So, immediately after completing my last post, I went on to do my usual cursory scan of current news, and discovered that my last post was the wrong post.
As I was writing, throngs of thickheaded people were in the middle of making a mockery of the 1956 uprising by disrupting the day’s events, chanting inane nationalistic slogans and provoking the police to resort to teargas, rubber bullets and water cannons.
So much for national unity.
Just in case you happened to read about this in the American press, I must clear up a few things, because the reporting has been fairly shallow and misleading.
- There is no parallel between this and what happened in 1956
- There is no parallel between what happened in 1956 and what happened in 2003 in Iraq.
- Yes, the Socialist Prime Minister recently stepped in dogshit, and he’ll need to face that sooner or later.
- No, he shouldn’t resign
- What happened today was clearly planned carefully by extreme-right elements, hoping to exploit the PM’s current weakness.
You might say I have a point of view on this, I guess.
Thanks to Scott for use of the photo above.
Categories:2 Responses to “Hungary’s 2006 Uprising Turns My Stomach”
Here in Budapest things are still tense. While I was disturbed by the sheer negligence for safety and property that the protestors demonstrated (not to mention the obvious reference to Nazi Germany by waving the white and red flag), I was also disturbed by the agression of the police. They had no need to persue the demonstrators whose biggest crime was simply blocking traffic, that is until the police showed up.
I was continually amazed that the police actually moved forward on the offensive and, at the end of the event, they had surrounded the protesters and had fun with the billy clubs. I saw it with my own eyes. It was utterly unnecessary.
Yeah, I’ve now read several accounts that indicate the police were excessively harsh and indiscriminate.
So, I still think this was all orchestrated by right-wing groups, but the police should have been reined in.
The whole thing is really sad.
