European Parliament Results

[Tribun]

I wouldn't read too much into these elections.

Especially since only ~41% of the voters actually participated, with the numbers being significantly different between countries. And a low voter turnout generally helps conservatived. Combined with the conservatives scaring people into voting for them by always waving the economic crisis, the result is no wonder.

Remember that the EU parliament can't do anything on it's own, it can only say yes or no to what the national governments present them with. Therefore no wonder the turnout is so low...

[Serafina]

Yeah, but it STILL has a lot of influence.

The mayor problem is, most partys do not really have a sophisticated EU-policy. They blab some general stuff, and thats it.
Half the people i asked said something along "well, i would vote, but i do not know what their agenda is".
So they either vote for the party they always vote for, or not at all.

I put some serious work into this election, reading about EVERY non-far-right party and about their policy, and all this work was for nothing: I live in a german state where the conservatives got ~55% of the votes (mind you, they are ruling this state for more than 40 years...).
Well, i should have know that.

[Teebs]

Looking at the major countries the right did well, but not brilliantly, I don't think you can really point to a meaningful trend towards the right as opposed to political cycles doing the left in at the moment. Particularly since EU elections are the classic example of second-order elections. They have low turnout and people don't think the results have any great impact on their lives so they make protest votes and the low turnout increases the importance of those protest votes.

UK: The Conservatives failed to increase their vote significantly which could be seen as a poor performance on their part considering Labour's problems, but they have been tarred by the expenses scandal too so probably not all that surprising. They still made small gains. UKIP's performance probably pleased them since they came second and improved very slightly on the high point of last election, but they should have improved more rather than staying where they were. Labour obviously did appallingly, once again though, this is unsurprising. They're getting blamed for the economy, blamed for expenses and everyone hates their leader. The Liberal Democrats should be disappointed, they held all their seats and made on notional gain, but their vote share dropped slightly and they failed for pretty much the first time to benefit from a political scandal. The Greens actually did very well, but didn't increase their seats. Their vote share went up everywhere (by more than the BNP's) and in two constituencies they beat Labour into 5th.
--- The UK's results were probably exceptional because of how screwed up the government was, but other than Labour's plunge the only really interesting thing is the BNP getting representation. I doubt they'll make much of it though.

Germany: The CDU/CSU (centre right) went down somewhat, but they stayed well ahead of the Social Democrats and their lost seats went to the three relatively minor parties, most of all the FDP (economic liberals).
--- The right lost seats, but not many which is an ok performance considering Merkel is from the CDU.

France: The UMP (centre right) made small gains, which is impressive considering they're the government. The interesting thing there was a very big plunge in the Socialist Party's (centre-left) votes. I'd have expected them to capitalise on government weakness. Big gains for the French Greens.
--- Rather good performance for the French centre-right.

Italy: Actually very little change. The only interesting thing I can see there is a shift from the far left to the moderate left (as opposed to the centre-left). I'm not sure how significant that is though since Italy's parties are stupidly fluid electoral coalitions. Either way the centre-right held its share of seats pretty constant which is impressive considering once again it was in government.
--- Good but not brilliant centre-right performance.

[Gambler]

I think lower turnouts mostly favor extremist parties and well the conservatives because you can always count on the retirees showing up to vote. I didn't look up the numbers to confirm this suspicion. In most countries the mayority of people voted in this election as a referendum on how they think their government is doing, bunch of idiots. I blame the politicians and parties themselves. They didn't talk enough about the european issues, some even tried to score points with local as in country specific issues.

[Rye]

This mass shift to the right is really disturbing.

Is this really an indication of a shift to the right, or just the public giving a slap on the wrist to mainstream parties? You know how fickle the public is, I'd like to know if this trend is going to continue...it seems to me that the gains the BNP have made will disappear when they're voted out the next time elections come around.

I think you're probably right. The BBC's reporting and satire is all basically saying "the conservatives have already won the next election", and most of the press follows that lead, and that's sort of annoying. The reporting on the right-shift in Europe is apparently more based on the apathy of the average voters. Apparently, the BNP got less votes than last time, but because everyone else didn't vote, they got a larger proportion of the votes, in line with what Gambler said.

The fact this guy is now my elected representative annoys the piss out of me, though, and I hate the people who voted for him:

[Lord Pounder]

Sinn Fein top the poll in Northern Ireland.

The first time that the DUP has ever failed to top the poll. In many ways this is as disturbing as it is unsurprising. DUP's election campaign was basically "fuck Sinn Fein", they had no policy, no strategy and worked very hard to make sure none of their voters transferred to a surplus vote to a different unionist party.

