Austria's Haider Dies in Accident

[Posteritatis]

Source: BBC News

Austrian far-right politician Joerg Haider has been killed in a road accident, police reports say.

Haider died near Klagenfurt in Carinthia, his political stronghold, early on Saturday, police said.

They said he was driving alone when his car came off the road and he suffered severe head and chest injuries.

The 58-year-old was a former leader of the Austrian Freedom Party, and was known for his anti-immigration and anti-EU policies.

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7664846.stm

---

... !

[Starbucks Anarchist]

1. That's a shame.

:sarcasm:

[bemildred]

2. Damn shame that.

:popcorn::popcorn:

[JI7]

3. didn't his party and another far right party just make some gains

in a recent election ?

[OmahaBlueDog]

4. Accident, huh......

As the song once said "Things that make you go hmmmmmmm"

[anigbrowl]

47. Not really. More detailed reports had it...

...that he was overtaking another car and went off the road. Bear in mind that in Europe they don't drive 55, speeds of 80+ mph are common on highways. Hit a patch of oil or suchlike at that speed and it's easy to have an accident.

http://apnews.myway.com//article/20081011/D93OIH3G0.html

[GoddessOfGuinness]

49. Sounds like the way people drive around here...

the DC area.

[madinmaryland]

61. The beltway around dc is downright scary.

:scared:

[Jackpine Radical]

5. Is it Schadenfreude...

Or just a decent concern for the interests of humanity that brings a smile to my face?

[jrockford]

6. Forgive me if I don't shed a tear. nt

[tularetom]

7. What goes around comes around

[DrZeeLit]

8. This summer I've been reading a slew of political thrillers...and the "lone traffic accident"

is a major fixture in many of these novels.

I especially love when the secret/black ops guys stage the whole thing with all these high-tech gadgets.
And I always think.... (tick tick tick ... you can almost hear my brain's resident hamster on the wheel)...

I always think: THIS. HAPPENS. ALL. THE. TIME.

[judasdisney]

27. Assassination?

Guardian UK (liberal outpost) has a weekly podcast. A couple of weeks ago, they did a podcast on the recent Austrian ascendency of the Far-Right, including some talk about ol' Joerg.

Joerg was -- to quote verbatim the Guardian UK -- "untouchable".

I don't buy the lone traffic accident, of course.

But it certainly is amazing to see -- I've never seen one single assassination of anyone on the Right -- ever. Hitler purged & Stalin purged, & Nixon benefitted from the attempted assassination of Wallace, but even that was Reich-on-Reich violence.

Every nation has Reich-on-Left assassinations. This one is unprecedented.

[formercia]

32. It all depends who you piss off.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x1449069

cal04 Donating Member (1000+ posts) J Sat Jun-17-06 10:54 AM
Original message
Austria's Haider Says Bush Is a War Criminal Updated at 11:17 PM

Austrian right-wing populist Joerg Haider called President Bush a war criminal on Saturday, days before Austria's government hosts Bush and European leaders in Vienna.

Haider, whose group is part of Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel's government coalition, said Bush's meeting with his European peers on Wednesday was pointless as he did not expect the U.S. president to pay attention to what Europe had to tell him.

``He is a war criminal. He brought about the war against Iraq deliberately, with lies and falsehoods,'' Haider said in an interview with Austrian daily newspaper Die Presse.

``The Iraqi population is suffering terribly. Bush took the risk of an enormous number of victims,'' said Haider.

[judasdisney]

45. There we go. That fits. The Ergenekon Octopus strikes again.

[formercia]

50. What did Heider know?

He was definitely off the reservation and I would bet that he would testify against B* Gang in any future war crimes trial.

The boys probably trusted him because of who he was and he may have been privy to some of the early goings-on.

He was expendable and might even serve their purpose if they could make people think it was Left on Right violence.

[formercia]

51. What did Heider know?

He was definitely off the reservation and I would bet that he would testify against B* Gang in any future war crimes trial.

