Oettinger on Italy: Like a true political commissioner

Will defendant Oettinger please rise?

Since Tuesday (29 May), the EU budget commissioner is in the dock for having allegedly said that financial markets will "teach Italians to vote for the right thing."

The quote spread like wildfire on social media and even mainstream media, before being taken up by anti-system and far-right leaders in Italy and by critics of the EU all over Europe.

In fact, Guenther Oettinger never said those words. He was misquoted on Twitter by the jou...