MERKEL, "MUTTI," AND NOT-THE-MARK

MERKEL, "MUTTI," AND 

NOT-THE-MARK 

ANGELA MERKEL ON THE MOVE 

What to do about bearing gifts to the Greeks, especially when your own economy has unexpectedly slipped a bit? Chancellor Angela Merkel has to decide. 

German public opinion seems to be against anything smacking of a bailout. The New York Times has already run a headline proclaiming that "Germany, Forced to Buoy Greece, Rues Euro Shift." It is we-told-you-so time bemoaning the loss of the "beloved Deutschmark" (Financial Times). Yet what is to become of the European project "beloved" of former Chancellors? 

Will Merkel be Mutti (Mom) or Catherine the Great? 

(For a photograph of Angela Merkel and George W. Bush holding hands, see here.)