The boys probably trusted him because of who he was and he may have been privy to some of the early goings-on.

He was expendable and might even serve their purpose if they could make people think it was Left on Right violence.

[RaleighNCDUer]

35. Oh, not really.

There were a lot of right wing figures in Germany who were assassinated in the 30s. By people who were FARTHER rightwing. Got to eliminate the rivals to consolidate your power.

[judasdisney]

44. That's what I wrote. Reich-on-Reich violence.

[Peter Dow]

56. Left-on-Reich assassinations - many precedents

History lesson first.

The first world war was kicked off with a left-on-right assassination. Arch-Duke Ferdinand was assassinated in Sarajevo by a Serb nationalist. WW1 was run as a right-wing reaction to the assassination - a game changer - to try to change the narrative of political conflict back to Reich-on-Reich army VS army the monarchs have always preferred and away from the left-wing inspired assassinations the monarchs and Fuhrers don't like so much.

Whatever Churchill's and Roosevelt's war aims, Stalin insisted on Hitler's death - no negotiated peace - only unconditional surrender and Nuremberg war crimes trials but the American right decided to spare the Japanese Emperor for much the same reasons that the UK right support the UK monarchy so long as it is compliant. (Ask the right, I don't know why they support monarchy, it makes no sense to a leftie like me.)

There were targeted left-wing assassinations in WW2 - lefties were fighting for the Allies didn't you know - how do imagine we won against such a ruthless enemy as the Nazis? The Nazi governor of occupied Bohemia and Moravia, Reinhard Heydrich was assassinated by the Czech resistance with help from the British MI6.

There was a lot of comradely co-operation between the sensible parts of the right and the left DURING the war - pulling together against the common enemy.

Post WW2 also saw some assassinations by the left on the right. For example, the Queen's husband Prince Philip - his uncle Mountbatten was assassinated by the IRA in 1979.

Of course US President Kennedy was assassinated by a deranged leftie Lee Harvey Oswald who acted alone. Any sane leftie would start with assassinating dictators and monarchs before thinking of IMPEACHING a US President. The left should be volunteering for the US Secret Service to protect the president. We know who the real enemy in this world is and it is not an elected president of the USA under a "democratic" constitution.

(Well quite democratic. I would amend the constitution again so that 2/3 of either the Senate or House of Congress CANNOT exclude a member of Congress for alleged "disorderly behavior" - it isn't really democracy ("government by ALL the people") if 2/3 of members can exclude the other 1/3 in theory. The constitution tends to act so as to insist on a 2 party system because a small 3rd party could get picked on and excluded under current constitutional theory).

The only reason there are not MORE assassinations is that because of nut-cases like Oswald going after the wrong targets, there is a lot of distrust on the left about the tool of assassination, hence it tends not to get discussed - even in the age of the internet.

IMO, many monarchs and Reichs-Fuhrers could indeed serve humanity best by being blown to bits by assassins, ASAP.

Anyway the point is left-wing inspired assassinations are not unprecedented at all.

Please read my other post in this topic for a celebration of the death of Joerg Haider.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=3538970&mesg_id=3541510

And if anyone wants to visit my forum to discuss left-wing assassinations in more depth, the door is always open on the For Freedom Forums
http://scot.bravehost.com/forfreedomforums.htm

[Art_from_Ark]

65. I don't think the assassination of Mountabatten

was left vs. right ideology, more like anti-British (or pro-Irish) attacking a figure representing the British rulers of Northern Ireland, an easy target as it were since Mountbatten regularly vacationed in an area known to be a hangout for IRA members. In his personal life, he seemed to be more liberally inclined, and even served in the Labour government of Prime Minister Atlee.

[LeftishBrit]

60. Mussolini was killed by left-wingers.

(and serve him right)

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

9. He was a dangerous, dangerous man.

Nonetheless, my condolences to his family.