By contrast my party The Alliance Party of Northern Ireland did much better expected especially with such a low turn out.

[Teebs]

Sinn Fein top the poll in Northern Ireland.

The first time that the DUP has ever failed to top the poll. In many ways this is as disturbing as it is unsurprising. DUP's election campaign was basically "fuck Sinn Fein", they had no policy, no strategy and worked very hard to make sure none of their voters transferred to a surplus vote to a different unionist party.

By contrast my party The Alliance Party of Northern Ireland did much better expected especially with such a low turn out.

I thought the Alliance Party came last...

[Lord Pounder]

Sinn Fein top the poll in Northern Ireland.

The first time that the DUP has ever failed to top the poll. In many ways this is as disturbing as it is unsurprising. DUP's election campaign was basically "fuck Sinn Fein", they had no policy, no strategy and worked very hard to make sure none of their voters transferred to a surplus vote to a different unionist party.

By contrast my party The Alliance Party of Northern Ireland did much better expected especially with such a low turn out.

I thought the Alliance Party came last...

Nope that was the Greens with 3.3%. All things considered we are very happy with the vote. We didn't even bother last time so that means we made a 5.5% gain.

[Oskuro]

I love politics. This morning on the radio, the representative for the opposition party (the conservatives) was going on about how the results of the European elections reflected on the socialist government. They've taken to suggesting we should get early elections.

Funny how she glosses over the fact that we had a 45% participation rate, wich doesn't exactly mean the people condemn the government, but more precisely, the people do not give a shit about these elections.

Lovely.

[Narkis]

Greece may have been the only country to elect left, but it was much more of an anti-government vote than a pro-socialist one. The crisis and a few major scandals did them in, even though both parties were evenly involved in most of them. (British politicians are amateurs. They could learn a lot by ours.) The far right party managed to get a second seat, and the first-appearing Green party got a seat as well. The Commies gained some votes but failed to get a third seat, while the other far left party lost much of their support, probably because they publicly supported the rioters back in December.

The leader of the Socialist opposition party has also demanded elections after their 4.5% victory, but everyone's kinda ignored him. He's been doing that ever since the polls started showing his party first, and the record-low participation show that the people preferred a beach over any party by a huge margin.

And I'm annoyed by how everyone treated those elections as second-rate nationals. The only parties that said what they were doing in the Europarliament where the Commies and the Fascists. The rest focused on internal problems that have pretty much nothing to do with Europe.

[K. A. Pital]

You have fascists in Greece? Kinda like the BNP and other neo-fascist parties or more open ones, considering the junta influence?

[Narkis]

Yeah, we have many kinds of them. From the Hitler-worshiping fringe groups, the most popular of which is Chrysi Avyi (Golden Dawn), to the somewhat more sane ones, like LAOS (The People's Orthodox Rally). That last one got 7.2% in the latest elections, while it'd gotten 3.8% in last year's nationals. Its platform consists mainly of fierce nationalism, (ancient) Greek supremacy, Christian traditions, anti-Turkey, anti-FYROM and anti-Albanian rhetoric and, of course, antisemitism and immigrant-blaming. And yes, many of its members consider the Junta the last good government we had, though not openly. Oh, and it's 100% anti-American, pro-Russian in its foreign policy.

[Lord Pounder]

In The Republic Of Ireland there was a massive swing towards Fine Gael and Labour. Fine Gael are centralist and Labour very much left wing. But I think much of that was fall out from the economic situation and also the aftermath of The Ryan Report.

[Big Orange]

Nick Griffin's gloating is shortlived and he got pelted with eggs at his press conference.

He had a little whine about it:

He later branded the incident 'disgusting' and said: 'It's a very, very sad day for British democracy.

'People should be entitled to hear what we have to say and to hear journalists question us robustly.'

He described protesters as an 'organised mob that's backed by all three main parties to stop us getting our message across to the public' and added: 'It does not represent ordinary people.'

[hongi]

Is it hypocritical of me to support free speech for Holocaust deniers but cheer a little inside when said deniers get pelted with eggs?

[folti78]

Is it hypocritical of me to support free speech for Holocaust deniers but cheer a little inside when said deniers get pelted with eggs?

IMO no, that's a way better solution than trying to ban holocaust denial, like some of the politicians try it here. Of course you have to run a bit more costly education/propagande programs to get most of the public to the egg throwing side...

[Lord Pounder]

Is it hypocritical of me to support free speech for Holocaust deniers but cheer a little inside when said deniers get pelted with eggs?

