When Gigi Becali called Calin Popescu Tariceanu a VIP, traslating it by "very important parrot", Traian Basescu pretended to be offended and he no longer came to watch the game between Steaua and Rapid in the UEFA championships. Now it is Calin Popescu Tariceanu who has called Emil Boc and Theodor Stolojan "Traian Basescu's parrots", thus naming their alledged obedient style and the fact that in the PD-L (Democrat-Liberal Party) is room only for the President's opinion and parrot-like repetitions of it. Apart from the 'truth' in such phrases, the use of such language in public proves the image strategy takes public morality into account. The level of vulgarity reached in Romanian politics doesn't necessary equate Gigi Becali's triumph in politics. It actually means vulgarity is prevailing in public life. Commercial television has led this domination to a climax, due to the same approach to the prevailing morality. The vulgar TV entertainment is produced because of meeting the public's need for vulgarity, it doesn't create this need. In the films produced by the new 'golden generation', swearing and vulgarity are a rule. Why should one make educative, cultural films or TV shows, since there is no audience for them? And politicians abide by the same 'standards' too. This is how Calin Popescu Tariceanu has got to speak in a way to be understood and liked by ordinary people. If you tell ordinary people about "doctrines" and "projects", they don't listen to you or they get bored. The vitious circle of democracy emerged from the very beginning due to politicians' blah-blah Neoinstitutionalism calls this "path-dependency" (dependency on the way you have taken from the very beginning). How can the electorate listen to talk about "doctrines" and "projects", since the electorate is in the habit of listening to something else? How can the Liberals promote the Liberal doctrine and the Christian-Democrats the Christian-Democrat doctrine and so on, since the big problem of small parties facing the colossus that is now the PSD (Social-Democrat Party), focussed on Ion Iliescu, was to find political and electoral solutions to put an end to this very domination? Because they could not see to their own "doctrines" and "projects", the smller parties opposing the FSN (Front for National Salvation, the ancestor of the PSD) participated in political constructions that brought bankruptcy in the end - the Democratic Convention and the "Truth and Justice" Alliance. Right now what is looming ahead is the replacing of the dominating FSN-PSD with another dominating group, the PD-L. We should keep it in mind that it emerged from a FSN connection too, no matter the leaders' wish to delete this trace. Since in Romania democratic politics has been the same with how to fight the too powerful, the problem some are trying to solve is how to fight against the new dominating group better, against the group shaped around Traian Basescu, before he turns into a dominant. Traian Basescu has become popular due to speaking in public the way millions of Romanias speak in private. Although educated in an elitist background, later reproduced in the academia or the business world he was accustomed to, Calin Popescu Tariceanu too is now trying to become 'popular'. It is a good strategy. But is it the fair one? Can anyone still afford to be fair, but lose elections? In both rural and urban Romania, the majority means the rude crowd. Whether you are in or out of it, you need support from this rude crowd. Rude elites, rude masses, rude Internet. As far as this is concerned, there is one single Romania. Who wants to educate the crowd commits political suicide. The spirit of aristocracy is going extinct in Romanian politics. The spirit is going extinct, in fact. It is the last triumph of communism and Bolshevism that would pursue to destroy natural aristocracy, the spiritual elites, just as crowds' dictatorship pursued the triumph of materialism. There is too much to say and too much to object against, so I'd better stop here. Whenever I am out of room for my column, I start writing a book.

Dan PAVEL