[Endangered Specie]

10. I guess you could say he VEERED a little too far right

:evilgrin:

[readmoreoften]

54. Bwahahahaha

[ikojo]

11. Karma's a bitch isn't it? nt

[truthisfreedom]

12. Speaking ill of the dead, so soon after the accident. Please people, we're better than that.

Please show some restraint and wait until he's cold and in the ground before you lambaste the son of a bitch. 8^)

[Redwraithvienna]

22. But what if the dead are worth to be spoken ill of ?

I am Austrian. I had to live with that guy and his politics for nearly my whole live.
Sorry, but i am not gonna restrain myself just cause he is dead.

I am sorry for the family. But i am glad that he is dead.

[Canuckistanian]

33. How is this playing in Austria?

I know he had a large following, but didn't most people disagree with his views?

Welcome to DU, BTW!
:toast:
:hi:

[Redwraithvienna]

43. Yeah i would say that most disagreed with his views ...

or at least with some of them.

And whille i and lots of others are really happy there are comments about his death like "The sun set forever over carinthia (the province he was governor of) or "Vienna (the capital like DC) will now take away our riches".

The problem is that he gave the right wingers (and with that i dont mean the american conservative right wingers but the neo fascist right wingers in austria) a forum, a voice. And that is the problem.

Well i am pretty sure that his party (the BZÖ) will implode now, but that the FPÖ (from which he split) will be there to take over those guys.

[BrklynLiberal]

13. A far-right person killed in a traffic accident?. Must have been a case of

mistaken identity.

[Hawkeye-X]

14. Good riddance to bad rubbish.

Very far right-wing fuckwit.

I read a book a long time ago - I'm trying to remember the name of the author that wrote and exposed the Neo-Nazism in Europe. That author is an Israeli that went undercover to expose Neo Nazism to help support his family. I read that Haider's name came up several times.

[Prayingforrain48]

15. mirror, mirror

Isn't the selective valuing of life one of the traits that we dislike in them? What does it mean when many of us do the same?

[AndyTiedye]

17. Perhaps You Are Right, I Think We Can At Least Offer…

…one tiny violin in sympathy. :nopity:

[iamthebandfanman]

19. i agree with ya freeper

nobody should rejoice at someones death. its silly.

you dont have to be mad about it or even give a shit... but being happy about it is kinda well... weird.

[BB1]

25. He was quite a nice guy actually.

I did an interview with him in September 2002, at his office in Karinthien, Austria. He had the biggest smile I've ever seen on someone.

In political terms, even in Europe he was far-right, but not as much as Bush or McCain. But I don't think it was a hit.

[iamthebandfanman]

26. dunno about that

i just know dying is neither happy nor funny. imho.

[RaleighNCDUer]

37. How about neutral on the death,

but celebrating the end of his political career?

[natrat]

64. i hope that motherfucker suffered immensely

[Dark]

16. Why you got to be hadin' on austria?

n/t

[iamthebandfanman]

18. hate for anybody to die

but hey, coulda been a nice person.

p.s.
people who rejoice at others demise arent cool. that even goes for DU ;)

[jonnyblitz]

20. yeah it's sad DUers would rejoice at the death of some far right

racist fuck who praised nazi employment policies. :sarcasm:

[iamthebandfanman]

21. just because he didnt value life

doesnt mean that i dont.

sorry.

[Bluebear]

23. Auf Wiedersehen.

:hi:

[Binka]

24. Jesus Shit I Just Spewed Chunks.

Holy crap thanks for that.

[Bluebear]

28. :)

:hug: How you been?

[Binka]

40. Fabulous! Life Is Good!

Working hard raising Peyton and watching over the rest of the critters. It's two years to the day that I flew to Germany wondering if I would hug Ben or bury him. He is teaching sky diving in So Cal now. Jumping out of planes my boy is! Hope you are well Plastic Turkey! Gobble Gobble my friend.

