With almost almost almost all the votes counted Jose Luis Rdriguez Zapatero has won the Spanish election with a 3/10th margin less than the "disputed’ contest of '04.
Yes,no doubt, the economy played a major part in the last few moths of the contest, down as it has been following world-trends. OTOH, I couldn’t be more proud of the numerous other accomplishments ZP has brung on Spanish Society, making it one of the most progressive in the world. All the what from Gay Marriages to raising pensions for those out of the work force. Never mind bringing Spain Spain from he nether regions of embryo research to one of the world’s leaders – all the while surpassing none less than Italy on a per-capita base, anjd making Spain’s economy the 8th’s worlds largest.
Sure, plenty of mistakes have been made along the way – yet “Bambi” not only recognizes them but promises to learn and listen to other opinions on them.
Oh what a great team Obama and ZP would make – just hoping it happens. I honestly think the world would be a better place with those two joining influences if not forces (ours are good but quite limited to their task).
Right. Flame away and bring back the specter (flat-out lie) of 3/11/04 to explain away this new win by my Party, the PSOE.
OK, I’m confused. Not being well-versed in the Spanish political scene, you have to tell me: did your guy win or didn’t he? If he did, what’s the complaint? If he didn’t, why do you seem to be lauding the opposition?
Congrats Red, I am big fan of the changes Zapatero has spearheaded, mainly gay marriage. Hopefully some people will pay attention here, seeing as Spain hasn’t crumbled back into the Middle Ages -as predicted- after going against the RCC on a number of things.
Spain’s got politics? Who knew? I thought you guys had government by soccer. Doesn’t that mean you got to be able to read, and stuff?
(Just bustin’ yer chops, companero. * Vencermos, y no parmesan*!)
he’s referring back to the Socialist Party’s previous victory, which came soon after a terrorist bombing in Madrid.
When the Socialists won that election, a whole bunch of mouth-breathing douchebags called the Spaniards cowards, saying that they voted for the Socialists because of their policy to withdraw from the Coalition of the “Willing,” and had thus handed a victory to the terrorists.
So if the newly-elected government of Spain gave the bombers what they wanted, they won’t get bombed again now that they’re officially “out of the way”?
Just wondering.
Well, strictly speaking for myself,when there’s footy involved, politics ceases to exist Then again, politics only comes into play between WCs. Therefore they become my second of choice – and could possibly be better than showing that Spain is in the vanguards of social change worldwide. Even more now when there are no Bogey-men to blame.
Yeah, no overwhelming majority in eithher chamber – which is fine by me. 'nuff with the Franco fascist left overs.
So damn right Skippy, I’m extactic happy – NO ludicrous wingnut excuses this time around. Full-steam ahead into progressive land. Quite an accomplishment to the Spain I grew-up in.
Thanks a bunch Mighty_Girl and mhendo for furthering, clarifying and editing my OP.
Forward. The only way. And we’re certainly in the right track.
Cheers.
PS-Hill/OB, “DreamGlogal Ticket”? The"Two Bambies" ZP and Obama have come TBK, who just happen to be tough as nails despite their mild demeanor. NO thanx, cynical enough as it is.
Shayna, must say, you are one heck of an asset to Obama’s effort. Need some help, please do holler.
You’re a bit obscure yourself here, podnuh. You seem to be implying that the Spanish were eager to join GeeDubs Excellent Adventure, but were scared off by the terrorists. And this is bad because…what, exactly? If doing something stupid requires more courage, does that make it less stupid?
What I recall is that they were not at all thrilled about it, and what really ground their 'nads is when their government lied about it. Lot of folks find that sort of thing real annoying. Me, for one.
Also, as pointed out dozens of times in the thread that i linked above, the Socialists made clear that they were willing to remain in Iraq under the auspices of a true multinational effort, run by the UN. It was the George and Tony show, aka Coalition of the Willing, that they didn’t want to be part of.
I think that what elucidator is referring to is the fact that the Spanish government, after the attacks on Madrid, blamed the Basque separatist group, ETA, despite the fact that there was no evidence implicating them, there had been no warnings before the explosion (ETA’s usual practice was to call and provide a warning), and ETA was not claiming responsibility for the attack (something that it nearly always does).
And the Spanish government (not the PSOE, but Aznar’s Partido Popular) kept insisting it was ETA well after it had become obvious, even to people with Muad’Dib’s level of mental acuity, that ETA had nothing to do with it. This didn’t sit well with the Spanish people, many of whom argued that Aznar was blaming ETA in order to deflect attention from Spain’s involvement in Bush’s Iraq debacle, which was very unpopular in Spain even among many PP supporters.