It's fine to allow all people a right to say whatever they want no matter how distasteful. However those that chose to say the distasteful comments should be subject to the consequences.

[Oskuro]

Is it hypocritical of me to support free speech for Holocaust deniers but cheer a little inside when said deniers get pelted with eggs?

Supporting free speech does not mean you have to agree with them or stop thinking they are idiots. You could even use your free speech to claim so.

[[R_H]]

There was a report yesterday (?) about the Jobbik party. They have their own little equivalent of the the brown shirts, the "Hungarian Guard".

Oh, and it's 100% anti-American, pro-Russian in its foreign policy.

Pro-Russian because they're also Orthodox?

[folti78]

There was a report yesterday (?) about the Jobbik party. They have their own little equivalent of the the brown shirts, the "Hungarian Guard".

Currently the Guard is rather far from the brown shirts, as far as actions and capabilities go. Most of it's official actions were participating in or organizing events on historical holidays, participating in protests and some protest marches in roma majority villages. They lack firearms or any other armament and if they'd try make any trouble, the police will come down on them as a ton of bricks.

What made them notorious, is that they were the first paramilitary organization with ties to a politcal party to be formed openly, after the fall of communism*. With added hate from the traditional "big four" parties (MSZP, Fidesz, SZDSZ and MDF. all wikis so sue me) against the "usurper" Jobbik who tries to get into big game politics which they thought as their turf, while they are losing support thanks to endless bickering, scandals and general economical problems.

*While foundation of other movements totally flew under the public's radar. Like one of my personal favourite the Pax Hungarica movement, which uses symbols that are clear cut modifications of the WWII era hungarian fascist party the Arrow Cross Party.

[[R_H]]

There was a report yesterday (?) about the Jobbik party. They have their own little equivalent of the the brown shirts, the "Hungarian Guard".

Currently the Guard is rather far from the brown shirts, as far as actions and capabilities go. Most of it's official actions were participating in or organizing events on historical holidays, participating in protests and some protest marches in roma majority villages. They lack firearms or any other armament and if they'd try make any trouble, the police will come down on them as a ton of bricks.

What made them notorious, is that they were the first paramilitary organization with ties to a politcal party to be formed openly, after the fall of communism*. With added hate from the traditional "big four" parties (MSZP, Fidesz, SZDSZ and MDF. all wikis so sue me) against the "usurper" Jobbik who tries to get into big game politics which they thought as their turf, while they are losing support thanks to endless bickering, scandals and general economical problems.

*While foundation of other movements totally flew under the public's radar. Like one of my personal favourite the Pax Hungarica movement, which uses symbols that are clear cut modifications of the WWII era hungarian fascist party the Arrow Cross Party.

Ah. Thank you for the explaination.

[D2F]

I fail to see how freeloading and blatant violations of standing law make for a better moral case than that of the copyright-owners; they, at lest, are working within the limits of the law. Never mind all the obstructionism and passive aggression that the web service providers have launched, now that they are actually obliged to provide evidence for prosecution cases. Yes, copyrights should not be lengthened further, and might well be shortened. No, the pirates are still not the "good guys".

I am usually just a lurker here, but on this point, I strongly have to disagree.
The main problem (as I see it), is not so much the rightful embursement of the "copyright holder", but to properly emburse the creator of the intellectual property.
When a Musician gets about 30 cents per album, and the label rakes in 4 USD per album, things are horribly wrong. (please excuse my somewhat arbitrary numbers, they are meant to illustrate a point). Copyright law needs to change. the actual artists need to be paid for their efforts, not the labels for their greed. If the labels would receive reimbursement equivalent to their actual contribution, I wouldn't say a word, but as it stand right now, the artists are getting screwed and the labels reap in rewards for the efforts of others.

ANY change to that scenario is a good change, as long as it takes power away from the labels.
Copyright beyond death? On what grounds? Seriously, on what grounds are those justified.

And don't even get me started on the underhanded bullying tatctis the big labels employ.

Now, I apologize for not presenting backed up numbers. I am aware that it degrades my argument substantially, but I simply cannot sit here and read your post without replying.

Of course the Pirate Party is not the saviour. Of course the Pirate Party won't hold enogh votes to actually facilitate change. But that's not the point. The point is to have a voice of reason in the EU Parliament, that stands up against the labels and the ridiculous copyright and IP laws that provide their framework.

At least that is my opinion. Make of it, what you will.

[Narkis]

Oh, and it's 100% anti-American, pro-Russian in its foreign policy.

