Visitors to Greece's capital these days cannot escape the fact that a general election is on he way.  But it is not just the constant discussion on television and the excited newspaper headlines about a U.S.-style debate between front runners that lets you know.

Peppered across the city are political stalls, open for the public to come in and be persuaded to vote on Oct. 4 for whichever party is hosting them. The style ranges from a bench and chairs manned by two ageing communists in the northern suburbs to a rather slick structure in Athen's central Syndagma Square touting the worth  of the ruling conservative New Democracy party. For some reason the latter was blaring out The Clash's "Rocking the Casbah" on a recent sunny morning.

It is all very frothy and something of a celebration of democracy in the city which, after all, invented it.

Which is why a quieter, almost unnoticed gallery on the corner of Syndagma is offering something all the more poignant -- a reminder that it was not that long ago that such expressions of democracy would be met with batons, water cannons and even tanks.

"Mikis Theodorakis: The Composer - The Politician - The Thinker" is a temporary exhibition funded by the Greek parliament to honour one of the country's greatest living artists and an icon of left-wing resistance.

Best known to the world at large for composing the music for Michael Cacoyannis' 1960s film "Zorba the Greek" -- now almost a Greek anthem -- Theodorakis has a huge and respected body of work covering some 60 years, from operas to song cycles, ballets and symphonies. Among his film themes are those for Sidney Lumet's "Serpico" and Costa-Gavras' "State of Siege".

These are all celebrated with due reverence at the exhibition, including displays of many strangely ancient-looking  record album covers. But in the current political climate, it is the politics which catches the eye.

Various phases of Theodorakis' life are highlighted -- from wounded resitance fighter in the Second World War to internal exile in the Greek Civil War that raged until 1949. His music was banned and the composer himself arrested during the brutal military junta that ruled Greece from 1967 to 1974. But his escape to Paris in 1970 combined with his music and imposing presence to set him up as a voice for democracy's return.

A particulary historic photograph for the period shows Theodorakis embracing Mercedes Sosa, the Argentine singer who had similar struggles with her own country's junta. 

It is all puts "Rocking the Casbah" into context as Greeks ready themselves for a simple excercise in democracy.

(Photo: Jeremy Gaunt)

Nick Jonas, the youngest of the world famous Jonas Brothers singing trio, told a National Press Club audience on Monday he's "always had this dream of becoming president one day."

The 16-year-old singer, songwriter and actor was in Washington to raise awareness about type 1 diabetes, a disease he was diagnosed with in 2005. Earlier this year, he met President Obama as part of his diabetes work.

In an interview with Reuters, Jonas said his own presidential aspirations were not entirely a joke.

"As much as I joke about it and kind of say it to get a laugh, it is somewhat serious. I don't know if it will happen," he said.

If he goes to college, he said he would "probably study English and then political science because I'm interested in it." At the moment, he's touring with his band and will soon start filming the movie "Camp Rock 2" with his brothers.

Jonas has plenty of time to think about his future. The U.S. Constitution requires the president be at least 35 years old.

For more Reuters political news, click here.

Photo credit: Reuters/Kevin Lamarque (Nick Jonas of the Jonas Brothers band speaks at the National Press Club about juvenile diabetes)

(Writing and reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis)

Actress Fran Drescher, former star of television sitcom “The Nanny”,  has thrown her hat into the  ring as a contender to replace Hillary Clinton as U.S. senator for New York, joining an illustrious list of stars who have sought to make the switch from show business to the political stage. 

Drescher, 51,  is a New York woman through and through, and she has the accent to prove it. Born in Queens, she is known for broadcasting the accent native to that borough of New York on the 1990s show “The Nanny.”
    
But Drescher is more than just a pretty face and a nasal voice. The actress has survived uterine cancer and earlier this year she was appointed to a U.S. State Department envoy program and toured Eastern Europe to talk about health issues. 
Last year, she created a charity called the Cancer Schmancer Movement after her recent battle with the disease. 
Drescher told People magazine  that when she was on the lecture circuit for the State Department she was often asked about a future in politics.  “It was one of the single most-asked questions: When are you going to run?  Only second to: Is that your real voice?,” Drescher told the celebrity magazine. 

American politics has a full cast of former actors, from “Law & Order” star Fred Thompson, who ran for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination this year, to action movie star-turned California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and the late President Ronald Reagan, who started out as an actor.

But Drescher has some heavyweight rivals wanting to fill the vacancy left by Clinton’s nomination as Secretary of State in Barack Obama’s new administration.  Caroline Kennedy, daughter of  assassinated former President John F. Kennedy, is said to be interested and other names have included New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and even former President Bill Clinton.

 New York Gov. David Paterson, a Democrat, will appoint someone for the position.

 Do actors and movie stars make good politicians? What do you think?

Sex, religion, now politics. Madonna, true to style, has kicked off her world concert tour “Sticky & Sweet” with controversy by juxtaposing images of Adolf Hitler with John McCain, the Republican senator running for president alongside Democratic Senator Barack Obama and with Zimbabwean leader Robert Mugabe. Obama was named in a sequence with Mahatma Gandhi, John Lennon and Al Gore.  ”Outrageous, unacceptable and crudely divisive,” said McCain’s camp.

Madonna, who turned 50 this month, is listed as one of the world’s most successful female recording artists of all time, having sold over 200 million records in a career spanning 25 years.  Do you think she fuels controversy to keep fans coming back for more or is it a personal mission for The Material Girl? 

Russian conductor Valery Gergiev has long been a darling of the West, and is currently serving as principal conductor at the London Symphony Orchestra. It will be fascinating to see whether, following his highly politicized decision to lead a performance of Tchaikovsky and Shostakovich amid the damaged buildings of South Ossetia’s Tskhinvali this week, that popularity wavers.

The charismatic musician’s actions will appeal to many Russians, who blame Georgia for sparking the crisis in the Caucasus by seeking to re-take the breakaway enclave and for shelling the regional capital. By likening the attack to the 9/11 strikes on the United States, Gergiev only upped the stakes.

Much of the rest of the world believes Russia is the villain of the conflict, leaving Gergiev, an ethnic Ossetian, open to a backlash in western capitals where he is used to red carpets and royal treatment.

Music and politics have often  gone hand in hand, of course, and we need look no further than Shostakovich as proof. His Seventh Symphony, which Gergiev performed on Thursday, is seen as a symbol in Russia of Leningrad’s defiance before the Nazi siege during World War II.

London’s Times newspaper said he had “associated his musical brilliance with Moscow’s military bullying,” but its criticism ended there and the editorial went on to conclude that the West must not ostracize him over his actions.