

Just hours ago, the Romanian government collapsed as the Prime Minister and his cabinet resigned from their respective positions. There are likely very few of us who know enough about Romanian politics to have any sort of educated perspective about this, but it sounds really important. It would probably be irresponsible to not mention it.

However, it feels disingenuous to cover this like I know what I'm talking about, so I'll be as transparent as I can with my lack of background knowledge. We'll start from the beginning.

According to the L.A. Times, Prime Minister Emil Boc, who I have never heard of before, is stepping down along with his cabinet which is filled with people who I have also never heard of before. Furthermore, there are calls for Traian Basescu (pictured above), who is apparently a real person and the President of Romania, to step down as well. Crin Antonescu, the second guy with a u-ending last name in this story, is the opposition leader and has called the recently resigned government "the most corrupt, incompetent and lying government" since the 1989 revolt against communism. I am familiar with communism and late 80's Eastern European revolts, so that's nice.

The resignations come after some very unpopular budget cuts that were made to comply with IMF demands so that Romania could secure a loan and continue to pay government workers. The IMF is, of course, the International Monetary Fund, which is a fund with international money in it.

The L.A. Times quotes a Romanian carpet salesman as saying, "It's nerve-racking. Does anyone really know where this is all heading?"

Well, carpet salesman, a guy named Mihai Razvan is the Prime Minister Designate. I just learned that from the AP caption for a picture I did not end up using here. But beyond that, I'm so sorry, I cannot help you.

Let's all hope everything works out for Romania.

[Image via AP]