# Jörg Haider ist kaput. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 11, 2008, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jorg-haider-ist-kaput/467476 "2008-10-11T15:24:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jorg-haider-ist-kaput/467476/1 "2008-10-11T15:24:55Z")
He died this morning it seems. > **[Jörg Haider](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C3%B6rg_Haider)** > > Jörg Haider (.mw-parser-output .IPA-label-small{font-size:85%}.mw-parser-output .references .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .infobox .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .navbox .IPA-label-small{font-size:100%}German: \[ˈjœʁk ˈhaɪdɐ\] ⓘ; 26 January 1950 – 11 October 2008) was an Austrian politician. He was Governor of Carinthia on two occasions, the long-time leader of the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) and later Chairman of the Alliance for the Future of Austria (Bündnis Zukunft Österreich, BZ ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jorg-haider-ist-kaput/467476/2 "2008-10-11T15:27:38Z")
In a car crash. This one’s going to fuel conspiracy theories for his party that will last a thousand years. ---
**Author:** ![Dumbguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2bfe46/32.png) [@Dumbguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dumbguy)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jorg-haider-ist-kaput/467476/3 "2008-10-11T15:29:09Z")
I saw a piece on him on CNN this morning, and he was a very snappy dresser for a politician. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. ---
**Author:** ![Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d9b06d/32.png) [@Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boozahol_Squid_P.I)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jorg-haider-ist-kaput/467476/4 "2008-10-11T15:47:39Z")
Wow… reading about his BZO: a reasonably conservative party with an understanding of government’s necessity for education and environmental protection. Can I pray Herr Haider gets reborn in an American body? ---
**Author:** ![Iteki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/eada6e/32.png) [@Iteki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iteki)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jorg-haider-ist-kaput/467476/5 "2008-10-11T21:50:24Z")
Read a little more before you make that wish. There’s a reason this is in the pit. ---
**Author:** ![Pimms\_o\_clock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bb73d2/32.png) [@Pimms\_o\_clock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pimms_o_clock)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jorg-haider-ist-kaput/467476/6 "2008-10-11T21:52:53Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > In a car crash. This one’s going to fuel conspiracy theories for his party that will last a thousand years. I am fairly suspicious myself, I must say. Quite surprised he was driving himself! ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jorg-haider-ist-kaput/467476/7 "2008-10-11T22:11:32Z")
> [@Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](#): > > Wow… reading about his BZO: a reasonably conservative party with an understanding of government’s necessity for education and environmental protection. Can I pray Herr Haider gets reborn in an American body? Oh, you wacky Americans. The guy was practically a Nazi. That’s not hyperbole, either; it’s a statement of fact. ---
**Author:** ![DaphneBlack](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daphneblack/32/5389_2.png) [@DaphneBlack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaphneBlack)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jorg-haider-ist-kaput/467476/8 "2008-10-11T22:16:03Z")
Yeah, please don’t wish for Herr Haider to be reincarnated as an American politician. Eurgh. He was not a good man. I’m not happy he’s dead, but I won’t shed any tears for him. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jorg-haider-ist-kaput/467476/9 "2008-10-11T22:22:56Z")
> [@DaphneBlack](#): > > Yeah, please don’t wish for Herr Haider to be reincarnated as an American politician. Eurgh. > > He was not a good man. I’m not happy he’s dead, but I won’t shed any tears for him. I know the Austrians have a thriving far-right movement, but I don’t know the details, or Haider’s part in it. Anyone care to fight some ignorance? ---
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jorg-haider-ist-kaput/467476/10 "2008-10-11T22:35:12Z")
> [@Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](#): > > Wow… reading about his BZO: a reasonably conservative party with an understanding of government’s necessity for education and environmental protection. > > Can I pray Herr Haider gets reborn in an American body? We don’t need him we have David Duke. You’re not real bright, are you? ---
**Author:** ![Pimms\_o\_clock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bb73d2/32.png) [@Pimms\_o\_clock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pimms_o_clock)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jorg-haider-ist-kaput/467476/11 "2008-10-11T23:21:07Z")
> [@Mr.Excellent](#): > > I know the Austrians have a thriving far-right movement, but I don’t know the details, or Haider’s part in it. Anyone care to fight some ignorance? He led the largest far-right party for a while cullminating in it iirc getting approx 24% of the vote back in the day (a few years ago)… then he split off from that and started his own which at the last election got around 11 or percent while the other right wing party got maybe fifteen. I’ve made those numbers up because I cannot remember the figures but they’re about right. I can easily see EU types having him bumped off. The EU supports democracy up to a point, if you get my drift. On the other hand, 99% chance this was an accident purely because this sort of thing almost always is. But assasination is in no way implausible. ---
