Everything is hunky-dory
On the islands, the ever-worsening water shortages prove that overtourism is neither a magical solution nor a “pseudo-problem” but a drama, while on the plains of Thessaly, it shows that the carefree adventurist farming model of the past decades has exhausted itself, and with it the aquifers.
In the Paris Olympics, our athletes are teaching us life lessons with their efforts and their mature statements, whether they win or lose. But in the slippery arena of social media, this major substitute for all societal gossip and communication, some bitter individuals practice spraying vitriol, mainly on the national basketball team. Even if the team ends up winning gold, those who are never going to accept that Giannis Antetokounmpo and his brothers are more deeply Greeks than them will find something to continue their “fight” against the “contamination of our race.”
So what about the rest? Well, everything is hunky-dory. Our democracy celebrates its entry into the sixth decade of its existence, confident in the quality of its institutions, the separation of powers, the independence of its “independent authorities,” the lawful action of its intelligence service. Which, as is known, are headed by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who had admitted to the existence of the surveillance scandal. Wasn’t the removal of Grigoris Dimitriadis (former general secretary and nephew of Mitsotakis in charge of Greece’s secret service) from his position a result of this admission? Unless we believe that, all of a sudden, ruling New Democracy decided to turn against nepotism. It’s possible. But it seems more likely that the Seine will be classified as safe for athletes.
It is absolutely certain, however, that if Mitsotakis felt that there was no problem with the Supreme Court prosecutor’s report on the wiretapping scandal, he would have commented at length in his customary Sunday Facebook post. His complete silence speaks louder than 10 commentaries by State Minister Makis Voridis and the 20 announcements by the government spokesman. Even he probably understands that a report that finds the monitoring by the intelligence service but also by some curious private individuals of a party leader, judges, military officials, journalists, businessmen, and a dozen ministers normal, thus declaring one of the biggest scandals of the last 50 years to be nonexistent, is as true as the existence of Pegasus or mermaids.
