ekathimerini.com | Schaeuble softens tone, says Greece 'needs time'

"The new Greek government has strong public support,» Schaeuble said in an interview with German newspaper Bild am Sonntag.

"I am confident that it will put in place the necessary measures, set up a more efficient tax system and in the end honour its commitments.

"You have to give a little bit of time to a newly elected government,» he told the Sunday paper. «To govern is to face reality."

Schaeuble also insisted that his Greek counterpart Yanis Varoufakis, despite their policy differences, had «behaved most properly with me» and had «the right to as much respect as everyone else».

Well if you combine the obviously Schäuble-approved Spiegel article and the above, it's his usual Overton-window-shifting tactic: say something inflammatory and then pretend that you meant it in a much more harmless way than interpreted by everyone.

_{*Lunatic*, n.
One whose delusions are out of fashion.}