The Knight of Tomatoes and the return of the four assassins

Dragnea has hit a rough patch : his weapons – total victimization and extreme populism – had to be activated. On Sunday, he swung them in action. The four Athénée Palace assassins returned, more resolute than ever to fulfil their mission. The forces of darkness were gathering over PSD leaders and their government. The PSD leader and his party continued to fight for the good of the country in spite of heavy enemy fire. This is the grand narrative, below are its details.

On Sunday evening, in Romania TV’s studio, PSD leader Liviu Dragnea painted the image of a party whose leaders were haunted by dark forces: former minister of waters and forests, Doina Pană, suffered an attempted mercury poisoning, the huge interests swirling around Bucharest’s mayor provoked a metal growth in Gabriela Firea’s colon, and Vorica Dancila was mounting a valiant resistance to the dangers surrounding her in Government. As for him, it was well known that he did not want to get into the details concerning the four assassins, there were testimonies at DIICOT, even if nobody chose to care.

Previously, on Antena 3, Dragnea had denounced the „opposition’s bullies”, thus distorting the reality that PSD leaders were contested across the country, and those who were arrested and aggressed were protesters, and not the other way around. Dragnea spoke about the protesters’ „hateful” and „injected » eyes, suggesting they were under the influence of drugs, as « mentioned » by the „Rezist” group. Meanwhile, Sebastian Ghita and Codrin Stefanescu were those who threatened publicly with violence and beatings.

Finally, he depicted Klaus Iohannis as a fierce dictator parading up and down the country while guarded by snipers and bodyguards armed to the teeth. The PSD leader betrayed the complex of the politician who can no longer go through the crowd without a wall of bodyguards, the latter dubious emanations of underworld groups. Lately, even in the perfectly controlled PSD crowds, there have been people who booed and reminded him of his convict status.

As the electoral campaign draws to its last two weeks, PSD’s spin doctors do their best to project an upside-down reality, with the image of a party under siege, leaders hunted by the forces of evil: the deep state, mysterious assassins, hackers, dark forces outside the country, strangers red with envy at the success of government, etc. Nothing needs to be proven because everything is playing on TV, and no journalist in the propaganda machine even thinks of asking for evidence.

Dragnea’s latest lies are not meant for rational people or the educated audience, but for those vulnerable to TV manipulations, conspiracy enthusiasts, and fools willing to gobble up any lie, the more egregious the better.

In the same line of thought, Liviu Dragnea has announced on one of the national TV’s flagship shows – « Village Life » – that next year he would double the tomato subsidy from 3000 to 6000 euros, with other vegetables in line to benefit from this type of treatment, and the VAT on bio products would go down to 5%. All of this while gobbling tomatoes and radishes on live TV.

He promised subsidized loans for new greenhouses, the doubling of irrigated surfaces and a full aid package for Romanian growers. In his crusade against evil foreigners bent on killing us with poisoned and tasteless tomatoes, Dragnea pushed the last nail in the supermarkets’ mafia coffin : this week he would submit a law on double standards in Parliament!

Yet, fighting the enemy within and without was obviously not enough. He saved his last bullet against foreigners for an evening show. They would be banned from acquiring land in Romania. Same type of law project to be passed through Parliament. What does it matter that such measures are perfectly useless, as land to be acquired was sold long ago and there is no more land for sale ? It only matters that Liviu Dragnea and the PSD bare their chests in the fight for their motherland.

A final bonus: he wants to ban log exports from the homeland’s forests. By now you have understood that all these courageous measures represent just as many reasons for the four assassins to return to Athénée Palace.

This is a successful recipe imported from Orban’s Hungary. For years, the embattled leader in Budapest has been fighting with the enemy embodied by Soros and migrants. Dragnea uses the same narrative, casting Iohannis as the foreigner/alien. As an ethnic German, he can not be a good Romanian. QED.

Just as Orban chose to be Athleta Christi defending Europe from migrants, Dragnea chose a more modest role: the crusader for organic vegetables, the knight of Aprozars. Orban, the shield of Christendom. Dragnea, the shield of tomato and radishes.

At the end of the day, reality was completely reversed. The party that in two years has demolished entire institutions, has harassed magistrates and threatens to de facto bring Romania out of the EU, presents itself to the public as a victim. With a little help from subservient TV stations (including national TV) the executioner became a lamb chased by wolves.

Falsifying reality is the preferred method by which Dragnea and PSD hope to fool a part of the electorate again. To the attentive observer, last days’ manoeuvers betray despair and fear of an electoral disaster, but we shall soon see if the Romanian adage many see but few understand, is valid, still.

Traducerea: Ruxandra Stoicescu