biased AP article does not exist.
Was it the Greek people who created the intense, unmasked speculation (and made billions) on the Greek crisis? Or was it the financial institutions that preyed on the Greeks’ flesh? Who invited the loan sharks in, the people?
No. As Yardfarmer put it recently: “The Greek dilemma was brought on by the secret manipulations of their financial reporting and debt load by socialist politicians working with Goldman Sachs officials.”
So enough of this AP sob story that Papandreou “is under immense pressure from just about everyone: European and IMF lenders, hostile opposition parties and the protesting public... and “a failure by Greece to pay back its debts could plunge many other EU countries into financial turmoil and threaten the fragile global economic recovery.”
It’s the old banker story.
As for the family, it is reaping exactly what it bargained for – the failure of socialism and worldwide centralized economic control, eschewing free enterprise - "global governance." G-Pap, as current president of The Socialist International (SI). Papandreou, stressed at the UN summit in Copenhagen on December 18, 2009: "At this time, we are observing the birth of global governance. We must, however, agree to an obligation and be committed to carrying this out.”
Throughout both Andreas’ and George's lives they have worked with both socialists and communists who want world government under the management of the bankers.
Andreas, while attending the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens from 1937 till 1938, during the quasi-Fascist Metaxas dictatorship, was arrested for Trotskyism. Following representation by his father, a leading Greek liberal politician, he was allowed to leave for the US... In 1988, he began campaigning for his third term as prime minister of Greece with his young mistress, Diamitra Liania. He divorced his wife and declared Diamitra as the new first lady of Greece. Shortly thereafter, Andreas was accused of helping to embezzle hundreds of millions of dollars by ordering state corporations to transfer their holdings to the Bank of Crete, where the interest was allegedly used to benefit the Socialist party. He lost the election to the New Democratics; in 1992 he managed to beat the charges, then charged that the New Democractics 1990 victory was achieved as the result of false accusations and returned to power...
As for those “prestigious overseas educational institutions” George attended, he did his graduate studies in the sociology and development department of the Fabian (socialist) London School of Economics.
Dead on JR.
Socialism fails when you run out of other peoples money to spend...Thatcher I believe.
I concur! I read that 3 times J.R.!
The more I read, The more I agree. Well done
YEN
Capitalism fails when you run out of slave labor.
Slavery gets shit done!
slavery-gets-shit-done.html
Dead on balls accurate. And the evidence is building that the ones who manipulated the political officials to manipulate the accounting to keep the borrowing cycle fresh and prosperous are also willing to use murder as an effective communication tool against dissent.
ANYONE & EVERYONE - with the exception of Ron Paul - who held political office in the US in the last several years are hopelessly corrupted.
And there is no end in sight. The deadly blunt force trauma of a man fighting an obviously criminal foreclosure process in a NY Court room compels me to move to DEF CON 2. I thought making it to Nov 2012 would be possible. Now I don't.
Once the Progressives are turned into ash a police state shall rise. That is something I will witness from far far far away.
Great stuff RJ....if you can call it great.
How about Bernie Sanders? He seems to call things what they are.
Good piece, just leave the socialism, capitalism and all other isms out, that is just how they want you to think... This is all about a bunch of people that don't believe in any isms, they only believe in money and control and will use any ism as they see fit at that moment.
When you feel the urge to find a scapegoat, it means you have given in to the propaganda and you are becoming a sheeple. Scapegoat-thinking is the tell-tale sign your mind has been manipulated.
I love how they always find new isms when they need one... "Islamism", "Terrorism"... Wonder what the next one will be...
Greece. Its the new Latvia.
greek politics are very much the inbred/nepotism variety. if your last name is papandreou or karamanlis...youre elected. kinda like the usa with bush and kennedy.
(not too different than goldman sachs/morgan stanley or other white trash...err, sorry, white-shoe investment banks)
lemmings love running off the cliff.
My what a small (scummy) world Greek politics is.. no wonder the current George Papandreou in his speech last week referred to chumming together in the present rather than blame passed misdameanours (fraud, cooked books, the usual political fare) of previous administrations... er, that'd be Dad, Andreas Papandreou then!
G-pap doesn't measure up to his dad. Kinda reminds me of G-Bush. I guess that's what happens
when you ride in on your dads coat tails. Greece has to deal with its unions, but as long as Obama
is in charge, we will not deal with ours. That means we will have huge deficits that will snowball
until Obama leaves or the dollar collapses.
