A must read report as the saga/tragedy of Greece continues is at Americablog. Here’s a chunk:
“We dedicate this song to the people of Greece. We hope everything works out well for them?”
That was how a young guitar player apprehensively kicked off last week’s Greece solidarity rally, held in Astoria’s own Athens Square. It would soon become a microcosm of the chaos that engulfed both Greece and Europe in anticipation of last Sunday’s referendum — the result of which was a resounding “No.”
From the outskirts one could have mistaken it for a run of the mill left-wing gathering, with Spartacists, LaRouche-ites, and small-s socialists making the rounds passing out their flyers and newspapers. As Greece and the European Union continue their showdown over the Greek debt, the leftist Syriza party has become a rallying point for radicals the world over.
It might have seemed like a gathering of would-be revolutionaries. That is, if it hadn’t been for all the Greek flags. Or the signs in Greek. Or the older men and women huddled around benches speaking Greek. Meanwhile, in the middle of the square a teenage rock-band called “The Inoculated Canaries” covered Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall, Part II.”
Of the hundred or two people gathered under statues of Plato, Socrates and Athena, few seemed to hold anything in common.
A group of older Greek men standing and chatting among themselves looked at one rallier and asked him if he was Greek. When he answered no, one asked “so why are you holding a Greek flag?” That man, identifying as a member of the “Pakistan-USA Freedom Forum,” said he was just there to support the people.
A pair of high school age girls were filming the boys on stage. They assured passers-by that they had nothing to do with the ralliers or their dozens of flags and signs that read “OXI,” or “no” (pronounced okey as in okey-dokey). They pointed to a middle-aged man, Joe, the concert’s organizer.
Go to the link to read it in its entirety.
You can see how this story is exploding:
–-Greece Agrees to Its Third European Bailout After Marathon Talks
—Greece must rediscover the spirit of Marathon to burst its euro shackles
German proposals to take over Greek state assets are tantamount to tyranny
—Greece wins euro debt deal – but democracy is the loser
–-Greece and Europe now face many worst-case scenarios
Prediction: Greece — and Europe — are in for a long, bumpy ride.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.