Greece Flips the Bird at Europe

Greeks Set to Reject Creditors’ Bailout Terms, Projections Show

With more than 87% of votes counted, preliminary results showed more than 61% of voters had cast ballots against creditors’ demands in the historic referendum—a heavier-than-expected victory for the “no” campaign against the austerity policies demanded by Greece’s lenders: the rest of the eurozone and the International Monetary Fund.

Voter turnout, based on the partial counting of votes, was reported at about 62%. Opinion polls conducted during Sunday by private broadcasters had pointed to a narrower majority for the “no” camp.

The projected outcome would strengthen the domestic standing of Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who campaigned vehemently for Greeks to reject lenders’ terms for further bailout funding.

But Mr. Tsipras might soon find it difficult to deliver on his promise to secure a more lenient bailout deal from Europe, where other governments, led by Germany, are in no mood to offer Greece more generous terms.

As Insty points out, the Greeks basically had a choice between Hillary and Bernie Sanders, and chose Bernie Sanders. How that works out for them is likely to prove instructive. Too bad they don't have a better choice, but they put themselves into this bag, now they have to fight their way back out.

As George Will points out:

It cannot be said too often: There cannot be too many socialist smashups. The best of these punish reckless creditors whose lending enables socialists to live, for a while, off other people’s money. The world, which owes much to ancient Athens’ legacy, including the idea of democracy, is indebted to today’s Athens for the reminder that reality does not respect a democracy’s delusions.