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Socialists Re-Elected in Spain
The New York Times ^ | March 10, 2008 | ELAINE SCIOLINO

Posted on 03/09/2008 7:03:31 PM PDT by Eric Blair 2084

Spain’s governing Socialists triumphed in elections on Sunday, giving Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero a fresh mandate to pursue his agenda of sweeping social, cultural and political liberalization.

Despite a bitterly fought campaign, the outcome seemed to endorse some of Mr. Zapatero’s boldest decisions, including the withdrawal of Spain’s troops from Iraq, the granting of more autonomy to Spain’s rebellious regions, simplified divorce and the legalization of homosexual marriage.

“I will govern by continuing with the things that we’ve done well and correcting mistakes,” Mr. Zapatero said in accepting victory outside his party headquarters. He added, “I will govern for all, but thinking above all of those people who do not have everything.”

In particular, Mr. Zapatero said he would work to fulfill the aspirations of women and young people and provide more support for the elderly.

With more than 99 percent of the ballots counted, Mr. Zapatero’s party won 43.7 percent of the vote, and the conservative Popular Party 40.1 percent, according to the Interior Ministry. Turnout was high — an estimated 75.4 percent of the country’s 35 million eligible voters — only a shade below the 75.7 percent turnout in 2004.

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Breaking News; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: europe; marxism; socialism; socialists; spain; unholyalliance; zapatero
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Socialism, Marxism and collectivism has worked everywhere it has ever been tried. The Spanish voters have been paying attention and they know.
1 posted on 03/09/2008 7:03:32 PM PDT by Eric Blair 2084
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To: Eric Blair 2084
In particular, Mr. Zapatero said he would work to fulfill the aspirations of women and young people . . .

More free abortions?

2 posted on 03/09/2008 7:06:46 PM PDT by madprof98 ("moritur et ridet" - salvianus)
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To: Eric Blair 2084

>>a fresh mandate to pursue his agenda of sweeping social, cultural and political liberalization.

What’s “liberal” about state socialism? Oh, I forgot, the Left Orwellianly redefined “liberal” some years back.


3 posted on 03/09/2008 7:06:59 PM PDT by FreedomPoster (Guns themselves are fairly robust; their chief enemies are rust and politicians) (NRA)
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To: Eric Blair 2084

Socialism always sounds great. “You can have as much healthcare, pension benefits and wages as you want.”

If you try to explain it to people (such as how to pay for it, WHY we shouldn’t be giving everything away, etc), you are called a conservative a$$hole. Many people will take something for nothing even if they have to give up their freedom (such as keeping the money they work for).

Socialism appeals to the stupid, lazy, jealous and guilty.


4 posted on 03/09/2008 7:08:55 PM PDT by whitedog57
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To: Eric Blair 2084

Too bad. The Spaniards seem to have lost their collective stones. I frankly don’t see what is so attractive about sacrificing the real greatness of one’s country on this altar.


5 posted on 03/09/2008 7:10:24 PM PDT by coydog (Keep Canada green - paint a Liberal!)
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To: FreedomPoster

You got it all wrong. You are denigrating the brilliant works of scholars like Marx and Engels. Socialism is brilliant in theory...everyone is equal...nobody is hungry.

The problem lied in its execution. You see, Stalin and Lenin were incapable leaders.

If somebody really smart like Hillary or Obama were in charge, than Marx’s philosophy would work.

Shut up and get with the program.


6 posted on 03/09/2008 7:13:21 PM PDT by Eric Blair 2084 (Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms shouldn't be a federal agency...it should be a convenience store.)
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To: Eric Blair 2084
Socialism, Marxism and collectivism has worked everywhere it has ever been tried. The Spanish voters have been paying attention and they know.

Well lols they didn't used too.

7 posted on 03/09/2008 7:13:36 PM PDT by badpacifist (They say your head can be a prison Then, these are just conjugal visits.)
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To: Eric Blair 2084

“Free stuff! I’ll give you free stuff!” —the cry of the socialist politician.

It works. It’s working here. Hillary Clinton had an actual television commercial featuring a Winter Festival Tree with all sorts of wrapped goodies that she would give to the American people. That she’s being beaten by someone even more openly Marxist is disquieting, to say the least.


8 posted on 03/09/2008 7:14:50 PM PDT by RightOnTheLeftCoast ([Fred Thompson/Clarence Thomas 2008!])
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To: coydog

9 posted on 03/09/2008 7:17:08 PM PDT by Eric Blair 2084 (Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms shouldn't be a federal agency...it should be a convenience store.)
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To: Eric Blair 2084

Yeah, that’s why some friends on mine who moved back to Spain last year still can’t find a job. The gov’t is paying them to stay home, the economy is in a shambles, the Islamic threat grows daily, and the band plays on, just like on the Titanic.

“Collectivism is a doctrine of war, intolerance, and persecution. If any of the collectivist creeds should succeed in its endeavors, all people but the great dictator would be deprived of their essential human quality. They would become mere soulless pawns in the hands of a monster.”

