Two weeks ago, I wrote about the end of Europe’s great experiment with democracy. Not only have countries across the continent been forced into a one-vote, one-time arrangement which bears a striking similarity to the National Socialist plebiscite approach, but now the unelected European Commission is utilizing the financial muscle of the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank to remove duly elected officials and install unelected heads of government.
In Greece, Lucas Papademos was sworn in as prime minister last week. He is not a member of Parliament, has never been elected to office and is a former Federal Reserve economist. In Italy, Silvio Berlusconi resigned under pressure and is being replaced by Mario Monti, a former European commissioner and Goldman Sachs adviser. Like Papademos, Monti is an economist who has spent his career in the employment of the international banks and has never been elected to office. He has, however, been appointed to the rather ominous sounding position of senator-for-life. Fortunately, he has yet to make any statements concerning the reliability of the railway schedules.