Românii Atentie! Angajam un idiot pentru ţara noastră!
Hey, hey! The bullshit is only beginning, my friends.
Distraction is the name of this game.
With PNL now successfully on a leash, it would seem that Mircea Geoana and his communist PSD friends are very pleased with how the Romanian media salivated over the dubious accusation that Basescu beats kids at his support rallies.
If PSD can get the idiots all riled up by belaboring some 5-second video clip to death, pounding on the podium, and screaming about pedophile rape, then they’re increasing the odds for a return to communist rule simply by distracting the populace from issues of substance.
And they’d love nothing more than to increase the noise and drown out the signal.
Viewing you like a 3-week old puppy, they want to jingle-jangle squeak toys in your face to get you chasing your own tail. To that end, they’re apparently hiring video editors to work on additional bullshit clips to handfeed to their paid-off friends in the press to spread the electoral virus.
Don’t be fooled.
Bribing a journalist wouldn’t take much money. And it only take a handful to begin infecting others, particularly if the few happen to be the chain-smoking cynical bunch in the editorial room whose lives have been filled with so much disillusionment that they don’t give a whit about yours.
One should be able to measure the journalistic integrity of various media venues based on how much bullshit they like to sling. If your newspaper (or magazine or tv channel or radio station) of choice endlessly splashes this non-issue in your face, then it is clear those so-called journalists have disdain for your intellectual capacity.
In fact, shamefully, they aren’t journalists at all, but merely burned-out, hack writers seeking to coarsen the national dialogue in the chase for easy ad dollars because they don’t believe Romania can ever do better.
Here’s the deal, folks: You are actually in control.
1. Stop buying that non-journalistic newspaper or magazine. And send a politely worded email explaining why. (You may safely ignore whatever watered down response they might fling back at you.)
2. Change the tv channel or radio station. Knock those metrics down.
3. In polite conversation with friends, when a gossiping pal puts on the mask of a sly grin and says, “Deci, did you see that YouTube video of Politician X where she wore white shoes after Labor Day?” or some equally trumped up and inconsequential nonsense — such as “Adica, have you seen the Vimeo clip of Basescu punching a two year old in the crotch at the ambassadorial dinner party, deci?” — then, I recommend you issue the curt reply of “Cui îi pasă?” and follow it with some poignant comment on a political issue which really matters, to redirect the conversation.
4. Do not vote for Geoana.
Strap on a pair and demand sanity. Flat-out refuse to get dragged into the downward spiral.
Of course, if you haven’t got the chops, then you can always be a lapdog consumer. Take whatever they give you. Accept the communist return. Just strap on your helmet and occasionally wipe the drool from your chin.
December 2nd, 2009 at 10:34 pm
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December 3rd, 2009 at 1:43 am
Thanks for posting this. This is the best proof that living in Romania was more than just an exotic experience for you. I hope people don’t get completely fooled by the BS. After all if it’s recognizable from across the pond, maybe they can spot it from the same country.
December 3rd, 2009 at 3:02 am
Dear Romerican, things are not as easy as they seem. There’s no “good” and “bad” sections of the FSN. They’re both as evil.
I’m getting more and more annoyed about how PSD is labeled “communist”, whereas Băsescu was:
1) a Communist Party member
2) a director at the Ministry of Transport during Ceauşescu in 1989.
3) a director and later a subsecretary of state at the Ministry of Transport during Iliescu in 1990.
What moral fiber can a person who was a member of a government and party (FSN, 1990-1991) which killed dozens if not a hundred protesters (The Mineriad)?
But this is all ancient history and probably doesn’t matter. What matters is that today’s Băsescu is in the same position as Năstase was 5 years ago. All he did in the last 5 years is zero. He just brought strife: fighting with the government, with the parliament, with everyone, for the smallest things.
What’s worst is that he constantly tried to erode the people’s opinion of the Parliament. The Parliament is the representative of the people. What does he want? A one-man dictatorship?
