quote:

Anti-PM protest in Hungary turns violent Demonstrators take to streets after hearing PM say he lied on leaked tape The Associated Press Updated: 6:29 a.m. ET Sept 19, 2006 BUDAPEST, Hungary - Protesters clashed with police and stormed the headquarters of Hungarian state television early Tuesday -- a violent response to a leaked recording of Hungary's prime minister admitting officials had lied about the economy. Officials said about 150 people were injured in the violence, including 102 police officers, one of whom suffered serious head injuries and was described on state television as being in satisfactory condition after undergoing an operation to remove a bone splinter from his skull. The prime minister, Ferenc Gyurcsany, told reporters later the overnight riots were "the longest and darkest night" for the country since the end of communism in 1989. He said police had been taken by surprise. Gyurcsany has refused to resign, as protesters have demanded. Several thousand police reinforcements were called to the capital from across the country. Police succeeded in retaking the TV building and driving out protesters only after 3 a.m., more than five hours after the incidents started. Police were controlling access to the area around the TV building on Tuesday morning, which also includes the National Bank of Hungary and the U.S. Embassy. Justice Minister Jozsef Petretei, who also oversees the police force, submitted his resignation because of the outbreak of violence, but his offer was rejected by Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany. PM: No plans to resign The violence came after a mainly peaceful protest outside parliament attended by several thousand people began late Sunday, when a recording made in May was leaked to local media in which Socialist Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany admitted to repeatedly having lied to the country about the true state of the Hungarian economy to win April's elections. Gyurcsany has not denied making the statements and said Monday evening that he had no plans to resign. The Socialist members of parliament voted unanimously in support of the prime minister. The government called for an emergency session of the National Security Cabinet for Tuesday morning. Reacting to the rioting, Gyurcsany said taking to the streets would not solve any of the political problems. "The street is not a solution, but instead causes conflict and crisis," the prime minister told state-run news wire MTI early Tuesday. "Our job is to resolve the conflict and prevent a crisis." In Brussels, Hungary's European Union Commissioner Laszlo Kovacs said the unrest in Budapest put the "stability and future of the country" at risk. The EU Taxation Commissioner stressed that all parliamentary parties had to work together to overcome the difficulties. "Certainly burning cars and burning public buildings, like the Hungarian public television, is not the solution," he told reporters. Smaller protests against the government were also held in various cities around Hungary, but violence was minimal. Police fail to disperse protesters By Monday night, the crowd demanding Gyurcsany's resignation outside parliament grew as it was joined by people getting off work and coming to the capital from surrounding areas. Late Monday, several hundred protesters broke away from the larger group outside parliament and marched over to the nearby headquarters of state television, wanting to be allowed to proclaim their demands on a live broadcast. While most of the crowd watched from a safe distance, a few dozen protesters tried to break through police lines and into the TV headquarters, but police drove them back with water cannons and tear gas. Police also tried to disperse the larger protest with water cannon fire but the truck was quickly disabled by the rioters, some of whom escorted the police officers operating the vehicle to safety. Several cars near the TV building were set on fire, their flames scorching the building and damaging furniture inside. Rioters also vandalized a large obelisk commemorating Soviet soldiers who were killed driving Nazi forces from Hungary at the end of World War II. Some of the protesters made nationalist chants and waved flags with the red and white "Arpad stripes," a centuries-old Hungarian symbol named for the founder of the country's first royal dynasty. 'Lies and half-truths' In the recording leaked Sunday to local media, Gyurcsany could be heard admitting that his government coalition, which in April became the first in post-communist Hungary to win re-election, had lied about the economy, keeping it afloat through "hundreds of tricks" and thanks to "divine providence." Adding spice to the scandal, Gyurcsany's comments, made to the Socialists' group of parliamentary deputies, were full of crude remarks and called into doubt the abilities of some of Hungary's most respected economic experts. "We screwed up. Not a little, a lot," Gyurcsany was heard saying. "No European country has done something as boneheaded as we have." "I almost died when for a year and a half we had to pretend we were governing. Instead, we lied morning, evening and night," he told his fellow Socialists. President Laszlo Solyom said the news of Gyurcsany's May remarks as well as his attempts to spread responsibility about "lies and half-truths of the past 16 years" to the rest of Hungary's political elite had thrown the country into a "moral crisis." Solyom also chastised the prime minister for "knowingly" jeopardizing people's faith in democracy and asked Gyurcsany to publicly recognize his error. Gyurcsany defended himself by saying that was he trying to convince his party about the urgent and inevitable need for comprehensive reforms and to change the political culture. He also said Monday that the Socialist Party would not be conducting an investigation into who leaked the tapes.

SOURCE

This, in my opinion shows how much Americans are all talk. If something like this happened, we would have a bunch of whiny college students protesting in NY. Don't like your leader? (In hungary's case) Leader caught lying? Take action and storm a government building, that's beautiful. I love it.

___________________
"You won a new refrigerator, great! Where you gonna put it?" - Tony Danza

quote:

Originally posted by Temperate SOURCE This, in my opinion shows how much Americans are all talk. If something like this happened, we would have a bunch of whiny college students protesting in NY. Don't like your leader? (In hungary's case) Leader caught lying? Take action and storm a government building, that's beautiful. I love it.

