Reply With QuoteWhat exactly constitutes an "open society"?
This isn't baiting, I'm genuining curious.
Sweden's Foreign Minister Anna Lindh was stabbed today in a department store. I'm pretty damn pissed off about it. I'm guessing it was something stalkerish, because I can not fathom that someone would do it due to politics.
This is so stupid. Real nice open society we had there for a while.
Still uncertain if she'll live or not.
Linky,
What exactly constitutes an "open society"?
This isn't baiting, I'm genuining curious.
Bloody Hell! This is unreal. I can't say I cared much for her as a politician but I hope she makes it through the night. Why would anyone do this? It is probably connected to the Euro-vote on Sunday but how? The obvious answer would be that she's knifed because of her pro-euro position, but my really paranoid side tells me that maybe she was knifed so that the pro-euro side would get sympathy votes.
I must start subscribing to a morning newspaper again, without one my knowledge of the world around me is effectively zero.
Well, actually it hasn't been that extreme since Palme got shot, but before that you could pretty much walk right into the office of the highest elected official in Sweden, if you wanted. It isn't like that anymore, but pretty much everyone but the Prime Minister is, though I guess it's "was" now, easily approachable in public.Originally Posted by Machfive
I liked stuff like congratulating the newly appointed Speaker of the House when I realised I was walking right next to him (it was right at the parliament building). And I fear this will continue to build a barrier between the rulers and the "common folk".
Oh, badass. Sounds like a rather cool thing to have. I'd rather like the chance to be able to walk up to Howard Dean and Dick Cheney and stomp on their feet, but I guess that would ruin the open society thing pretty quick, eh?
But how could anyone think that possibly is big enough a deal to stab someone for? I'd prefer the crazy stalker option to that :(
Welcome to the conspiracy-crazy world. Just watch out, I betcha someone will start blaming the CIA for this as some kind of revenge against European incalcitrance over Iraq.But how could anyone think that possibly is big enough a deal to stab someone for? I'd prefer the crazy stalker option to that :(
Hell, let's start the rumor here!
Oh yeah, after Palme got wacked, you'd think they'd at least give the high government officials a simple bodyguard. Doesn't have to be Secret Service-scary, but just someone walking along with the principal making sure no one is scouting/stalking the target.
You can still harass Dean all you want, I think; the rules for when you start getting secret service protection are unspecified and wierd.
As a side note, back in the 1950s you could waltz right into the pentagon and talk to the secretary of defense if you knew where his office was.
I'm guessing it was either South Africa, the Kurds, the CIA, the Mossad, the Palestinians, the Rote Armee-Fraktion or possibly some crackhead named Christer Pettersson ;)
The Democratic candidate will recieve full Secret Service protection upon winning the nomination. In the Service's eyes, he (or very unlikely, she) has a 50/50 chance of being the next President.
But I believe that the main Democratic candidates (those likely of winning the nomination) are offered some kind of Service protection (usually a few bodyguards), though it could probably be refused this early out. And it certainly helps if the candidate is currently a high government official, like a Senator.
But once the candidate gets the nomination, they've got no choice, really. The Service moves in and ups their security big time.
God, that sucks.
*insert witty gun-debate quip about a knife in sweeden here*
I think in the 1930s you could probably still have a picnic on the White House lawn. Being of consequence sucks.
I heard about this on the radio today. On NPR they said she was in sugery but her injuries weren't considered life threatening. Here's hoping for a quick recovery. After all, I like Swedish women!
From all I've read since hearing about it on the news today (Deutsche Welle), she seemed like an eminently decent individual. It really jarred me, since Sweden is like the last place such a thing should happen...I really hope they nail the guy.
I blame poverty. And Bush.
She died.
She was in critical condition the whole time, from what I read last night, and they seemed to have a lot of difficulty stopping the bleeding around her liver and abdominal area, and it was a more brutal assault than first reported.
One thing everyone can agree on is that the murder of democratically elected politicians is utterly beyond the pale, irregardless of ideology or political views. That's just not the way things are done in our countries.
Everyone but Lizard_Man. Read his views on Pinochet. Anders, my condolences to you and your country.
The police are considering that it could have been a purse-snatching that went horribly wrong. Of course, that's just a theory, we won't know until the murderer is arrested. This is just surreal, all of it. I'm too young to remember Palme, things like these don't happen here I thought, but it seems they do. I would hate living in a society where the leaders fear the people but it looks like that's where we're heading. :(
I have vague recollections of Palme's murder. I remember the notion I had of how it played out and being afraid of the killer. Of course, I was four years old at the time, so there wasn't that much connection to reality.
According to witness reports the murderer actually chased her for some distance, so I don't know if I can buy the purse-snatching theory.
My oldest memory of national news was the Swedish bank crisis when I was 7. I remembered all those bank directors who had messed up horribly get multi-million dollar severance packages after they got fired for messing things up. And the government had to go in and save the banks from going bankrupt with our tax money while the men responsibole got rich. Even a seven-year old can understand that there's something horribly wrong when people who fail miserably get rewarded for their incompetence.
I know, but I want to believe it. The implications of a political murder are to horrible to think about.According to witness reports the murderer actually chased her for some distance, so I don't know if I can buy the purse-snatching theory.
If you've got something to say beyond passive-aggressive quips, I suggest you do so in a thread more appropriate than this one.Everyone but Lizard_Man. Read his views on Pinochet. Anders, my condolences to you and your country.
As to the unfortunate subject of this thread...My condolences.
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