On the first round, I voted for Remus Cernea and I don’t intend to vote on Sunday. I don’t see any notable difference between these two, apart from Băsescu being a jackass who is sometimes racist (calling a journalist “ţigancă împuţită”, filthy gypsy), mysoginist (calling a woman “păsărică”, a term used for the female genitalia) and homophobic (calling a journalist “găozar”, fag) in speech.
December 3rd, 2009 at 3:07 am
Would the Americans re-elect a president who calls journalists names such as “Filthy Nigger”, “Cunt” and “Faggot”?
If not, why do we deserve such a president?
December 3rd, 2009 at 7:00 am
Tudor – Thanks for your comments. There is no doubt some segments of the population are fooled. Fortunately, only a subset of those will bother to vote.
In determining the outcome of the election, I think the question at hand is will people with a light turned on in their head come to the rightful conclusion that this is one fresh and steaming pile of unmitigated bullshit. And then act by refusing to vote for Geoana because of the broader picture of slipping into a radical new low in propaganda-based governance.
If Geoana is the better man, he should repudiate these actions, fire the necessary scapegoats, and go about the business of presuming the Romanian people have some capability to think beyond the level of an erratic child.
Bogdan – Thanks for returning. I appreciate your commentary on these matters as I find your engagement worthwhile.
What isn’t easy? This video nonsense and the PSD-generated media frenzy is complete and utter bullshit. Period. Full stop. — There, that was easy.
PSD is the most clear and most direct descendant of Ceauşescu’s regime, its outlook on the average Romanian’s worth, and a goodly number of its policy objectives. Far more so than any other party. Calling them out for being The Communists is quite appropriate as that is precisely who they have been and continue to emulate.
They would long for a return to naked communism were it not so internationally unfashionable. Instead, they run as “Communist Light” and continue to operate with corruption and shadows to the detriment of the Romanian people. Indeed, one would be hard pressed to find any good they’ve done (which isn’t to say they haven’t made accidental mistakes in trivial favor of someone other than themselves, while focused on some larger prize — a regrettable casualty of negotiation caused be being forced to allow competitor clans in the light of international observance).
1, 2, and 3) These points are not contested.
If you have the conviction of your moral objection to past FSN members, then I’d encourage you to not vote for any past FSN member. Done. Next!
I agree with you; it is history. However, I take issue with the idea of being ancient (although I’ll propose we should avoid a semantics game which serves neither you nor I very well). But does it matter? I think it does matter. Furthermore, I might speculate that you also think it does matter. No doubt we’d both agree it’s not the only thing which matters. And we might even go so far as to say it’s not the most important thing. But I do factor into the analysis of politics, parties, and individuals. If a person has the red stain, they have the red stain. For all the crimes and aberrations, they ought be held to some continuing account.
I do not, in any meaningful way, understand how you conflate Băsescu’s position with that of Năstase.
I think Băsescu ushered in some significant changes, not the least of which was the continuing fracture of the powerful cabal who held lockgrip over seemingly all Romanian economics. Romania is lightyears ahead of where it was 5 years ago and it was not inevitable, but a result of his and Tăriceanu’s efforts to change Romania… despite the squabbles at the end of their tumultuous relationship. Romania is fundamentally better for the people versus 5 years ago.
I agree Băsescu brought strife. Some of that was good/effective. A non-trivial amount of it was bullshit.
I believe Băsescu’s worst side was exposed later in his first term when he went way too far in attacking the institution of Parliament. At times, that direction did seem quite dangerous. Were Băsescu successful in shifting additional power to the Presidency at the cost of Parliament, it would have likely fomented a major crisis sooner or later. Very dangerous, indeed. This is why I did not support Băsescu in the first round (not that my silence gave anyone a clue what I thought).
An apologist might explain Băsescu wanted to chip away at Parliamentary power in order to further fracture the communist elite of PSD while he, politically, had them on the run. My reply to such a characterization? Băsescu, at best, was way out of line. A fool’s mistake. At worst, Băsescu was on a collision course with enabling dictatorship. A dastardly plot.
