A little joke I like to tell people is that the reason there is no organized crime in Romania is because Romanians can't get organized, ha-ha-ha. It's funny because it's true.
The reality though is that it's only a half-truth. If you look at many of the issues plaguing this beautiful country, you'll find that most people with any sort of authority couldn't be trusted to watch a two year old sleeping without somehow messing it up.
On the other hand, even if they don't gun each other down in the streets, extort shopkeepers, or provide gambling, prostitution, and loan 'services', the mafia here is your traditional parasitical entity; gouging and stripping away at its victim(s) without mercy.
This has become no more apparent than in 2012, particularly during the last couple of months where the escalating turf war has been making daily headlines as the rivaling factions battle it out in Parliament, in the Courts, and through their respective media outlets.
In January of this year, the citizens of Romania, unhappy with a series of tough austerity measures undertaken by the Orange crime family, took to the streets demanding that the heads of the family step down. The Godfather, Basescu, orders his underboss whacked and reshuffles the family appointing a new capo. Meanwhile, the rival Red and Yellow families, in the unlikeliest of alliances given their history and values, begin guerrilla type attacks against the weakening Orange crew. In two months, they orchestrate a brazen hit in Parliament and get the Godfather's latest capo, 'MRU', whacked. Feeling the heat, in an effort to ease tensions as he regroups the family, the Godfather replaces MRU with the Red's godfather, Ponta.
As an official capo, Ponta wastes no time carrying out a series of hits against neutral factions who support the Godfather in his officially elected position. Buoyed by the support in the USL (the name by which the Red and Yellow crime family alliance is known) dominated Parliament, he systematically takes over the turf, little by little, culminating in a showdown with the Godfather himself, now bereft of support and holding on to a position that is more ceremonial with each passing day.
In what could be one of the last acts of democracy in Romania, the people have been given the contract for the hit on the Godfather, one they can execute on the 29th of July by voting him out of office. In typical Romanian short-sighted fashion, he will be ousted. I'm not going to cry for him and neither will the majority of Romanians, but in doing so, they are opening the door for Ponta and his crew of communist misfits to infiltrate every ministry and wreak havoc through their specific brand of extortion and loan-sharking.
The previous government has been doing more or less the same thing, but there were mechanisms in place to check gross abuses, the judiciary was more or less independent, the ombudsman was non-partisan, and the prime minister didn't flagrantly ignore the rule of law.
There is no doubt now that the Romanian government Mafia, under the Red and Yellow USL faction, is interested in nothing more than power for the sake of pilfering the little that is left in this country's coffers. After all, they've been out of power for over eight years, the Orange family didn't send them satisfactory kickbacks, and they want in on the party. Unlike the previous government, this one has no legitimate items on its agenda, the only goal was to get the Godfather out of the way.
Now that they've nearly succeeded, it's up to us to deliver the coup de grace, but in doing so, we're giving people who are nothing more than scheming wiseguys the green light to empty the vault. The punch line here is that when they do open it it'll likely be empty.
The reality though is that it's only a half-truth. If you look at many of the issues plaguing this beautiful country, you'll find that most people with any sort of authority couldn't be trusted to watch a two year old sleeping without somehow messing it up.
On the other hand, even if they don't gun each other down in the streets, extort shopkeepers, or provide gambling, prostitution, and loan 'services', the mafia here is your traditional parasitical entity; gouging and stripping away at its victim(s) without mercy.
This has become no more apparent than in 2012, particularly during the last couple of months where the escalating turf war has been making daily headlines as the rivaling factions battle it out in Parliament, in the Courts, and through their respective media outlets.
In January of this year, the citizens of Romania, unhappy with a series of tough austerity measures undertaken by the Orange crime family, took to the streets demanding that the heads of the family step down. The Godfather, Basescu, orders his underboss whacked and reshuffles the family appointing a new capo. Meanwhile, the rival Red and Yellow families, in the unlikeliest of alliances given their history and values, begin guerrilla type attacks against the weakening Orange crew. In two months, they orchestrate a brazen hit in Parliament and get the Godfather's latest capo, 'MRU', whacked. Feeling the heat, in an effort to ease tensions as he regroups the family, the Godfather replaces MRU with the Red's godfather, Ponta.
As an official capo, Ponta wastes no time carrying out a series of hits against neutral factions who support the Godfather in his officially elected position. Buoyed by the support in the USL (the name by which the Red and Yellow crime family alliance is known) dominated Parliament, he systematically takes over the turf, little by little, culminating in a showdown with the Godfather himself, now bereft of support and holding on to a position that is more ceremonial with each passing day.
In what could be one of the last acts of democracy in Romania, the people have been given the contract for the hit on the Godfather, one they can execute on the 29th of July by voting him out of office. In typical Romanian short-sighted fashion, he will be ousted. I'm not going to cry for him and neither will the majority of Romanians, but in doing so, they are opening the door for Ponta and his crew of communist misfits to infiltrate every ministry and wreak havoc through their specific brand of extortion and loan-sharking.
The previous government has been doing more or less the same thing, but there were mechanisms in place to check gross abuses, the judiciary was more or less independent, the ombudsman was non-partisan, and the prime minister didn't flagrantly ignore the rule of law.
There is no doubt now that the Romanian government Mafia, under the Red and Yellow USL faction, is interested in nothing more than power for the sake of pilfering the little that is left in this country's coffers. After all, they've been out of power for over eight years, the Orange family didn't send them satisfactory kickbacks, and they want in on the party. Unlike the previous government, this one has no legitimate items on its agenda, the only goal was to get the Godfather out of the way.
Now that they've nearly succeeded, it's up to us to deliver the coup de grace, but in doing so, we're giving people who are nothing more than scheming wiseguys the green light to empty the vault. The punch line here is that when they do open it it'll likely be empty.
Good points.
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