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Maybe they should just move to Massachusetts. |
Posted on 06/03/2004 3:00:26 PM PDT by Tailgunner Joe
In the main square of a small north Bohemian town, four Czech Communist party (KSCM) candidates sing folk songs and waltz with grandmothers as if the 1989 Velvet Revolution never happened.
The 150-strong crowd of applauding pensioners in Louny remains nostalgic for the security and feeling of togetherness that the Communist party's 40-year hardline rule brought.
"For us nothing has got better," says Libuse Dalinova, aged 76.
"For me things have got worse," trumps Vaclav Stepanek, 72, who argues: "The Communists made mistakes, just like the people now."
The KSCM and its huge but ageing membership may be an anachronism, yet according to opinion polls it will come second at the European parliamentary elections with 16 per cent of the vote when the Czech Republic votes on June 11.
This would send five KSCM representatives to Strasbourg, giving it the strongest and most diehard Communist contingent from the new member states.
Ahead of them, the polls suggest, with 36 per cent and 10 seats, will be the other opposition party, the rightwing Civic Democrats, which also has reservations about EU membership.
By contrast, the Social Democrat-led coalition, which took the Czech Republic into the EU last month, looks like winning only six of the country's 24 seats.
The government's looming failure in the country's first European elections partly reflects its mid-term unpopularity at a time of growing unemployment and rising prices.
Social Democrat support has halved since the general election two years ago to 15 per cent, with many of the defecting voters switching to the Communists in protest.
But the forecast success of the opposition also reflects Czech ambivalence about the EU, derived from its long history of foreign domination and prosperity compared with neighbours.
"Czechs don't know what to expect from the EU," says Alexander Mitrofanov, a commentator for the leftwing daily Pravo. "They rather expect the worst."
Although 77 per cent voted in favour in the referendum a year ago, the turnout was only 55 per cent. Moreover many voted "yes" while expecting membership to worsen their personal circumstances.
Turnout at the European elections this month is expected to be one of the lowest among the new EU members, with the Stem polling agency forecasting it at 40 per cent compared with 58 per cent at the 2002 general election.
Those who vote will not reward the parties that took them into the EU as the government has failed to communicate what EU accession and institutions such as the European parliament are really about.
"The government is going to be punished because they are not able to communicate with the people," says Jan Hartl, head of the Stem polling agency. "[Prime Minister Vladimir] Spidla is a public relations catastrophe."
Instead, now the country is inside the EU, voters will choose those parties that had doubts about accession and promise to fight harder to protect national interests in Brussels.
The Civic Democrats, who refused to back the government's referendum campaign, pledge to resist further EU integration.
The Communists, who last year opposed the EU as a capitalist club, now plan to try to change it from within. Its election posters show the EU's golden stars gradually turning Communist red.
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Maybe they should just move to Massachusetts. |
Sounds like the whining we should expect at the Dem. Convention.
In ex-communist countries, communism seems to quickly become the party of nostalgia and the elderly. Same seems to be true of Russia. (One of the most pathetic sights I think I've ever seen was a communist "demonstration" in the Red Square -- which meant in practice, about 10-15 gray haired 55+ year olds walking with red flags, one of them carrying a boom box on which a tape of (I assume) the Soviet anthem was being played... you can see more lively communist marches in Berkeley, CA.)
In fact, the same phenomenon probably exists down in Florida....
Notice that the "right-wing" Civic Democrats are expected to garner more than twice the vote of the communists, but the article is all about extolling the communists.
To finish my thought, if the headline reflected the projected voting percentages it would say, "Conservatives Expected To Lead Czech Vote"; but, no, the headline says, "Nostalgic czechs look back to rosy glow of communist years." But there's no Left-wing bias in journalism, none whatsoever. (sarcasm)
People who benefited under the Nazi dictatorship are nostalgic for Hitler.
People who benefited under the Baath Party dictatorship are nostalgic for Saddam.
People who benefited under the Democratic Party dictatorship will vote for Kerry.
It's a global phenomenon.
But... But...
Isn't the government supposed to take care of that???
I'm sitting in Prague as I type this. The consensus of people I've talked to here is that the communists will literally slowly die out over the next 20 years. Many pensioners do have it tough under the new system, and reminisce about the 'good old days', but the commies are attracting very few new converts.
Again, we have the same problem in Florida... ;-)
What a crock. All the Czechs I know (and I live in the middle of one of the most concentrated populations of Czechs in America) are crazy for freedom. One friend has repeatedly said, in an agitated voice, "Never disarm! NEVER DISARM!! The Communists will take it as a sign of weakness and overrun you!"
Hmmmm.. forgive the ideology, not the individual under the ideology... typical of nuttos who are going to hell with their faustian deals.
No one would pay attention to these people if it were not for communism... and now they are whining... serves them right... May they rot in hell.
This must have led to some degree of institutionalization with them. Sort of like what happens when someone has spent 40 or 50 years in prison, living a set routine where all decisions are made from above. When they are released, long-term convicts are often unable to adjust to living as free men, and pine for the ordered, predictable life under total control.
Same thing with those poor clods who are out waving the red flag.
Well then Sir, I am both envious and jealous! The Czech Republic is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been! I spent time in Karlovy Vary and Hardiste. There is a monument in KV to the American units that liberated the city in WWII (right next to a monstrous "Thermal" hotel the communists built near the city center in the 70's, go figure).
The people were very friendly to us (American Soldiers), and the beer...I was a fan of Staropramen.
I don't recall ANYONE waxing nostalgic for the old days.
regards,
Yep, no whining, on the other hand, from Right Bloc. Meanwhile, what a sad thing it is to see the STB loving Commies get such an airing of their agenda. Although, the Socialist Democrats who they are deposing are not anything good by a long shot either - many are crypto marxists still carrying STB approved "club cards!"
---The 150-strong crowd of applauding pensioners in Louny remains nostalgic for the security and feeling of togetherness that the Communist party's 40-year hardline rule brought.---
And the Russians ground our faces into the pavement with their boots and we liked it...
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