Frankly, the Greek prime minister doesn't have a political leg to stand on. Even if he wins a narrow vote of confidence today, his political capital is shot - even with his own party. So the word is that he has already agreed to resign and call for early elections in exchange for the opposition supporting the draconian austerity measures that the EU and the IMF are demanding to get Greek back to surer financial footing. Reuters: On Thursday New Democracy leader Antonis Samaras dropped his opposition to the bailout, which is being pushed by Papandreou's PASOK party, on condition that a short-lived coalition government is formed to take the country to polls. That means the two main forces in Greek politics now back the deal, despite the new wave of austerity it demands -- on top of budget and pension cuts and tax rises which have pushed the economy into recession and brought Greeks on to the streets in sometimes violent protests. However, in the fractured world of Greek politics this...(Read Full Post)