Pro-Russian because they're also Orthodox?

Pretty much. They also claim there's a historical kinship between our countries, Turkey is a common enemy, and the Russians generally support us in all major issues, but religion is the #1 reason.

[Big Orange]

More dirt digging on the British National Party:

The Guardian

Racist rants of elected BNP man, Andrew Brons, revealed
Yorkshire MEP Andrew Brons drew up some of the National Front's most inflammatory policies
Jamie Doward, home affairs editor The Observer, Sunday 14 June 2009

One of the British National party's first MEPs' attempts to play down his past links to the extreme right as "silly" teenage posturing are today exposed as a sham after it emerged that for many years he played a crucial role in shaping the National Front's most overtly racist policies.

In 1983, when he was in his late twenties, Andrew Brons edited the National Front's general election manifesto that called for a global apartheid to prevent the "extinction" of whites everywhere.

The Let Britain Live! manifesto was prepared by the party's policy department, chaired by Brons. It outlined a series of hugely controversial positions, crystallised in one of its opening statements: "The National Front rejects the whole concept of multiracialism. We recognise inherent racial differences in Man. The races of Man are profoundly unequal in their characteristics, potential and abilities."

The manifesto claimed the UK had been "swamped" by "racially incompatible Afro-Asians" and that "Black muggings of White people, especially elderly ladies, occurs regularly".

It continued: "The eruptions in Bristol in 1980 and Brixton in 1981 were just two examples of the 'cultural enrichment' promised to us by the multiracialists." And it claimed: "We believe the gradual dismantlement of the Apartheid system over the last 17 years to be retrograde ... The alternative to Apartheid, multiracialism, envisages an extinction of the White man."

Brons was also an enthusiastic contributor in the 1970s and 1980s to Spearhead, a far-right magazine considered so extreme even the BNP tried to distance itself from it. In two lengthy polemics for the magazine, Brons outlined the supposed importance of nationalism and interpreted genetic studies to suggest Europeans had a "greater cognitive ability" than non-whites. He attacked the influence of "people of Jewish ethnic origin" and peddled the myth that a number of predominantly Zionist organisations were controlling the world.

The now retired college lecturer wrote: "One ethnic, national and religious group whose power and influence has undoubtedly increased has been the Jews. It can be no mere coincidence that the number of people of Jewish ethnic origin to be found in internationalist and multiracialist schools of thought and organisations of action is out of all proportion to their numbers in the population."

Brons, who was elected as the BNP MEP for Yorkshire and the Humber this month, has tried to distance himself from his National Front days. "People do silly things when they are 17," he said recently. "Peter Mandelson was once a member of the Young Communist League but we don't continue to call him a communist."

But his critics say his relationship with the National Front was more than a youthful dalliance and question the extent to which he has left his past behind. A 1980 edition of National Front News, the party newspaper, carried an article about Brons saying he was prepared to go to jail for his beliefs. It noted that Brons refused a "Negro reporter permission to attend two National Front ticket-only meetings" and explains that Brons, then 29, has "campaigned against Coloured Immigration since he was a teenager" - suggesting his extremist views have been a feature as much of his adult as his teenage life.

Brons seized the NF chairmanship in 1980 when John Tyndall quit to form the BNP. In 1984 Brons was convicted of using insulting behaviour towards an ethnic-minority police officer and left the party, citing family problems.

At the National Front, Brons was a close ally of Richard Verrall, the author of the Holocaust-denial tract Did Six Million Really Die?, who was vice-chairman. In 1981, while Brons was chairman, the NF endorsed We are National Front, a pamphlet carrying an introduction from Verrall. It had photographs of Brons and Verrall as well as a picture of a gorilla and a black man stating: "These two creatures look the same, don't they?"

Anti-racism and Jewish support groups yesterday described Brons's failure to condemn his past activities as disturbing. "From a young man until well into his middle age, Andrew Brons was very much involved in a series of viciously antisemitic and racist far-right movements," said a spokesman for the Community Security Trust, which monitors attacks on the UK's Jewish community. "It's hard to believe he has undergone a serious conversion since then."

Searchlight, the anti-fascist organisation, said Brons was influential in shaping the NF and it was important that those voting for him should be aware of his past views. "The fact that Brons is an intellectual fascist and bigot rather than an ignorant fascist and bigot cuts little ice," a spokesman said. "We are unimpressed by his claims that his prejudice was a result of youthful exuberance."

Attempts to contact Brons through the BNP were unsuccessful.