I think perhaps only ~5% of Americans would vote for a politician callously throwing around tasteless epithets like “Filthy Nigger”, “Cunt” or “Faggot”. We wouldn’t tolerate such behavior. As it is, American just escaped from 8 years of rule by as near a madman as one might reasonably expect to even be possible in the United States. In fact, his re-election remains a mystery to me.
But this post is not about Băsescu, Bodgan.
It’s about Geoana and PSD and the egregious bullshit they’re foisting on the Romanian electorate through corrupt manipulation in pursuit of restoring the direct-heir communist cabal (beyond mere office holders, as I trust you agree) to reclaim their previous stranglehold on Romanian life.
It’s about that large segment of Romanian media which betrays the people through voluntary servitude in promulgating bullshit and further lowering the expectations of all Romanians, especially the disaffected youth, rather than practicing journalism to the standards reasonably educated professionals in their craft might aspire to.
And, more importantly than any of the preceding response to your comments, this post is about Romanians who think beyond erudite political gangsterism. It’s a reminder that you and they have the power to eschew the the very worst of affronts to the Romanian people themselves. One can and should take action against the madness.
Stop buying worthless publications and let them know why, in writing, even if they’re incapable of reasonable response. Switch off the dregs of radio and television, rendering them useless. And do not vote for Geoana nor his band of marauders.
When the bullshit smells this strong, I’ve a tendency to speak out.
Postscript:
What president does Romania deserve?
I trust you’re familiar with the famous quote by Joseph de Maistre which read, “Toute nation a le gouvernement qu’elle mérite.” Romania continues to have some growing up to do. In my necessarily limited circle of friends and acquaintances from across all of Romania, I’ve yet to meet one thinking person who did not reach the same conclusion on their own.
I believe Romania should have a better president. I believe Remus Cernea was probably the best candidate in the field. Alas, the glory days to come will not unfold overnight. I suspect you may know that better than I.
Thanks for your comments. I’ve tried to address them all. But I’d prefer to keep further discussion on topic.
December 3rd, 2009 at 3:36 pm
I don’t know why Patriciu brought this video because it certainly can’t help the PSD, especially since Geoană already has a 4% advantage over Băsescu.
I think the idea of Băsescu’s staff of making manele campaign songs and showing them continuously at OTV (bribed) and Taraf TV (owned by a PDL member) worked better for the lower classees:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-1wPkZ1p6E
(hilarious lyrics, IMO)
My point is that the bullshit that Geoană and his allies are spewing is the same as the one of Băsescu’s party.
As an internet user, I’m sick of seeing Băsescu’s bullshit everywhere:
– adsense ads full of lies telling things like Geoană is a Russian agent:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_rcSRo9ewaC4/SxTfnPJbOfI/AAAAAAAAAFA/bG3R7beSCOw/s1600/PSD.jpg
(the equivalent in the US would be McCain ads saying that Obama is a Taliban agent)
or spreading misinformation on various controversies regarding Băsescu.
– ads on Facebook which are insulting Geoană, Antonescu and their voters. I have nothing against seeing political ads, but they could at least keep some decency. Also, insulting voters of Antonescu is doing little for attract them to their side.
– astroturfing — PDL has an immense astroturfing team, maybe hundreds of people: they’re invading every forum and newspaper comment section with their inane postings that are fanatically pro-Băsescu. You can’t argue with them, because they don’t make any sense, they just repeat their ideas. I suppose their idea is that some ideas are repeated over and over, people will start to believe in them.
December 3rd, 2009 at 10:36 pm
It is true, the whole campaign is a mess, the opposing parties attack each other instead of saying what they are going to accomplish, what benefits the population would have if they would pick this or that candidate. I remember it was the same in 2004. Maybe a bit milder, or maybe I was not paying enough attention and it still struck me. Besides, scandal is better than promises, and we have a taste for drama.
At the end, it is just shameful and disgusting that all it comes down to this, treating people like we are all a big mahala, gossiping at the corners, yelling at the supporters of the party you hate, all illogic nonsense, with no principles involved, no good sense and no real social progressive value.
