Bahaman heat works in the Bahamas because they have the sea. With Budapest doing its bit to ridicule Bachmannesque climate change deniers, the Times editorial team is gladly taking its traditional three-week August break.
The troika has left town, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has repaired to his village to “recharge his batteries.” Yes, the silly season is upon us (cucumber season to Hungarians).
Just look at the latest edition of the fervently pro-government weekly Helyi Téma (forsooth, even advertising free sheets are bending dexter these days). This week’s front page was full of the news that the retired liberal mayor of Budapest Gábor Demszky has been spotted in Berlin and might be staying there while he writes a book about his 20 years in charge.
Specifically, “the editor of an internet diary” – we call them bloggers, gentlemen, bloggers – “wrote that he met Gábor Demszky in Berlin”. Well knock us down with a pillow full of pigeon feathers, it’s not as if the man had disappeared or anything.
We’ll leave it to the twitching twitterati and rent trolls to debate across Hungary’s aching political divide the significance of this “sighting”. Peruse instead our summer edition, chock full of proper news: Google bombs, Mr Bean, ruin pubs, the lot! See you on 31 August.
