Neo-Nazi Austrian nationalist party leader dies

BBC News: Austria's Jörg Haider dies in car accident

And good riddance, couldn't happen to a nicer person.

Yep, good riddance.

woof.

I bet the British royal family was somehow involved in that.

I would have been happy to pay more taxes to support them if that were true.

Funny he didn't die in a tunnel. Why can't MI6 stick to something proven?

Burp

I wouldn't be happy so soon. No the other devil has the chance to unite the whole right faction. Things may even get worse.

Hard on his family, but I shall not be shedding any tears.

I never understand what people get from cheering over someone's death on an internet forum. With the expception of people responsible for masses of deaths like Mugabe etc, I don't see why you would feel the need to be happy and come up with smart arse comments like "good riddance", "couldnt have happened to a nicer person" etc...

His politics might not have been your cup of tea or that of the majority, but he still got a significant number of votes in recent elections, wasn't doing anything illegal, and there will be a number of people grieving right now.

What goes around comes around though eh.

The happy clappies will come on here when thatcher pops her clogs and "celebrate" that too...thats the first time i thought there are some pretty weird people here if anyone can somehow be happy at another person's death regardless of how their opinion differs from their own.

Somber words from so liberal a people who all bow to democracy and it's processes but are obviously not always content with the outcome of the people's vote. So I gather that everyone thinks it's fine the EU applied sanction's because the Austrian people didn't vote "correctly"(mind you the Party was/is not illegal).

Excellent point Mapleleafdude.

Haider was a Nazi, and the only good Nazi is a dead Nazi.

Haider was a rightwing conservative, maybe a racist, certainly a demagogue and I despised him, but I dont think you could call him a Neo Nazi. I agree with JR, this could strengthen the right wing faction.

Weaken it, more likely. The pretenders have got their knives out to stab whoever gets in their way, it's the same in every party. Look at what happened in Bavaria two weeks ago.
I am sad for his family but cannot help being relieved that he won't spout any more nationalist propaganda.

If Haider is a "Nazi" then there are millions more "Nazis" left, so this will make little difference to the numbers. He had a charisma that attracted people to his cause, so his death may eventually reduce his party's popularity. But in a democracy one does not applaud the death of an elected representative, whatever their views.

Says who?

actually whomever said that haider's death will unite the far from center right in austria, is probably correct. i forget where i read this, but i recall from the election last month --where the 2 far right parties combined picked up 30% of the vote, that the two parties would not join together because haider, the head of one party, and the head of the other party (whose name alludes me) despise each other. now with haider out of the way, this could clear them to become a formidable force in austria.

i do not buy into haider's politics. but technically, he wasn't a neo-nazi. he was a xenophobe (like holland's geert wilders) who opened the world up to what apparently too many austrians say in the comforts of their home about immigration and the european union.

Says me.

He was quoted as agreeing with 'elements' of the policies of the the Third Reich, I think that indicates he was a Nazi in sentiment at least.

I loved him in Indien.

I feel sad for his family. And keep in mind people that there will always be someone somewhere to replace him!!!

really? so if you are a proponent of building autobahns this makes you a Nazi?

He knew which audience he was appealing to.

Oh, cool, Austria has its own Princess Diana moment...

Goodbye Austria's rose,
may you ever grow in our hearts.
You were the grace that placed itself
where lives were torn apart.
You called out to our country,
and you whispered to those in pain.
Now you belong to heaven,
and the stars spell out your name.

Anyway... he was a dangerous populist, but he was also a catalyst for a really dark side of Austria.
In Germany people went through Vergangenheitsbewältigung, while the Austrians saw themselves as victims of Hitler having overrun them, yet the most fervent members of SA and SS were from there. And in beertents and at Heurigen you sometimes get to hear opinions you can't believe. Haider tapped deep into that market. Same issue with Kurt Waldheim.
Anyway, good riddance, just a shame that this happens just after the election and the rightwingers have +30%. Without Haider this surely would be much lower.

I won't be posting on Toytown for a while, while I come to terms with being a neo-Nazi.

And a communist. And a capitalist and an anarchist, a Republican and a Democrat, a conservative and a socialist, a Marxist and... etc, etc.

I hear what you're saying STB, but I find it sickening that Austria has the gall to act like WW2 never happened.