Ludwig Von Mises


10 posted on 03/09/2008 7:17:10 PM PDT by milwguy (........)
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To: milwguy

Good quote!


11 posted on 03/09/2008 7:19:32 PM PDT by Pyro7480 ("Jesu, Jesu, Jesu, esto mihi Jesus" -St. Ralph Sherwin's last words at Tyburn)
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To: RightOnTheLeftCoast

“A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves money from the Public Treasury. From that moment on the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the Public Treasury with a result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy always followed by dictatorship. The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations has been 200 years. These nations have progressed through the following sequence:

From Bondage to Spiritual Faith
From Spiritual Faith to Great Courage
From Courage to Liberty
From Liberty to Abundance
From Abundance to Selfishness
From Selfishness to Complacency
From Complacency to Apathy
From Apathy to Dependency
From Dependency back into Bondage”
-— most commonly attributed to
“The Decline and Fall of the Athenian Republic”
by Alexander Fraser Tytler Lord Woodhouselee (1748-1813)
(Scottish judge and historian at Edinburgh University)

However, this has also been attributed to Benjamin Disraeli, Alexis de Tocqueville, R. G. LeTourneau and others. It is likely that it is actually two quotes, put together. Parts of it show up in printed record as far back as 1950, when the “Fatal Sequence” portion was cited in a speach by Eugene E. Wilson at a special United Nations Convocation at Hillyer College in Hartford, Connecticut. But regardless of the quote’s origin, it is interesting to note how accurate it details the past and how much further we have progressed along that predicted line, since it first appeared in modern recorded history, in 1950.

Whoever said it is a genius.


12 posted on 03/09/2008 7:21:14 PM PDT by Eric Blair 2084 (Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms shouldn't be a federal agency...it should be a convenience store.)
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To: milwguy
The gov’t is paying them to stay home, the economy is in a shambles, the Islamic threat grows daily,

Oh, and they have the lowest birthrate in Europe--take out the Muslims and it's the lowest in the world. Who's going to pay for these "sweeping" new entitlements?

13 posted on 03/09/2008 7:22:46 PM PDT by denydenydeny (Expel the priest and you don't inaugurate the age of reason, you get the witch doctor--Paul Johnson)
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To: Eric Blair 2084

sucks....the right looked fairly strong

damn how things change.....the French look like the only crackers in Western Europe with balls now.


14 posted on 03/09/2008 7:23:08 PM PDT by wardaddy (Obama: The candidate for those who think Deliverance was a documentary.)
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To: Eric Blair 2084
In particular, Mr. Zapatero said he would work to fulfill the aspirations of women and young people...

Imagine that! all this time I've been working to fulfill my own aspirations.

15 posted on 03/09/2008 7:36:25 PM PDT by Last Dakotan
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To: wardaddy

The French have come full circle...4 times.

They get it, then they don’t get it, then they get....

When my wife dragged me to Lourdes a few years ago I learned a few things:

1. If you are hungry at 2 am there is nowhere to go to get a morsel to eat. No Denny’s, IHOP. Not even a 7-11 for hot dogs and nachos.

2. There is a reason why the waiters in France are snooty, rude and don’t give a crap. They work on salary, receive no tips and can’t be fired no matter what they do.


16 posted on 03/09/2008 7:38:52 PM PDT by Eric Blair 2084 (Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms shouldn't be a federal agency...it should be a convenience store.)
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To: whitedog57

“Socialism appeals to the stupid, lazy, jealous and guilty.”

I agree. I often say you have to be stupid, ignorant, or evil to be a liberal.

Regardless, it now seems like a majority of Western Civilization, including America, find Socialism appealing for exactly the reasons you stated. A result is that the slide to Socialism perpetuates itself, by creating more of the same voters. That is, until it all comes crashing down and everything is destroyed.
I fear many of us should begin to choose another sustainable form of government, since our Constitutional Republic is being shredded and Leftism has a couple of generations of reserves that are publicly (un)educated.


17 posted on 03/09/2008 7:40:41 PM PDT by Harrius Magnus (Pucker up Mo, and your dhimmi Leftist freaks, here comes your Jizya!)
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To: Last Dakotan
In particular, Mr. Zapatero said he would work to fulfill the aspirations of women and young people...

I can see the old traditional headline now:

World to end on Wednesday...Women and minorities to be hit the hardest.


18 posted on 03/09/2008 7:41:23 PM PDT by Eric Blair 2084 (Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms shouldn't be a federal agency...it should be a convenience store.)
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To: Eric Blair 2084
the granting of more autonomy to Spain’s rebellious regions

He's either been bought off or threatened.

Why would a leader want chunks of his country to secede?

I feel like I'm living in an Ayn Rand novel.

19 posted on 03/09/2008 7:44:17 PM PDT by Lizavetta
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To: Eric Blair 2084

I see many more minarets in their future. Of course they’re building plenty here, too.


20 posted on 03/09/2008 7:48:09 PM PDT by manic4organic (Send a care package through USO today.)
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