The BNP are crypto brownshirts who likely don't know how to tie their shoelaces and are lacking as qualified administrators outside of their gutter minded rabble rousing.

[Big Orange]

The geriatric Nazi-Navy lunatic who blew away a rent-a-cop at the NY Holocaust museum had loose links to the British Nazi Party:

The Guardian (again)

Man who killed guard at Holocaust museum has links to BNP
• White supremacist injured in Washington gunfight
• Records show 88-year-old was at fundraising events
Matthew Taylor and Daniel Nasaw The Guardian, Friday 12 June 2009

A white supremacist who killed a security guard at a Holocaust memorial museum in the US has links to the British National party, which gained two MEPs in last week's European elections.

Thousands of visitors fled the museum in Washington on Wednesday after James von Brunn opened fire, killing a security guard. In the gunfight that followed, the 88-year-old was shot, and is now in a critical condition in hospital.

Yesterday it emerged that Von Brunn, a longtime antisemite, had attended meetings of the American Friends of the British National party (AFBNP), which was set up to raise funds from far-right activists in America.

Mark Cotterill, who ran the US-based organisation before it folded in 2001, said: "He did attend meetings. I have just checked my database and he is down as 'meetings only', so he was not a major donor, although he may have put some money on the plate when it was passed round."

The AFBNP treasurer, Todd Blodgett, also told the Washington Post that he and Von Brunn had attended fundraising meetings in Arlington County. The BNP leader, Nick Griffin, spoke to at least two AFBNP meetings and said the money raised by the organisation made a "significant contribution to the BNP's [2001] general election campaign".

Yesterday a spokesman for the party said: "You get a lot of people coming to meetings but I don't think you can blame us for that. Even if he did go to meetings, it was nothing to do with us."

However, anti-racism campaigners said Von Brunn's links to the BNP underlined its extremist agenda. "It is clear that Nick Griffin is at the centre of an international network of white supremacists," said Dan Hodges, of Searchlight. "The BNP must explain the full extent of his organisation's links with this antisemitic gunman."

The far-right party gained its first two MEPs in last week's European elections – Griffin in the north-west and former National Front leader Andrew Brons in Yorkshire and the Humber.

During the campaign, photographs emerged of Griffin alongside the former Ku Klux Klan grand wizard Stephen "Don" Black, who was banned from the UK by the then home secretary, Jacqui Smith. He was also criticised for defending a BNP leaflet that said black and Asian Britons should be referred to as "racial foreigners".

Yesterday Von Brunn was charged with murder and killing in the course of possessing a firearm at a federal facility, both capital offences under US federal law; police said hate crime charges were also possible.

At a press conference in Washington, Cathy Lanier, the Washington police chief, said security guard Stephen Johns was shot when he opened the door of the museum for Von Brunn. Other guards opened fire, and Von Brunn slumped to the ground.

In his car, officers found a notebook with a handwritten note saying, "You want my weapons, this is how you'll get them. The Holocaust is a lie. Obama was created by Jews," according to a court affidavit.

Von Brunn's .22-calibre rifle held 10 more bullets and investigators found more in his car and at an apartment in nearby Annapolis, Maryland, that he shared with his son and his son's fiancee.

Joseph Persichini, assistant director of the Washington FBI field office, said Von Brunn was known to the police as an antisemite and a white supremacist, who had a website that espoused hatred against African-Americans, Jews and others.

"We know what Mr Von Brunn did at the Holocaust museum. Now it's our responsibility to determine why he did it," said Joseph Persichini, assistant director of the Washington FBI field office. "We have to ask ourselves did all these years of public display of hatred impact his actions."

A self-described artist, advertising man and author, Von Brunn wrote an anti-semitic treatise, Kill the Best Gentiles, decried "the browning of America" and claimed to expose a Jewish conspiracy "to destroy the White gene-pool".

In 1983 Von Brunn was convicted of attempting to kidnap members of the US federal reserve board. At the time, police said he had wanted to take the members hostage because of high interest rates and the nation's economic difficulties. On the website, Von Brunn blames his six-year imprisonment on "a Jew judge" and "Negro jury".

Last night civil rights groups said they had been monitoring Von Brunn for decades.

Heidi Beirich, director of research for the Southern Poverty Law Centre's intelligence project, said: "He thinks the Jews control the Federal Reserve, the banking system, that basically all Jews are evil. He's an extreme antisemite."

I can say it was a fairly loose link and the BNP catching the attention of nutters like Von Brunn is still telling, yet Griffin shaking hands with a KKK wizard is more damning.