[Punkcow]

29. Funny that both major us-american parties are far-right of the so-called Austrian far-right-parties.

[Redwraithvienna]

42. That is absolutley not true.

While the Democrats may have some members and politicans who are more right wing then the FPÖ / BZÖ in Austria, the parties in general are more liberal with some regards.

They are not compareable.

[anigbrowl]

48. No. Haider's party was very right wing indeed, like the extreme right of the GOP.

Comparing him with the Democrats is absurd.

[LeftishBrit]

62. Not so.

It's true that in some Europaean countries (not sure about the situation in Austria) there are members of mainstream conservative parties who are to the left of most Democrats. But this is not true of the *far*-right parties. They would correspond to the most right-wing of the Republicans; e.g. Jesse Helms would probably have found them very congenial and Pat Buchanan once explicitly defended LePen, Haider's French counterpart.

[Solly Mack]

30. I believe I have time to piss today

[legin]

31. I do have a worry

that his death gets exploited by the right in Austria.

After a long tiring election campaign probably the guy fell asleep at the wheel. Mmmmm maybe. But it won't be just us that speculate on how he died.

Here's hopeing he doesn't become a more efective politician in death than he was in life.

[boilinmad]

34. Its always sad...

....when self-loathing nazis are taken from us. not.

[onager]

36. Time for that Clarence Darrow quote again...

"I have never wished anyone dead. But I have occasionally read the obituaries with a smile."

[ClarkUSA]

38. Good riddance to bad rubbish.

Unfortunately, there are too many well-dressed, well-coiffed neo-Nazis ready to take his place.

[bluestateguy]

39. I heard that he became a more moderate Nazi in recent years

nt

[Submariner]

41. Cheney and Bush should drive more often

just sayin'

[BreweryYardRat]

46. Never heard of him before now, but judging from the article, we're better off without him.

Just a shame Sigmund Freud's long dead -- a far-right-wing politician (probable non-standard sexual practices combined with unhealthy repression) dying behind the wheel of a car (large vaguely-phallic object) would have made for some interesting commentary from the good Doktor Freud.

Bonus points if he was eating a banana at the time of the crash.

[Eugene]

52. BBC: Haider 'was double speed limit'

Source: BBC News

Page last updated at 13:32 GMT,
Sunday, 12 October 2008 14:32 UK

Haider 'was double speed limit'

Austrian far-right politician Joerg Haider was driving
at twice the speed limit when he died in a crash early
on Saturday, court officials have said.

Mr Haider, 58, was travelling alone at 142km/h (88mph)
in a 70km/h zone when his Volkswagen Phaeton V6
crashed.

The accident occurred south of Klagenfurt, the capital
of Carinthia, where he was the provincial governor.

He was leader of the Alliance for Austria's Future,
and was known for his anti-immigration and anti-EU
policies.

-snip-

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7666065.stm

[Parentalcontrol]

53. I fear cars more than planes

After all, you don't see planes falling often.

[Peter Dow]

55. Nazi Joerg Haider dies. Comrades, come rally! (video)

Nazi Joerg Haider dies. Comrades, come rally! (YouTube)
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=JtiUzfgoAWA

Video subtitles -

It's GOOD news Comrades!
We are celebrating now!
The Fuhrer is dead. HA! HA!
Who do these neo-Nazis like?
Who WON'T they fight?
Joerg Haider & Saddam Hussein - 2 neo-Nazis
So WHO fights the Nazis?
There's our leader Comrades!
& there's our freedom fighters!

So Comrades, come rally,
And the last fight let us face. .....
The Internationale,
Unites the human race.

Plus the video features Condi, Obama and McCain.

There follows a summary of the most relevant quotes from the BBC news/obituary pages about Haider.

BBC NEWS | World | Europe | Austria's Haider dies in accident
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7664846.stm

Austrian far-right politician Joerg Haider, associated with controversial causes like Saddam Hussein and Nazi employment policy, has been killed in a road accident, police say.