That would be a little far fetched implying Austrian's say WW2 didn't happen. They waved those flags just as hard as the German's did and they know it. Your opinion still does not right the undemocratic ways of thought some people get when a right- (or leftwing) party get a lot of votes.

edit:the reason as so often is uninformed voter's (not the wing's job to inform people) or underlying issues the large party's won't talk about for fear of being frowned upon by other "democracies".

FC, I think you're mentally contracting the spectrum of right-wing politics. Although I don't necessarily agree with any of those views, I do think it's possible to, for example, question your country's immigration policy without advocating the annihilation of that race from the face of the earth. I don't believe that the events of the 1930s should make the subject of immigration a no-go area in the 21st century.

Interesting German movie about how serious this topic is to a lot of Germans.

But do you really believe that Jörg Haider thought like that? That is the point isn't it? Of course we should talk about immigration in to Europe because it is having an effect on the lives of indigenous Europeans, but don't kid yourself thinking that this guy wanted a reasoned, intelligent debate about the issue, he simply appealed to xenophobic Austrians.

as i said before, i do not subscribe to jörg haider's politics.

since i don't read the austrian papers and barely watch SAT1, i don't know the intricacies of austrian politics. i only remember that the eu marginalized the country after his party got into the government in the late 90s/early 00s because of controversial statements he made. and that ultimately he technically wasn't in the government.

a former members of haider's party (karl heinz something or 'nother), who was finance minister of austria, was on the Anne Will show last week. which means that apparently all of the people from that area of the political spectrum are no longer marginalized. or maybe these parties have become normalized in österreich. which in my personal opinion is not a good thing.

Well in the elections a few weeks ago, the two right-wing parties received thirty percent of the votes, which I guess counts as "no longer marginalized". I also agree that this is not a good thing, but Haider was a democratically-elected politician and I still find the glee surrounding his death even more distasteful than his actual policies.

you have a point. it's like with the palistinian election a few years ago and the people picked 'the wrong party' according to world opinion. i only make a comparison. i don't sympathize with anyone at the far ranges of either political spectrum. although i am generally not so bothered by oskar lafontaine or guido westerwelle.

Would you still say that if he'd become Chancellor and then used his powers to put all immigrants in ghettos or forcibly repatriate them, or worse? I admit that is a long shot, but these are people who become drunk on power and in turn prey on peoples irrational fears to further their own political careers. They are scum, and deserve at the very least to be incarcerated.

To sauce up this conversation, let me throw out my conspiracy theory.

Who will benefit the most for the death? The answer is Strache, the head of the other right wing party. Perhaps he fiddled with Haider's car, so that he will have no resistance making mends with BZÖ. No one can challenge his leadership of the Alpen rednecks from now on. Perhaps FPÖ and BZÖ will come together again as a single right wing force that holds 30% of the vote. How's that sound?

That, of course, will be a small nightmare for Europeans.

@FirstCitizen >> Totally agree with you, very well put. Although I'd say that about a lot of other hard-core, inhuman extreme right assholes. Don't need to be a Nazi to behave like one...

@FirstCitizen >>> Agree with you there, too. Sickening AND dangerous

So you would gladly see your tax dollars at work incarcerating rightwing folks? why not leftwing? and while your at it people from possibly any or all hostile religions like Muslims and Sieks. Why is everyone so keen on shutting up rightwinger's? was communisim a walk in the park for everyone involved?!

Why can't we stick to our democratic values and alowe some free thinking in ALL directions and educate the people to make intelligent choices on there own instead of forcing "common sense" onto them.

From quote 1 to quote 2 , isn't that what Communism in USSR basically did? Got drunk on power, preyed on people's irrational fears after WW2, incarcerated and killed their own people justifying that they were too far to the "right" "against the state"???

He was class alright...

You're absolutely right seth. I am not a communist, more of an anarchist I suppose, except i'm working for a sports events agency at the moment so I guess I can't be a bonafide one.

too much competition flowing there

Haider 'was going twice the speed limit'
Haider 'was double speed limit' (BBC News)

Cars don't kill people, speed does. Don't you love it when Law and Order types get hoist by their own pétard? If he'd stuck to the speedlimit we wouldn't have had anything to talk about last weekend.

Are you a member of the NRA by any chance Sara?

Speed doesn't kill people, I drive to work every day at the speed this guy was alleged to be travelling, I haven't come even close to dying yet. Inappropriate speed kills people.

And guns don't kill people, monkeys with guns kill people.

Come on Maggie, don't let a European show you up!

Good night

Just waiting for the first jokes.

A nasty racist bastard. Good riddance.

Guns don't kill people, two year olds with guns do