2004-03-15 - 11:20 a.m.
I find the whole Spanish election thing a very interesting study of cultural politics. I mean they get attacked by terrorists, hundreds of people die, thousands are injured and they end up ousting their leader. Not only that they oust their leader BECAUSE of the terrorists attacks. More specifically because of the total pro-USA, Iraq-war supportingness of their current government. It’s interesting this whole “American” idea of banding together after 9-11. The whole clamping down of dissent and even to the point where we were renaming fast food items because a country dared to disagree with us. The Spanish appear to actually look critically at the causes and effects of how their terrorist attacks came about. The people came to the conclusion that the unwavering support of a unilateral act of aggression made them LESS safe. The incoming Prime Minister said in no uncertain terms, “The war in Iraq was a disaster, the occupation of Iraq is a disaster.” Voters yelled to their departing Prime Minister "Aznar: your war, our dead." These were MAINSTREAM opinions in Spain that led to a political change.
They held their leaders accountable for making them the target of terrorism. And from several news reports, this was not incompatible with mourning the loss of their fellow Spaniards. Spain – land of all night parties, lunches that last for three hours, and political discourse.