These politicians that battle with no honor on the political scene are not worthy of being politicians, not at an European level. We would need someone with a “younger” mentality, more European, who is not tangled in the old Romanian ways of corruption and communism. WE need to make the change, but this year it is already too late.
Great post all in all, eye opening, and it would be even better if most people would think the same and would not let themselves fooled by the “prestige” of older politicians like Base and Geoana.
@Bogdan: Thanks for pointing the video out. I can’t believe they did that!
… I wonder how much money they got for that non-suggestive video… Hmm, maybe I should get a new job as a manele singer for the politicians. Now, that’s niche!
PS: Great photos!
December 5th, 2009 at 11:24 am
@bunissima — “treating people like we are all a big mahala” — because we are. I don’t mean those few of us who have brains, but the majority. The candidates do this because it works — if it didn’t, they wouldn’t — and I don’t foresee that changing anytime soon. They are playing to the majority: the idiots and the manele-listeners. Which groups have a lot of overlap, now that I think of it.
Q: “We would need someone with a “younger” mentality, more European, who is not tangled in the old Romanian ways of corruption and communism.” — I’m not sure you’re going far enough here. I recently found myself reaching the conclusion that the only way to properly improve the situation is to bootstrap the Romanian presidency with a temporary government assigned by and consisting of EU politicians. And by temporary I mean about 8 years.
Of course, that’s never going to happen — ever — because we would never admit the situation was that bad. And as long as we’re not shooting each other, civil war style, there’s no excuse for anyone else to intervene. And even if, by some miracle, it happened, it would be an almost universally-resented move and might actually precipitate one of those war things.
Speaking of war, there was a joke going around a few years back that the simplest way to fix Romania would be to declare war on the US of A and then, after 5 minutes, surrender. It seems like a lot less of a joke sometimes, doesn’t it?
…and yet, with all that said, I honestly still have some optimism about Romania’s future. In spite of all the crap being shoved down our throats from on high, we have somehow managed to achieve some very good things — we have affordable food, water, power, and even bandwidth; we have… not good, but still serviceable roads, rails, airports; and outside of Bucharest things look all right — as an example, I was recently in Cluj, and it struck me how clean and good-looking it was. Sure, this is supposed to be normal, and it sucks that it’s not, but still: it’s possible! In Romania! And in spite of — because one cannot say because of — the politicians fighting so horribly for the support of the many of us who don’t know any better. That’s worth being optimistic about, isn’t it?
December 5th, 2009 at 12:50 pm
@Narc: I don’t know about Cluj, but Sibiu looks great now, too. Personally, I love Braşov more than Sibiu and I wish Braşov had a better administration, like Sibiu.
Bucharest has some serious city planning issues. They city planners are the most corrupt in the whole local administration because there’s a lot of money involved.
Here’s a fun fact: Adrian Bold, the Chief City Architect is the one responsible for the general ugliness and lack of any planning of Bucharest. He served under four mayors, two of PNT-CD (Ciorbea, Lis) and two of PDL (Băsescu, Videanu).
He was also involved in various shady deals after which the City Hall was sued and had to pay reparations for his decisions.
Anyway, Oprescu, the new mayor, fired him for incompetence, because his bad decisions lead to the City Hall having to pay large sums of money in the trials the city lost.
Of course, the Real Estate Mafiosi couldn’t accept that and Bold had to boldly fight back: he sued the City Hall and he got the job back! Apparently, incompetence and corruption are not enough to get you fired from a job in the administration.
December 5th, 2009 at 5:48 pm
The ad is a joke, there are few clues and the line with “abonament la spa… ” says: “spa subscription including relaxing massage and 4 weekly brain washing sessions”.
Regarding the communist party, I will personally vote for it to have the German prime-minster, he did a excellent job in the 8 years as mayor for Sibiu.
Welcome back!
December 5th, 2009 at 10:45 pm
Cristina – To be sure, I’m using the piece for the effect for which it was created. As for Johannis, it would be a silver-lining should PSD carry the day… though one might temper any enthusiasm to be more cautiously optimistic in view of the higher stakes national game.