**Author:** ![\_Undecided\_Adrian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/eada6e/32.png) [@\_Undecided\_Adrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_Undecided_Adrian)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jorg-haider-ist-kaput/467476/12 "2008-10-11T23:41:22Z")
The numbers were [11 and 18 per cent](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/austria/3097540/Austria-election-delivers-gains-for-far-Right.html). These were really worrying - here in Germany there is currently no sign of any right-wing party anywhere near the 5% minimum for getting seats. But while the EU officials certainly are no neo-nazi fans, imagining an assassination planned by them seems quite laughable, pimms. By the way: It is nice to see the international makeup of the dope taking an interest in our area here; reassuring that some people care about Europe as well when everybody is so interested in the American election. ---
**Author:** ![auRa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c4cdca/32.png) [@auRa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/auRa)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jorg-haider-ist-kaput/467476/13 "2008-10-12T01:07:36Z")
> [@Pimms\_o\_clock](#): > > On the other hand, 99% chance this was an accident purely because this sort of thing almost always is. But assasination is in no way implausible. News stories I’ve read state that he was driving alone, because his driver was off-duty, apparently way over the speed limit of 70 km/h in order to get to his mother’s birthday party; he attempted to overtake another car, hit a concrete divider and flipped the car several times; and the driver of the other car called the cops. Also, he’d been in a very similar accident in the same spot 15 years ago, so his driving habits seem to not have been the most careful. While “EU secret police (who?) plot assassination of right-wing politician” seems thrilling, “speeding driver makes bad choice on road and pays for it with life” is sadly quite a bit more commonplace. I wouldn’t really go for the assassination angle this time. ---
**Author:** ![Tenebras](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@Tenebras](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tenebras)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jorg-haider-ist-kaput/467476/14 "2008-10-12T01:44:06Z")
That’s what they want you to think! ---
**Author:** ![Throatwarbler\_Mangrove](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8c91f0/32.png) [@Throatwarbler\_Mangrove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Throatwarbler_Mangrove)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jorg-haider-ist-kaput/467476/15 "2008-10-12T01:46:10Z")
Oh you wacky Europeans. What you consider Nazi would be considered center-right in the United States. ---
**Author:** ![Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d9b06d/32.png) [@Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boozahol_Squid_P.I)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jorg-haider-ist-kaput/467476/16 "2008-10-12T02:38:41Z")
> [@askeptic](#): > > We don’t need him we have David Duke. You’re not real bright, are you? :smack: Well, no. And I didn’t actually read the party description of his former party… or the bits about honoring the SS and praising the employment tactics of the Third Reich. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jorg-haider-ist-kaput/467476/17 "2008-10-12T05:50:43Z")
> [@Dumbguy](#): > > I saw a piece on him on CNN this morning, and he was a very snappy dresser for a politician. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Maybe he had some businessman buying his suits for him, like our local Senator Norm Coleman. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jorg-haider-ist-kaput/467476/18 "2008-10-12T06:16:13Z")
> [@Throatwarbler\_Mangrove](#): > > Oh you wacky Europeans. What you consider Nazi would be considered center-right in the United States. It’s nothing to be proud of. ---
**Author:** ![Risha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5fc32e/32.png) [@Risha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Risha)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jorg-haider-ist-kaput/467476/19 "2008-10-12T06:42:27Z")
Always good to see a neo-Nazi bite it. I have to agree that he was a snappy dresser, though. So I read the bits about him not being considered a nice guy, and that his parties both turned into cults of personality, and the whole thing with him being a dick about bilingual signs. But all in all, Wikipedia was actually kind of frustratingly vague. What were his party’s platforms? ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jorg-haider-ist-kaput/467476/20 "2008-10-12T20:02:33Z")
> [@Scissorjack](#): > > It’s nothing to be proud of. I’m pretty sure that was a joke, based on **Boozahol Squid, P.I.**'s leap to judgment. **ETA:** Um, you don’t actually think that’s _true_, do you? That neo-naziism is okay in America? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jorg-haider-ist-kaput/467476.md?page=2)