Breaking: Austria elects non-fascist president

Breaking: Austria elects non-fascist president

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norman lebrecht

May 23, 2016

News media are reporting that the green candidate Alexander Van Der Bellen is the new president, defeating Norbert Hofer in the count of postal votes. But was a close-run thing.

Austria cannot go back to business as usual.

van der bellen

not totally green, then…

Comments

  • Robert Holmén says:

    All this frenzy over a ceremonial post.

    What do they do when the real jobs come up?

    • May says:

      Hmm, as a German I would say for starters, thank you for closing the border.

      • John Borstlap says:

        Yes, it’s much better to let those families and children die at the other side, and in the Mediterranean, and apply human rights only for us, white Europeans – after all, we have invented human rights and those war fugitives should not imagine that these rights also count for them. As the word already says: human rights are for humans, so: for us. If they come here, we may have to give-up some of our wealth, and that is unacceptable, because we worked for that very hard. It’s too much of a sacrifice to eat one slice of bread less to save a child I don’t personally know.

        • Holly Golightly says:

          I’m sure I’ve read this before in the opening chapter of “Pollyanna”.

          Have you heard of other muslim countries at all? They’re on the other side of Europe and they should be helping their own people. It is they who have the responsibility.

          And you conveniently forget – as has become so popular – that a great number of these people are economic migrants who have flouted the meaning of the word ‘refugee’. For example, where are they being persecuted in Ghana and Somalia? I think you’ll find that in those countries there is a healthy underground crime culture which would allow these same people to find the cash to make their escape. As is ever the case, the needy are left (families etc.) to their own devices. It’s no coincidence that the vast majority are single, younger men. It’s the sheer numbers of people which have alarmed Europeans and the rest of the observing world.

          And I suspect your romantic view of the world has been forged at the expense and liberty of quite a few of your fellow Europeans.

        • Maria Brewin says:

          “If they come here, we may have to give-up some of our wealth”

          Do you mean that, or do you mean other people’s wealth?

          How many migrants are composers who are prepared to work for a fraction of what you expect to receive? The same question could probably be directed at NL as well.

          • John Borstlap says:

            As Mr B’s PA, I feel I have to intervene here. We have here three refugee families living on the estate, for whom the stables were rebuilt and all the horses sold, without any rent and we share our meals with them (with the result that we now have to eat an entirely different diet), but all on the condition that their children take piano lessons and practice mr B’s Inventions for Three Hands, which however caused some loud protests from the parents (the children seem to like it, though). Stable personnel is relieved to serve people instead of horses, but I must say I miss the early morning rides. The only incident that worried us, was the mayor of the village with his silly accusation that we were intervening in social policy and wanted to put the refugees in a concentration camp he had so carefully set-up and which had cost so much money. (Meanwhile he has bought the horses and they now populate the camp.)
            Sally

          • Maria Brewin says:

            Sally

            “We have here three refugee families living on the estate, for whom the stables were rebuilt and all the horses sold, without any rent and we share our meals with them”

            In that case Mr B has in fact given up some of his wealth, in which case I withdraw my first comment.

            The fact remains, however, that Mr B is hardly in the same position as a plumber, bricklayer, carpenter or a bus driver with no horses to sell or estates to share, is he?

          • Allen says:

            Own goal for Mr B?

            Surely the essential point is that Mr B’s sole source of income is not likely to be affected significantly.

            Good luck to people with horses and estates, but perhaps they should think twice before delivering sermons on wealth sharing.

    • Simon S. says:

      Actually, the Austrian constitution gives considerable powers to the president. They haven’t been used in the last 70 years, but the far right candidate who almost won had the intention to do so.

  • Cyril Blair says:

    Now we need U.S. voters to elect a non-fascist president. And not by the slimmest of margins.

    • Greg Hlatky says:

      Unlike the incumbent.

    • Sue says:

      Actually, I was at a lecture 3 nights ago given by the “Applied Historian” (how he self-describes) Professor Niall Ferguson from Harvard. He said fascism is about uniforms and killings and Donald Trump does not belong in that category, nor other leaders in the western world. Instead, says Ferguson, we are witnessing the rise of populism and this usually follows social and/or economic upheaval. He believed that if Trump as elected that he would, indeed, do most of the things he’s promised!!

  • Holly Golightly says:

    @John Borslap. As opposed to your own sweeping generalizations!!!

    • John Borstlap says:

      Yes, but they are DIFFERENT sweeping generalizations, showing-up something rather than brushing something under the carpet.

      Or so I hope.

  • matteo says:

    Austria elects non “fascist” (?) president.
    But they elect an ex freemason with postal vote and obvious ballot rigging (turnout: 146,9% in Waidhofen an der Ybbs, 598% in Linz, etc.).
    Very non fascist election fraud.

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