The 58-year-old was leader of the Alliance for Austria's Future, and was known for his anti-immigration and anti-EU policies.

Mr Haider was a divisive figure, who gained notoriety after he became leader of the Freedom Party in 1986.

In 1991, his term as governor of the province of Carinthia was interrupted, after he made comments praising employment policies of Nazi Germany.

In 2000, the EU imposed sanctions against Austria in a protest over his party's role in government.

His critics saw him as an ambitious, racist opportunist who used anti-immigrant and pro-Nazi rhetoric to stir up populist sentiment.

Haider gained notoriety for his pro-Nazi comments. He described World War II concentration camps as "punishment camps" and said the Nazi SS was "a part of the German army which should be honoured".

He also compared the deportation of Jews by the Nazis to the expulsion of Sudeten Germans from Czechoslovakia after the war.

So a kind of anti-Nazi double-jeopardy justice for Nazis like Haider and Saddam - death by hanging or death by car crash. Either way it is justice for any Nazi.



So that's just the funeral arrangements needing taken care of. So, let me see, what IS the protocol for a Nazi leader's funeral arrangements? Ah yes, as per Hitler in 1945, a can of petrol should do it.

I think I can hear the Sound of Music. The hills ARE alive!

Didn't Arnie warn these Nazis? "I'll be back" I think he said. Well Comrades, I think we ARE back and I can smell Edelweiss.

YouTube - The Sound Of Music - Edelweiss
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Ye7wGOUG8NE

[OKthatsIT]

57. He was probably killed. He harped against the EU and NWO

sooo...enough of that. He could be a white Nationalist, but he couldn't be an anti-globalist.

[LeftishBrit]

59. Being anti-EU doesn't generally get you killed

If it did, then most of the British Right would be dead.

[JVS]

58. Oh sure "accident"

[Dutch]

63. Great, someone I disagreed with died!

Break out the champagne!

If only every right-winger could die, then we might see some COMPASSION and TOLERANCE in politics!
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
(and if it's really neccesary: :sarcasm:

[reorg]

66. Austria's Haider three times over drink limit in fatal crash

Source: Yahoo news

VIENNA (AFP) - Austrian far-right leader Joerg Haider was more than three times over the legal alcohol limit when he crashed his car and was killed at the weekend, his party said Wednesday.
ADVERTISEMENT

"It is true that governor Joerg Haider had 1.8 grammes of alcohol in his blood at the time of the accident," his successor as head of the Alliance for the Future of Austria, Stefan Petzner, told APA news agency.

The legal limit in Austria is 0.5 grammes of alcohol per litre of blood.

Haider, 58, was doing more than twice the 70 kilometre (43 mile) per hour speed limit when he crashed in the early hours of Saturday after leaving a night club in Carinthia province, prosecutors said. ...


http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20081015/wl_afp/austriapoliticshaider_081015141328

[ohio2007]

67. Gaddafi attends funeral

International guests included Sayf Gaddafi, son of the Libyan leader, who was a close friend of Mr Haider, as well as a delegation from Italy's right-wing Northern League.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/7677827.stm

[canetoad]

68. Anyone seen this?

http://news.scotsman.com/latestnews/Austrian-extremist-had-last-drink.4605685.jp
THE funeral takes place of the Austrian far-right leader Jörg Haider today amid revelations over a private life that could have destroyed his public comeback.
Not only did the Austrian extremist die with three times the legal drink-drive alcohol limit in his blood, but he had his final drinks in a gay bar.

He was dogged by allegations throughout his career that he was a closet homosexual and it has now been revealed that he spent the last part of his last night drinking in a gay club, Stadtkrämer.

Although seemingly happily married with two daughters, affluent – his salary as governor of the province of Carinthia was more than £13,000 a month – and poised once more to become a power broker after success for his party in Austria's recent general election, Mr Haider seemed to have the self-destruct gene that has laid politicians low in many countries.

*Not another far-right hypocrite?