Ohe yeah, lets have total chaos in the streets, lets burn down some cars and break some shop windows.... sounds like when either Dallas or Detroit fans when one of thier sports teams wins a championship

quote:

Originally posted by LazFX Ohe yeah, lets have total chaos in the streets, lets burn down some cars and break some shop windows.... sounds like when either Dallas or Detroit fans when one of thier sports teams wins a championship

It's... Better... Than... Doing... Nothing.

___________________
"You won a new refrigerator, great! Where you gonna put it?" - Tony Danza

quote:

Originally posted by Temperate It's... Better... Than... Doing... Nothing.

So we should as Americans, lower ourselves to act like uncivilized brutes where people may get hurt or worse killed??

Where were you during the Rodney King Riots?? They did not agree with the verdict and yes I remember I was standing in the Library at university and I was pissed off!!! But when I heard of the riots and people getting hurt, it pissed me off more.

Plus do you really think as an American, that your life here in the states is so fucked up as other countries that your only option was to riot like that??

quote:

Originally posted by LazFX So we should as Americans, lower ourselves to act like uncivilized brutes where people may get hurt or worse killed?? Where were you during the Rodney King Riots?? They did not agree with the verdict and yes I remember I was standing in the Library at university and I was pissed off!!! But when I heard of the riots and people getting hurt, it pissed me off more. Plus do you really think as an American, that your life here in the states is so fucked up as other countries that your only option was to riot like that??

I never said anything like that. And, like sublime said, the riots were to steal material items, it wasn't for rodney king at all. If you are going to riot, do it with meaning. Breaking into a store and stealing a TV isn't protesting any court decision, it's being an "Uncivilized brute". What these hungarians did, had a purpose. They went into a GOVERNMENT building (a STATE television building), that shows they are protesting the government, and if things escalate even more, who knows? They might even storm the capital building.

Honestly, you just didn't understand my posts at all. People whine about bush, but do they go as far as storming the white house and throwing him out of office (Which is perfectly legal, by the way)? No, they sit around, either on the internet, or in there college lecture hall, and outside of that, it goes nowhere. A bunch of bitches.

___________________
"You won a new refrigerator, great! Where you gonna put it?" - Tony Danza

No one in Ameica will riot, no one wants to lose what little they have. I understand what you are saying, and I agree but this country is not as bad as some of the whinny college kids say it is. When people riot in other countries, they riot cause they have nothing. They have nothing to lose if they are killed or jailed.

I can't remember who on here wrote this, but I copied it and kept it on my blog on myspace, just because what he wrote was so true:

quote:

It's 4 am and I was just thinking, the culture has become so institutionalized, all we can ever do is talk about how we are outraged with our government. Things like the American Revolution, patriotism, etc. are forgotten, they're in the past. Revolutions can't happen today in America, there's nobody who would give up everything they have... Who's gonna take it to the streets, the beer-guzzling men who spend most of their free time watching football and baseball instead of actually doing some physical activity? Family Guy and American Idol drones who've been so brainwashed by TV, they think Stephen Colbert is a republican? Who will risk losing their peaceful lifestyle, their moderate-paying job, etc.? Chuck Palahniuk was right, It's only after we've lost everything that we're free to do anything. Even the John Stewart worshipping liberal and libertarian college students may rant about how they hate the administration while they're feeling safe and secure, their tuition being paid by their parents... but all those words are empty if they don't actually lead to any action. Face it, when you need to come up with several thousand dollars to pay for rent / food / tuition / gas, political change and revolution fade out of your mind. I may be wrong, but i think that the only politically active people who are insane enough to actually do something are those crazy liberal hippies that strip naked for greenpeace rallies. The rest of the crowd shrugs news like breach of Constitution off and goes on with their lives; the more politically inclined simply rant in their blogs about it. It's the radical groups that have enough crazy people that they can bring change. This government has become something of its own, a beast that functions while disregarding feedback from the community that it's supposed to serve. What happened to the government of the people, by the people, for the people? When did the giant corporations take over? When did money become more potent than rational thought? How did we become the United States of Walmart, what happened to personal responsibility and why do we preach one fo the most idiotic concepts in the world - political correctness - while subjecting thousands of people every day to unfair racial profiling and racism?

quote:

Originally posted by LazFX No one in Ameica will riot, no one wants to lose what little they have. I understand what you are saying, and I agree but this country is not as bad as some of the whinny college kids say it is. When people riot in other countries, they riot cause they have nothing. They have nothing to lose if they are killed or jailed. I can't remember who on here wrote this, but I copied it and kept it on my blog on myspace, just because what he wrote was so true:

Great Post! But, we are facing a few problems in our country, that I think need to be addressed. And if not soon, we will end up eating our own words, and the liberal college kids of the past will be saying "I told you so".

quote:

Face it, when you need to come up with several thousand dollars to pay for rent / food / tuition / gas, political change and revolution fade out of your mind.

That's a big problem, in my opinion. This is also a reason many do not vote.

___________________
"You won a new refrigerator, great! Where you gonna put it?" - Tony Danza