Pim Fortuyn - shot dead

Man, that's crazy. His party's vote could go up now. Initial BBC report here.

Apparently the killer has been captured. My granny called me. Although I didn't agree with his views, I agreed with my grandmother: "What is this world coming to when you can't express your views?"

dude, like, what the hex0r is goin on in europe?

This shocking event will cause immmense damage. Fortuyn will doubtlessly become a martyr (supporters are already laying flowers and burning candles at his home), whilst 'the left' are already being accussed of complicity. A land renouned for its tolerance, and freedom of political beliefs, has been turned on its head.

If the general election goes ahead I fear his party 'List Fortuyn'will now become the largest party despite losing its sole driving force. My wife, who disliked him and everything he stood for, is in tears. I'm quite shaken and hope ILE don't mind me using the group to ventilate some of this.

i only heard of him first time on friday: someone brought him up because they were puzzled and possibly frightened that he was i. hard-right, ii. increasingly popular, iii. openly gay (as was everyone present at the horrible squabble that followed, if gay includes bi for the moment). Who killed him?

Still unclear. It happened in the middle a large media centre in Hilversum where he'd given a radio interview. One report said it was a 'white male' (if the assailant isn't white all hell will break lose). Members of his party are already blaming the media and 'the left' for 'demonising him'. Political leaders are calling for calm and meeting in The Hague.

I hated his guts. He was a very superficial politician, totally in love with the idea of power. The assassination for the Dutch is really shocking, this sort of thing literally hasn't happened here for centuries (I for one can't remember the last true political murder, outside of WWII). But in a way I can't say I'm really shocked, he was pushing things too far and in the end reaped what he sowed. Charisma + popularity + political change = magnet for psychopaths.

Police conference: a white dutch male has been arrested who has, as yet, offered no explanation for his actions.

On the one hand, he could become some sort of martyr/hero, and that is worrying. On the other, what we have is a dead fascist, which is the best kind of fascist.

Less Adolf and more Ernst Roehm from the sound of it...

Times are a changing. Europe is becoming radicalised again. The left must get organised.

Pim Fortuyn represented the most modernised manifestation of the Far right. The Far Right has been modernising, adapting to the times. The left on the other hand, cowed by the eighties and the 'victory' over 'communism'/'socialism'/oligarchic state capitalism, is either still fighting the battles of the 20s or abandoning its principles. The Moderate right has found a new creed of economic libertarianism and social conservatism.

It's not for want of looking; Tony and Bill's third way is a dead end. The anti globalisation movement may hold some of the answers and some of the leaders, but they scare too many ordinary people whereas Le Pen and Fortuyn speak in comforting tones to the marginalised.

Q: How do I reconcile my distaste when someone gets killed with the detached elation I feel that someone who would cheerfully harm me for no good reason has been removed from Earth?

A: I drink a Starbucks Mocha Frappucino. Mmm, chocolatey!

Thought I find myself having at least fortnightly while consuming news: "Please please please let it be a white guy who did that."

I think we can safely assume this will only increase the List's electoral results (even if only by spurring greater turnout of marginal supporters) -- the question is whether that will be followed by a sharp drop-off (or petering out), or whether one electoral success could actually allow the far right to put its foot in the door, so to speak, carving out a space for themselves within the mainstream. People are of course hesitant to cast votes for "fringe" factions -- but one those factions have established themselves within the majority discourse, they begin to seem like more and more realistic alternatives. I desperately hope this won't have that effect, especially as it's ... umm ... possible that ... certain individuals with familial relations to me are living in the Netherlands in a manner that's less than entirely ... well ... legal.

Isn't he something more complicated than a regular fascist though? From the little I've read his shtick was that, as a gay man, he was paranoid that immigration and Islamic fundamentalism would endanger the tolerance that allows his kind of lifestyle. Maybe this was just after-the-fact rationalisation for simple racism, but it seems to me indicative of a bigger, erm, kulturkampf. Liberal fundamentalism, or something?

so he was like a us or them version of Harvey Milk?

Fortuyn was no fascist, though he held some very intolerant views on immigration and Islam. He was a complex and paradoxical figure which made him an elusive political opponent. He was a non-practising Catholic who regarded Christianity and Judeaism as the founding pillars of what he regarded as modern Dutch society. He was a former Marxist professor, a one-time member of the Dutch Labour Party, who drifted further and further to the right as he went into political journalism. He was a millionaire with a luxurious lifestyle. Above all he was openly, defiantly gay.

He had a fine line in populistic rhetoric, projected a mediagenic charisma, + was something of a dandy always seen in tailored Italian 3-piece suits. I couldn't abide him let alone his politics.

He wanted an end to immigration, a minimal number of asylum seekers, and regarded Islam as a 'backward culture', because he regarded it as threatening western freedoms, such as his right to be gay. He delighted inprovoking what he regarded as complacent 'establishment parties' especially of the left. He was mortified to be compared with figures such as Le Pen. He preferred Churchill and Berlusconi.

Having grown familiar with him over the past 5 years I'd disagreed strongly with most of his views, and was horrified as his political party looked set on achieving success. I was far from alone, only this very evening the centre-right Dutch paper of record NRC Handelsblad contained a suitble, but devastating critique of Fortuyn and his brand of demagoguery.

None of which is any justification for shooting him dead in cold blood. This is completely new territory for the Netherlands.

Couple of real-time 'blogs-from-Amsterdam links for you... Adam Curry (yup, the ex MTV guy) and another guy who's right next to the riots.

Pretty brutal picture of Fortuyn's body on Curry's blog -- just a warning if you are squeamish.

My dad and I had a GIGANTICK argument last night about this. He's latent right wing... till you start discussing politics, then he's openly right wing... Only he doesn't really think so. Urgh. If there's one thing I shouldn't do is talk politics with me dad.

Oh was openly right wing. Technically not a fascist, that would mean having an ideological base. Fortuyn didn't have that. He was shallow, opportunistic and a misogynist to boot. A narcissist craving power and with an almost sadistic tendency to shake things up after which he moved on to other subjects to talk bollocks of. And this blaming of the media and the left is utter garbage. The thing is the man wasn't able to foresee what he was unleashing by creating himself as a pure media politician. I'm not that surprised what happened to him, there's a deviant logic to it. Anyway his "party" is a joke, a collection of straw men, they'll disappear.

Before people start saying things like "The only good fascist is a dead fascist" they better start clearly defining what 'fascist' means to them

Also, surprised more hasn't been made of his placing queerness in opposition to Islam, so what if he hijacked it, isn't it a valid issue?

Actually just ignore everything I said. I just woke up.

Its not surprising that he places homosexuality against islam. Islam isn't that tolerant of sexual minorities, (women included in its more extreme forms). Its distasteful that he manages to lump judeao- christianity, not with islam, but with a populist progressive liberal viewpoint, using it as justification for some idea of 'dutchness'. And using that idea of dutchness.

I find all religions pretty distasteful, but I'm happy to let people go on doing as they feel, so long as they don't impinge on my, or anyone elses freedom to do the same.

He's so much more complex than a Le Pen or Haider, once again he's a disenchanted lefty, drawn into 'populist' politics. He alone though has managed to shape rightwing polityics in his own, and his country's own, image. Haider, Le Pen, Bossi, Griffin, et. al., all play the same stuck Enoch Powell record. I'd be much more terrified by a fotuyn figure than by any of the above.

Ed: wrong read on Haider. He's more complex than that, and infinitely more complex than the British press would have it. He and Fortuyn are actually remarkably similar, except that Haider's closeted. Haider had invited Berlusconi and Fortuyn to talks about the formation of a European Right populist party, and apparantly Fortuyn was receptive to the idea. Le Pen was not invited, as he was apparantly "too racist" for Haider.

As with anon, my first thought was relief that he was killed by a white man. My second was, why don't assassinations happen more often? I mean, thank God they don't, but it puzzles me.

i only heard of him first time on friday: someone brought him up because they were puzzled and possibly frightened that he was i.

I got very confused by this sentence.

He was shallow, opportunistic and a misogynist to boot. A narcissist craving power and with an almost sadistic tendency to shake things up after which he moved on to other subjects to talk bollocks of. And this blaming of the media and the left is utter garbage.

Don’t disagree with a word of that Omar, he was a nasty peace of work . Doesn’t make his assassination, and the introduction of handguns into Dutch politics, any less welcome. Fortuyn is just as dangerous as martyr. His party may be a joke, a one-man-band now leaderless, but the sympathy vote could well now deliver them the largest party in parliament, after the next election, which appear to be going ahead on May 15th.

Latest from the police is the killer had links with 'the environmental movement.

(um, "any more welcome", stevo?)

Has this been covered at all in UK media? i might leave the house and buy a paper if so: i had a thought abt the political incompatibility of prole fascists (griffin) vs shopkeeper fascists (le pen) vs gucci fascists (haider) — which is probably extremely deluded wishful thinking on my part. It goes: the Nazi party in 30s Germany found a way to overcome-override large scads of normal (and healthy haha) cross-class hostility and snobbery, for long enough to do what they did: no post-war Euro-fascist org has come close, so far.

(um, "any more welcome", stevo?)

yeah, sorry, and 'piece of work' not 'peace..' My English is going to pieces mark.

Judging from where I live, the 'prole fascists' and 'Gucci fascists' are one and the same. (Maybe the 'Ellesse/Coq Sportif fascists', or whatever fucking brand is 'in' right now in Smack Towers)

(yeah by gucci i actually meant "successful smooth-shaved media-presentable middleclass w.college edu" blah blah cf austrian and italian movement leadership, plus possibly also this pim guy) (i think i once read haider being called this: ps i *don't* think shared taste in clothing brands is enough to build a mass movement on)

Yes Mark, it is all over the UK media (though second to baby snatching the radio news)

( = possibly most deluded thing i evah tht??)

(the brands thing not the media thing)

ok i am leaving the house to buy a paper blimey

According to one news source the man held for killing Pim Fortuyn is called Volkert van der Graaf. I just googled it and it turns out he maintains a web site.

*checks* A passionate site, but very little to suggest any sort of direct antipathy to Fortuyn or his party. Was Fortuyn known for a non-animal rights stance?

Sorry Ned, got my facts twisted. Its not HIS website, rather he was connected with this organisation. There is an interview with him

on this site.

Apparently Fortuyn once remarked that he was opposed to bans on hunting....or something.

I work at the radio station where Fortuyn was shot. I had to do a show four hours later and fifteen meters from where it happened. I talked to the program-director who saw it happen. You don't have to be a supporter of his ideas to be shocked by what happened and to be frightened of the possible implications.

I have a feeling this site is about to get a lot of traffic, so let me cut and paste the interview here:

Even in elementary school I was interested in animals, the environment and nature. I was a member of the WWF Rangers, and we did things like picking up garbage in the dunes, etc.

I also used to fish, with my brother who was two years older. I used to get a kick out of catching fish. My brother put the worms on the hook. I did think it was mean on the worms and the fish. It just wasn't right, but apparently everyone thought it was normal.

During my high school years this feeling that something was not right, increased. People think it normal that you eat animals, and that you let fish suffocate in nets when you catch them. But inside me arose a sense of justice; such things shouldn't be happening in a civilized country, I thought, but there's no one to stand up for them. When I was 15, I worked at a bird shelter in Zeeland. Only 2 percent of the birds that were brought in covered in oil survived. I wanted to prevent suffering, and I didn't agree with the suffering of the birds that died slowly from the oil in their intestines. At that place it was a taboo to end that life. The others thought you simply had no right to end it. At the same time they put out mousetraps to kill the mice that were stealing the bird food. I left that place, I didn't want to be inconsistent any longer.

At one point I wanted to stop eating meat, but my parents wouldn't let me because you had to eat meat. Only after I started studying in Wageningen I gave it up. The questions remained: is leather OK, is milk OK, are eco-eggs OK?

Then I became a vegan. It took some effort, but once you are one, it becomes normal fast, you know where to find things. Sometimes when you have dinner with other people, you encounter incomprehension.

During my studies I involved myself in the use of laboratory animals. I joined a regional group of the NBBV (anti-vivisection federation), did stand work, went to work for Lekker Dier, teach at schools, I've been involved in several actions.

As a member of the IUOD (Inter University Consultation on Animal use) we tried to bring back the number of laboratory animals used in education. We fought for the right not to have to use test animals in our studies, we made a survey on laboratory animal use for certain subjects, and we tried to offer support to students who were against this as well and told them how they could lodge their objections. We didn't want to impose a standard, but present facts. Students could make up their own minds based on the descriptions of animal tests and the procedure that they could follow to be exempted from animal testing. We asked them: do you want to cut into a dead piglet or into sharks that were caught as by-catch during herring fishery?

Now I'm working for Milieu Offensief (Environment Offensive) that is involved in the environment as well as animal welfare. Whatever your motives are for working here, you work together toward the same result: stopping the expansion of factory farming. The result is less pollution of the environment and less animal suffering.

Through legal procedures we fight permits for factory farms and fur farms, using the law as our tool. In the past few years we have been through as much as 2000 legal procedures, we won a lot, but now we are going to apply ourselves more to the heavy offenders of environment and animal suffering.

My actions don't come so much from love for animals, I just have a basic standard: "what happens to animals in factory farming is not right". For the rest I just act rationally, I don't have to be an animal friend to protect animals. Many animal protectors act from the assumption that "nature is good", but every dark side of humans can also be found in nature. Protecting animals is civilizing people, as they say.

A passionate enough speech, I don't doubt the man's motivation on that front. Again, though, nothing blazingly obvious to suggest political disaffection.

Here's the Environmental Offensive site mentioned above. In Dutch only, though.

At one point I wanted to stop eating meat, but my parents wouldn't let me because you had to eat meat. . You've really got to hand it to his parents.

Apparently, his wife was shocked and surprised. She and their young baby have been housed elsewhere. I guess the killer thought he could get away with it. He's not talking to the police.

Doesn’t make his assassination, and the introduction of handguns into Dutch politics, any less welcome.

Obviously ;)

Fortuyn is just as dangerous as martyr. His party may be a joke, a one-man-band now leaderless, but the sympathy vote could well now deliver them the largest party in parliament, after the next election, which appear to be going ahead on May 15th.

Even so it won't make much difference, nobody is going to govern with a bunch of muppets. Word around the campfire is that Kok will be forced out of retirement to form a broad coalition, which I think is a smashing idea. The nasty thing is how people are now openly talking shite about foreigners and the left. The faster people forget him the better if not I'm off to Espana.