Bash a politician’s face. Score some candy. That was the children’s activity planned by the Left Party in Malmö during the May 1st Labor Day events. Complete with thug-in-training baseball bats.
Not sure if I should weep or wail with laughter over this new political-decision-gone-wild moment. In the picture, the face of Anne Lööf, leader of the Center Party, is the “decoration” on the piñata filled with goodies.
According to one of the organizers, Patrik Strand, “We had [Fredrik] Reinfeldt and [Anders] Borg, too. I think it looked like fun and afterwards candy and play money tumbled out,” quoted in an article in Sydsvenskan (in Swedish).
Well, I can suppose it’s not the same as slicing into a cake’s vagina. But what is the message the children are supposed to learn? If you don’t like their politics it’s ok to take a baseball bat to their heads? After all…you will get candy!
It seems the bar is exceptionally low for political party involvement or there’s absolutely no budget for political PR advisers. It’s a trite phrase, but it applies here:
What were they thinking?
Tags: anders borg, anne lööf, labor day, malmö, patrik strand, pinata
Annie Lööf is a godsend for the opposition. A right-wing Juholt.
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@Required. Your belief that the Center party is “right-wing” calls your political analysis into question. I have no opinion of her or her politics in truth.
I do feel strongly against children swinging bats at images of people’s faces.
BB
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Annie Lööf is right-wing. She has Thatcher as an idol and recommends reading Ayn Rand. Centern has moved to the right.
I guess borgar-piñata are in bad taste. But there are more important political issues to get upset about nowadays.
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@Required. Centern has indeed shifted to the right on Sweden’s political spectrum. Still hardly “right-wing”.
Seems Annie Lööf also suffers from the general lack and incompetence of “political PR image advisers.” But she’s a heck of a lot cuter than Juholt.
What political issues upset you most?
BB
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They are right-wing. Is that something shameful, to be denied at all costs?
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@Required. My definition of Centern’s political leanings is one of the political issues which most upset you? I come from a country where most “left wing” politics is further right than pretty much all of Sweden’s “right wing” politics.
My definition of “right wing” does not include active supporters of socialized welfare/medicine, subsidies for nearly everything, generous parental benefits, environmental planning and openly pro-gay marriage.
FWIW, I don’t consider MP or S to be “left-wing” either. In fact, either party would harmonize well in a central-right coalition (if they could get beyond their own ingrained prejudices.)
BB
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I didn’t mention any of the political issues that “most upset” me.
Your country of origin has no bearing on whether centern are right-wing or not. Likewise, your definition of what right-wing is is alien to a Swedish context and pretty much all of northern europe. If you’re going to write about swedish politics, you should examine it within its own context, and not assume that US politics is the gauge everyone else is compared against.
I don’t agree that S or MP would harmonize into a “central-right” coalition. Red/Right, Green/Right or Red/Green/Right. The alliance parties are all right-wing. If S or MP formed a coalition with a right-wing party, it can’t just be a right-wing coalition.
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I have to say, i was about to agree with @required in this case – you can’t use american definitions of what is right-wing to gauge swedish, or indeed any other country’s opinion.
I can’t say I like the idea of a child being taught to hit images of any person’s image. For a start, I have seen far too many people trying to brain-wash their children into following their own political beliefs, rather than training them to think for themselves.
I wasn’t too keen on some of Margaret Thatcher’s policies, but as a strong female in a time of extreme male dominance of politics, and as a teenager being on the receiving end of ‘don’t worry your pretty little head over that’ I admired her hugely, and still do. I think it is very possible to disagree with some of her policies and still idolise her.
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How do you idolize someone who supported Pinochet?
Thatcher was a sociopath. There’s a move on in Britain to soften up her legacy and gain some sympathy for her. Her state funeral risks dragging up all the hurt and divide she left in her wake. The idea that Thatcher is some kind of role model for women in a man’s dominated sphere is poppycock. She didn’t appoint a single female cabinet minister. She was in it for herself and people of privileged backgrounds. Tories always are.
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Even idols are human. And just the fact that she was there inspired other women to at least have a go. I suspect she was far too busy trying to fight her own corner to give much thought to a deliberate policy of appointing women.
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Fair enough. Its only human to be a power mad sociopath.
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Simpson]
I mean seriously has anyone actually looked at this guy.
Cant say I know who Annie Lööf is nor do I really care.
But in a country that at tops has maybe 10 actual MEN. Annie Lööf is most likely the closest thing you are going to get, to a politician with balls.
Next I say invite Annie Lööf, and give her a paddle so she can whip the shit out of those little brats, so that they can gain some respect.
LOL!
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