Hungary parliamentary election April 8 2018

[Antonio the Sixth]

Wait, MUH SOROS is a thing outside of the US? Really?

[Antonio the Sixth]

Wait, MUH SOROS is a thing outside of the US? Really?

While my home region would be a nicer place if America had a monopoly on antisemitism, the fact is that if anything, Orbán was the one who made MUH SOROS a worldwide mainstream right-wing meme in the first place.

I mean of course I know antisemitism is a thing everywhere and especially in Eastern Europe, I just didn't know Soros specifically was a trope there. I haven't heard French and Italian antisemites bring him up.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Well that explains it.

[Antonio the Sixth]

This is terrifying.

[Antonio the Sixth]

So the ballot-stuffing probably did happen. Hungary is officially an authoritarian regime.

[Antonio the Sixth]

  Ballot stuffing, corruption, vote buying or not, this result still falls somewhere around the range predicted, and the close marginal seats that I have been posting about (my Budapest "world capital of marginal seats" obsession) came through pretty marginal in the final results. Basically we knew on this thread, and the Hungarian electorate knew as well what the marginal seats were, and the final results matched this.
  Also, if DK could fall just under 5% that would be nice for Fidesz, and instead they didn't, finishing just above, and the likelihood that DK might be in trouble to reach 5% was known (and posted about on this thread days ago), so again the results aren't a big surprise.  This is not to argue that there might not have been cheating/fraud etc. but the results fall in the margin of the expected. 

And let me guess - all these marginals went for Fidesz by a hair?

You don't need Putin-esque margins to rig an election. Just make sure to get the right amount of votes from the right places.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Bring back Kádár

With this kind of comment, even if edgy and ironic, you completely disqualify yourself from criticizing Orbán's authoritarian tendencies -- you get that, right?

I'm just saying if Hungary wants an authoritarian they should go full Happy Barrack. Gulyáskonzervativizmus, anyone?

(and honestly Kádár was probably the least worst Eastern Bloc leader - Hoxha was a literal crazy person, Ceaușescu and Honecker were some of the most repressive leaders Europe has ever seen. I don't know much about Jaruzelski or Zhivkov but I can't imagine they're much better)

Yeah, while the 1956 revolt was crushed, it's worth noting that in its aftermath Hungary enjoyed a remarkably benign regime compared to its Eastern Bloc neighbors. Of course no self-respecting leftist should make apologies for dictatorships, but if the choice is between that and Orban...