COMMENT: The Eurozone crisis and the advance of fascism in its afflicted nations has afforded us some telling imagery. Mussolini took the name for his “Corporate State” from the fascis–a bundle of rods bound together with an axe head joined to it.
In the wake of the formation of the provisional government in Greece, we looked at the inclusion of doctrinaire fascists in that government.
Of particular interest here is Makis “The Hammer” Voridis, the new Greek minister of Infrastructure and transportation.
Seen at left as a law student in the 1970’s, Voridis earned his nickname by carrying a homemade weapon with which to attack fellow students with whose politics he disagreed.
In the incisive Mark Ames post, the weapon is variously described as a “hammer” and an “axe,” and may be viewed in magnification in the center panel.
The similarity between the axe head of the fascis and Voridis’ chosen instrument of destruction is eerie.
@Dave: To me, it’s just another piece of proof of Voridis’ fascist sympathies. BTW, was this guy ever arrested for harassing people back then or did he just get off scot-free?
Who knows why the ratings agencies still have credibility, but you have to give S&P credit for going against the “austerity forever” group-think in their latest round of eurozone downgrades. And I guess Merkel gets gold star for persistence in duplicity:
ahhhhh! need new shows!
@Mast: I’d like to see him back sometime, too. =)
Losses for Greek bondholders?! Oh the humanity!
[...] post by anti-fascist researcher and radio host Dave Emory is reminiscent, as he points out, of the fascis, « a bundle of rods bound together with an axe head joined to it ». [...]
Regarding the recent wave arson in Athens amidst the anti-austerity protests, note that eye-witnesses are reporting that it was criminal gangs trying to extort protection money from business, and not left-wing protestors, that were starting the fires. Hmmmm...
Anti-German sentiment over the eurozone’s treatment of Greece is leading to a surge in Greek neo-Nazi sentiments. I think Pavlovian gullibility just jumped to shark:
Let’s just hope the Greek youth can see through the Golden Dawn/Bankster unacknowledged alliance, because the banksters seem to really hate the Greek youth:
Aaaand humanity’s case of congenital Stockholm Syndrome chugs along...
Full political rights for racially pure Greeks only? Well, at least there should be a thriving sector of the Greek economy selling racial purity testing kits. Sort of like 23andMe for fascists:
These guys aren’t mentally ill or anything like that. Nope:
Well, at least this incident didn’t involve “The Hammer”.
The clip I watched of this was accompanied by some minimal commentary by the newsreader. What was striking was that after initially identifying Kasidiaris as a neo-nazi from a neo-nazi party with racist and violent tendencies, the anchor said that the party “appears to have tapped into some kind of nationalist sentiment among the Greeks.”
I doubt distinctions could be blurred anymore than is accomplished by this man’s spongy summary description. This is masterful newsspeak.
Incidentally, he mentions that the party has attracted about 7 percent of the Greek electorate. That happens to be, by some estimates, about the percentage of sociopaths in any given population.
http://www.wivb.com/dpps/news/offbeat/greek-extremist-party-member-in-tv-assault-ob12-jgr_4200191
One out of two policemen voted for these guys. That’s right, statistics on the May 6 election indicate that up to 50% of Greek policemen voted for the party of vigilante neo-nazi hooligans:
One almost has to hope that the police were voting for their own job security because there’s nothing quite like roving neo-nazi street thugs for creating a demand for more cops! The alternative explanations are pretty horrifying for a society struggling to maintain some semblance of law and order.
Oh my, this is just too precious. This lunatic is now suing the two women he assaulted on live tv for “unprovoked verbal abuse”:
I think I figured it out...this is all part of a brilliant electoral scheme:
I really wish that was entirely in jest.
There are those with a pair of brass balls and then there’s the Golden Dawn. Ladies and Gentlemen, this year’s Golden Globes award for “most successful implementation of thuggish clownishness in the cause of fascist domination” goes to...
No, we aren’t criminal neo-nazis driving getaway cars and fomenting anti-immigrant tensions and picking on the weakest members of that populace for crass personal gain while poisoning the nation’s politics and crippling its future. No, that must have been someone else. We were too busy helping old ladies cross the street.
24k.
http://www.jta.org/news/article/2012/09/23/3107701/greek-neo-nazi-party-sets-up-new-york-office
Greek neo-Nazi party sets up New York office
September 23, 2012
ATHENS, Greece (JTA) — The Greek neo-Nazi Golden Dawn Party reportedly set up an office in New York City in a bid to bolster its support among expatriate Greek communities.
The populist ultranationalist party has been collecting food and medicine at drives in New York for Greeks left destitute by the country’s massive financial crisis and recently distributed the aid in Athens, according to the Kathimerini daily.
The website of the Golden Dawn New York branch, which features the party’s black swastika-like symbol across a dark New York skyline, promises the aid will be donated “only to Greek people.”
Similar drives also have been held in Melbourne, Australia, and Montreal, Canada, Kathimerini said.
Golden Dawn swept into the Greek parliament with 19 lawmakers in recent elections campaigning on an anti-austerity, anti-immigrant platform, preying on the fears of Greeks who have seen the country flooded with immigrants amid a terrible recession.
Greek and international Jewish groups have condemned the party repeatedly as racist and anti-Semitic. Golden Dawn leader Nikolaos Michaloliakos uses the Heil Hitler salute and in recent interviews denied the existence of gas chambers at Nazi death camps during World War II.
The New York chapter of Golden Dawn vows to help its brethren in Greece “resist and overcome the genocidal multi-culturalist and anti-Hellenic agenda of the New World Order,” and combat the “unholy alliance of the bankers, the media, corrupt politicians and the educational system.”
However, it “supports the American Constitution and respects all U.S. laws,” the website states.
Monsters indeed:
More patience is all that is required while we wait for the the benefits of the austerity-measures to take effect. Remember, it’s not just about debt relief. Austerity is needed for social renewal and a new civic spirit of hard work and personal responsibility. The monsters of sloth and institutional corruption must be slain:
This is a reminder that the Muslim Brotherhood and affiliated Islamists aren’t the only ones pushing for blasphemy laws lately. The Golden Dawn, it turns out, has also been asserting that it can discern god-approved speech:
Well, at least he didn’t punch a 12-year old girl while taking a swing at the mayor of Athens. That counts as progress, right? I mean, we’re talking about the Golden Dawn here. When your political movement is this infantile baby steps are about the best one can expect. So congrats to the Golden Dawn lawmaker, your gun went off at the airport but at least you didn’t shoot a 12 year old girl. Job well done:
One of the reasons there are so many anti-fascists in places like Greece is because it’s hard not to notice that the anti-anti-fascists are often pro-murder:
While Capone’s murder of Joe Howard, for instance, does indeed share an eery similarity to the Golden Dawn’s campaign of violence in Greece, the ghost of Al Capone must be taking serious issue with the comparison:
It isn’t always easy being the ghost of Al Capone.
Classical fascism in action: With support collapsing following the murder of an anti-fascist musician, it looks like the Golden Dawn is going to play the “foreigners are out to get us!” card:
Greek political talk shows are probably going to get a lot more, uh, ‘action packed’ following this ruling: