Well
here come the Greeks again, bearing the poisoned chalice. What chance Mr.
Samaras (always billed as a Harvard educated economist – like Papandreou père
et fils – that worked well) has of finding the so far elusive Holy Grail deep
in the BuBank’s vaults, who knows. But by staking out his position for root and
branch renegotiation of the Memorandum (which the Greeks have already blown out
of the water) he is a) making himself a hostage to very short term domestic
fortune, and b) trying to support the Latin Trio that will be tuning up its
violins to serenade and shame Frau Angela tomorrow in Rome into doing something
that she’ll regret as soon as she gets home again. If it’s Friday, it must be
Rome. Monti is on very thin ice with his constituents, who are looking for an
end to all human pain and suffering subito. As a distraction from his bunga
bunga indictments in Milan, Berlusconi is rattling everyone’s cage again and
threatening to bring Monti down from the mountain. (Don’t count Berlusconi out
until his hair goes grey). Faced with the Latin Trio, all trying to play in tune (Francois as premier violin of course), with offstage ostinato
from Athens, one might excuse dear Frau Angela for contracting a nasty dose of
the diplomatic ‘flu and just staying home for a long weekend (might be
undiplomatic to suggest she contracted a severe attack of Montezuma’s in Cabo).
Meanwhile
that famous bench of wise jurists in funny red hats in Karlsruhe has laid down
some more of the law, and told die Kanzlerin that they need quite some time (a
commodity in very short supply in Euro-land) to ponder their next move. Maybe
they’re waiting for the US Supremes (that famous all girl soul band) to publish
their opinion of Obamacare and blow lots of jurisprudential smoke in the air
for a while. The Trio Latino can then fiddle while Rome burns and goose one
another’s courage to go bell the Berliner cat in her lair. Shouldn’t
supplicants and mendicants come to the source and not demand that Angela attend
some sort of Star Chamber and Neo-Spanish Inquisition in Rome? But I guess she
knows what she’s doing. She can just turn her hands palm up and mutter
“Grundgesetz – sorry, my hands are tied”. Maybe she can request asylum in Citta
del Vaticano. The Swiss Guards can see off the three Mouseketeers with one
hand. Handy having a Prussian Pope.
Poor
Francois has to stay well away from Paris. He can never be sure which of his
mistresses will be waiting behind a column in the Élysée vestibule to warm his
sang froid. Valérie is on a roll and looking to land another right cross on
poor Ségolène. Mme (or is it Mlle) Royal has to play the part of spurned, but
determined spouse (common law) and has now brought the kids in as
reinforcements. The Fifth Republic in a very safe pair of hands (or is it three
pairs).
This
just in, it was only a matter of time – Christine Lagarde (doesn’t she look
lovely when she purses her lips in Gallic pose) puts her well-turned foot to
the scales on the side of the Trio Latino, to exert maximum pressure on Frau
Angela when she gets to Rome (a wise woman would just stay home - see above).
She (the lovely Christine) is paid many hundreds of thousands of the world’s
taxpayers’ dollars (tax free to her of course), not to mention unlimited
expenses, to shill for Hollande and the French FinMin. Absolutely outrageous.
They’d better be careful or the Germans are really going to come unglued. This,
and the Greeks trying to re-trade at the same time (and the Germans know full
well the Greeks have zero capacity and not much more intention of ever living
with anything they sign), is going to spoil Fritz the BMW worker’s whole day.
It’s getting uglier by the minute. Watch for Dodgy Dave and his OE side kick,
little Georgie O, to cave in to the IMF like a wet weekend and go along with
Christine’s arrant nonsense (all cooked up in L’Élysée). It almost makes the
Millipedes look like geniuses. Dave & Georgie (Laurel and Hardie) will
start talking about British responsibility as founder member of the IMF (thanks
JMK), Bretton Woods, Britain must play its part, European solidarity, agree
with Obama and Geithner, Christine doing a wonderful job, Euro must be saved,
blah, blah, blah. The only hope is to shame Dave into a referendum; which will
bring the whole mad scheme crashing down around Dave’s ears and he can retire
to the Lords and never be mentioned in polite society again. Boris’ day is
coming very soon.
Tomorrow
will be an interesting day in Gdansk, where Greece meets Germany in Euro12.
Samaras and Angela should agree that if Greece wins, Germany pays up and if
Germany wins Greece leaves the Euro ipso facto, go straight to jail, do not
pass Go. Germans will win efficiently 1 – 0. Greece will go into melt-down and
accuse Germany of paying off the ref.
Simon
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