Interesting tidbit:hellasfrappe.blogspot.com/.../george-papandreou-accused-of-committing. html
well, the OPM hasn't quite run out yet, as the troika insists on throwing more good money after bad at them, even if it is to temporarily bailout their own banksters.
This sums it up! youtube.com/watch?v=V0UcQDUR-fU. If not hit the mamas and the papas headline moniker on you tube! BLAST off Kidds! Speling (OPTional).
Those tubees hate me!
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+1 as I sneeze my ass off. I love tropical flowers Ever heard of (WAIT A WHILE)? This shit is 3" long!
the alternative to endless Microshite bugs, viruses, patches, slow-down-to-a-crawl 3rd party fixes on M'Shite is you buy an Apple, someone expert rather than clowns at writing reliable professional code
Nepotism
He doesen't have the charisma of his father? Charisma is hugely enhanced when accompanied by huge bribes. if you're trying to reverse these, somehow your charismas not so good.
Also, he was born in Amherst? Doesen't that make him an american, and if so can one see his tax returns?
He doesen't have the charisma of his father? Charisma is hugely enhanced when accompanied by huge bribes. if you're trying to reverse these, somehow your charismas not so good.
Also, he was born in Amherst? Doesen't that make him an american, and if so can one see his tax returns?
Another Bilderberg putz:
From May 2010:
Nervous eyes are on Greece right now and the IMF riots which have been taking place in Athens. Americans and Europeans are wondering if they will be facing the same crushing austerity measures, livelihood losses, foreign takeovers of private companies and privatisation of public services as is happening there. The colonial aquisitive tactics which Bilderberg and the IMF's financial elite have used on Third World nations for years, leading to charges of being the international Mafia, are now being turned on European nations. It may come as no suprise that the Greek Prime Minister, George Papandreou, who has so starkly failed to assert his country's sovreignty againt the IMF has been a regular attender at the secret Bilderberg meetings since 1998.
http://forum.davidicke.com/showthread.php?t=116311
Bilderberg is A Fallacy! The good meeting is coming up!
Methinks G-Pap's G-String will fall off coming Tuesday when the Greek Parliament votes.
A few more things about him. His grasp of the Greek language resembles that of an elementary school kid and many times he makes laughable mistakes (sort of reminds me of Bush), he is influenced a lot by his mother but also by his brother (Nikos) for whom they say inherited the Papandreou political capabilities. Many times he says something and later on changes his mind 180 degrees after speaking to his brother (last example his near resignation a few days ago). Most of the Greeks call him Yiorgaki (little George) something like Amerikanaki.
For a different take, one that finds all three generations of Papandreous to be sellouts, see "The Curse of Three Generations of Papandreous" by James Petras:
http://www.voltairenet.org/Greece-The-Curse-of-Three
As an aside, G-Pap's father before elections talked about getting rid of American bases in Greece, but the joke is that in the end the only American he got rid of was his wife (G-Pap's mother, whom he divorced for a younger woman).
Yet more Ivy League mediocrity.
G-Pap couldn't run little league.
Theres something satisfying about watching this snake eat its tail. How many times do we get to see an elite forced to face their own bullshit - I'll bet he quits, "in order to spend more time with my family" or some shit. This is like predicting a sunrise.
'I thought they died a long long time ago. Oh no. Not us. We never lost control. You're face to face with the man who sold the wolrd.' Da da da da da da. Da da da da da Da Da
David Bowie
Leaked 1955 Bilderberg Docs Outline Plan For Single European Currency
http://www.prisonplanet.com/leaked-1955-bilderberg-docs-outline-plan-for...
Yes, my friends, that's the sad truth.
We've all been fooled, including me here in Germany.
LIVE from Greece:
DADDY COOL
The reason they have had the same dynasty in power for 50 years is that it is a democracy, which means power by a single family or a few families at most. We have democracy in the USA as well.
The Papandreou family is a bourdelo.. a brothel. Andreas Papandreou, up and suddenly left his wife, mother of his kids, for Liani, a stewardess he met inflight. A Despite their vast age difference, he married her. A few years later, the young big breasted but homely Mrs Liani Pap was splattered all over the front pages of the nation's newspapers, in the buff, with her new young studd in the throwes of a bj! Soon after, Andreas the papou, ended up in hospital for a while. He soon died... probably of a broken heart. He had already stolen the country's money.
She's quite the model of a first 'lady'!