The only response to abuses of power

The dialogue that took place between Lefteris Avgenakis, a minister until recently and a long-serving MP, and the employee of an airline company at Athens International Airport matters, chiefly as a piece of evidence, as the case takes the legal and judicial route. But even without the audio, the video of the incident contains all the elements that make every form of flaunting power so abhorrent - apart from everything else.

Politicians, journalists and "somebodies" from all sorts of backgrounds often act as if they have some kind of free pass to do what they like, a first-class ride through life. And this sense of entitlement makes them believe that they have the right to ignore or override anything that puts them among the hoi polloi. Such arbitrary behavior has become almost a custom for some of these poo-bahs because it is usually effective: Rules are made for other...