December 6th, 2009 at 1:11 am
@Narc: It’s interesting for me to see that more people think an unusual solution like this would be an answer. I had been thinking about something more vague in that direction you mentioned, getting some form of government or politicians that we “import,” because we just do not have the principles to do it ourselves. But Romanians have an inferiority complex and they would all freak out in bursts of nationalism and dramatic pride, if they were told French or British are better politicians than us, even if the truth is obvious. Hell, they once freaked out when they were told in the news that the British use more soap than us (of course the British are stinky, dirty and uneducated). But then, we can never speak for an entire nation, and a small sample is not necessarily relevant.
Of course, we all need to keep some sort of optimism, for reasons of sanity, and at least try to see the good part of things.
I am not sure when it will happen, most likely not our lifetimes, but someday there will be a new system, a fair system that will represent and do justice to all the people, based on learning from the mistakes of the past (like communism) and of the the present and on the people’s intellectual evolution.
December 6th, 2009 at 2:31 am
@bunissima: the main problem is that we want the riches of the West without wanting its system of values, its civilization.
There are a lot of people who oppose the Western system of value as something foreign. The church had a great conservative influence and strongly opposed each of these reforms:
Romania was the last country in Europe to abolish slavery. (1856)
Romania was the last country in Europe to disallow non-Christians to become citizens. (until 1879)
Romania was the last country in Europe to give citizenship to its Jewish inhabitants. (1923)
Romania was the last country in Europe to legalize homosexuality. (2001)
December 6th, 2009 at 5:37 am
@Bogdan: I definitely agree with you about the system of values, and inherently about the influence of the church, and I think that to this day it continues to be a bad influence on people because it keeps them in that sweet close-minded and obtuse slumber, where they feel safe.
Since we now have those laws, even though later than it should have been, it’s still amazing how there still are a lot of bigots, homophobic, and racist people in Romania (even though Romanians do not connect their hatred of gypsies to racism, but they do know that it means hating blacks). But then, these kinds of people are everywhere, even in US. Here the cause is a mix of political games and religious indoctrination, which makes people judge anything as being either black or white because they think those are the only options. They mistake the principles of a certain party with their own principles and ideas just because they *have* to take sides. Which makes them in turn vulnerable to the reality and addicted to the continuous lies they keep swallowing. So, while situations might be different in US and RO, the culprit is the same: the supremacy of the few over the entire population. And for some reason there are not enough convincing voices out there to help people open their eyes. I do not know how this is done.
December 6th, 2009 at 9:18 pm
@bunissima — “Romanians [...] would all freak out [...] if they were told French or British are better politicians than us[...]” — I don’t necessarily believe that’s true, because I’m not convinced good politicians really exist. On the other hand, what French or British (or German, or Finnish) politicians would have is a history in a much less corrupt system, so (one would hope) they would try to fix ours on the one hand, and identify Romanian think-alikes on the other, both of which even in small doses would help tremendously (IMNSHO).
Of course, if such a thing ever came to pass, the majority of the Romanian population very likely *would* take it that way, especially with the help of the current crop of assholes who don’t really want to see their power being lost.
As I said, as good for the country as it would be, it’s never going to happen.
@Bogdan — “Apparently, incompetence and corruption are not enough to get you fired from a job in the administration.” — Oh, but they did, just not for a very long time. And it took even more incompetence and corruption (of the judicial system, in this case) to get him back where he was. Lovely how we, the taxpayers, get to pay for it all, too.
December 7th, 2009 at 12:01 am
Y’know, now that I think of it, maybe the opposite direction would work: send away our own politicians, scatter them to other countries a few in each place (so they couldn’t work together to mess things up), and force them to deal with a system which would properly criminalize them for screwing things up. I figure if we do this a few times, we will eventually have a number of politicians who have been de-conditioned of the constant graft and corruption that run so rampant in Romanian politics. Then, toss them all back here and see what happens.
Ideally, a combination of the two approaches — this one and the imported politicians — might work, and if advertised properly might even be palatable to the great unwashed Romanian masses. Thoughts?
December 7th, 2009 at 2:23 am
No, thank you!