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Spain goes to the polls

Think of it as US Federal elections on the 14th of September 2001. Here's today's editorial from Libertad Digital, a right-of-center Spanish paper (translated with the aid of 'cuz I've lost a lot of Spanish knowledge since, er, coming to Canada):

Sea cual sea el resultado de las urnas, sea cual sea el reflejo en el voto de la conmoción popular provocada por la masacre del 11-M, nada esencial ha cambiado tras la espectacular investigación policial que en sesenta horas ha sido capaz de descubrir pistas que apuntan a terroristas marroquíes ligados con Al-Qaeda como posibles autores de la masacre. Las razones por las que la Izquierda en general y el imperio prisaico muy en particular negaba la autoría más razonable, la de ETA, era deslegitimar al Gobierno y al PP ante las urnas y prevenir un voto de castigo contra el PSOE por sus complicidades con los socios de la ETA en Estella y Perpiñán. Las razones por las que muchos defendimos y defendemos la actuación del Gobierno en este caso y las hipótesis que desde el principio sostuvo como lógicas son igualmente evidentes: porque lo eran, porque es el Gobierno legítimo de España y porque no hay nada sustancialmente distinto entre una masacre provocada por ETA en Chamartín y una masacre provocada por los islamistas en Atocha, salvo que los muertos de esta última pueden arrojarlos los caínes de Ferraz y de Gran Vía a los pies de Aznar. Razón de más para defender al presidente del Gobierno frente a tan abyecta conspiración. Razón de más para defender al PP del golpismo desatado en una izquierda que se ha apresurado a deslegitimar las elecciones si las pierde. Como de costumbre. Acaso más que nunca, pero como siempre.

Whatever the result of the polls, however the tumult caused by the March 11 massacres is reflected in the vote, nothing essential has changed in the wake of the spectacular police investigation which has, in seventy hours, been able to pick up the trail leading to Morroccan terrorists with ties to Al-Quaeda as the possible authors of the massacres. The reason that the Left in general and the imperio prisaico [?] more specifically has ruled out the most reasonable suspect, the ETA [Basque terrorists], is to delegitimatize the Government and the PP [Partido Popular, the ruling right-of-center party] before the election and to prevent the voters from punishing the PSOE [left-of-center, socialist party] for their complicity with the partners [political wings] of the ETA in Estella and Perpiñán. The reason that so many of us defended and still defend the actions of the Government and the hypothesis that from the beginning was logical is similarly evident: simply, that this is the legitimate Government of Spain and because there is no substantial distinction between a massacre carried out by the ETA and one carried out by the Islamists in Atocha, unless this one can throw the
caínes [?] of Ferraz and Gran Vía at the feet of Aznar [Prime Minister of Spain and leader of the PP]. That's a further reason to defend the head of the Government from these abject conspiracy theories, a further reason to defend the PP from the coup d'etat mentality of a Left that has hurried to delegitimatize the elections if it loses them. As usual. Maybe more than ever, but like always.

Los datos revelados por el Ministerio del Interior nos obligan a una sola rectificación: admitimos que hemos sido demasiado duros con Ángel Acebes, cuya angustia en estos días ha debido ser terrible, pero cuyo comportamiento informativo, transparente hasta extremos muy perjudiciales para su partido, arroja un saldo finalmente positivo para el sistema, para el Gobierno y, sin duda, para su conciencia. No es poca cosa cuando no se sabe qué puede salir hoy de las urnas. No lo es saber que en el Gobierno hay gente timorata de puro decente y no audaz de puro canalla. De Corcuera y Belloch a Mayor y Acebes (pasando por Rajoy) la diferencia moral es... insalvable. Cuando la Izquierda acusa a la Derecha de mentir es porque no concibe que en política se pueda hacer otra cosa. Porque ella no hace otra cosa. “La mentira puede ser una herramienta revolucionaria”, decía Lenin. ¡Se lo van a contar a Rubalcaba!

The data revealed by the Interior Minister forces us to make a correction: we admit that we were too harsh on Ángel Acebes, who in these last few days must have been suffering terribly, but whose cooperative attitude, transparent even to the detriment of his party, has made a positive contribution to the system, to the Government, and, doubtless to his conscience. [I'm not sure about that sentence.] This is no little thing when one does not know what the result of the vote will be, or know whether there are decent, pure people or mere gangsters [I'm not sure about this sentence either...] in the Government. The moral difference between Corcuera & Belloch and Mayor & Acebes (by way of Rajoy) is... unsalvable [I'm not sure what that word means, likely the sentence is saying that Mayor, Acebes and Rajoy are incomparably better than Corcuera and Belloch]. When the Left accuses the Right of lying, it's because they can't conceive that a politician could do anything else. Because it can't do anything else. "The lie can be a tool for the Revolution", said Lenin. They're going to tell Rubalcaba that!

Nuestro editorial de anteayer se titulaba: “Fue ETA; pero si hubiera sido Al Qaeda, ¿qué?”. Podemos invertirlo y mantenerlo: “Ha sido Al Qaeda, pero si hubiera sido ETA, ¿qué?”. Las víctimas siguen siendo víctimas y el crimen sigue siendo crimen, maten los asesinos en nombre de Alá o de Euskal Herria. Desde el 11-S, Occidente está en guerra contra el terrorismo islámico, por eso defendemos toda actuación nacional e internacional que conduzca a su destrucción. No se puede estar contra el terrorismo en Madrid y no en Manhattan. Quien se somete al protectorado etarra en Cataluña es tan vil y tan estúpido como el que busca un protectorado terrorista islámico para toda España a cambio de abandonar la alianza con los países a los que odian los islamistas: Estados Unidos, Israel, Gran Bretaña... y España. Ben Laden, antes de la guerra de Irak, ya reivindicaba Al Andalus, o sea, España, como hace el terrorismo islámico marroquí que se estrenó en el atentado contra la Casa de España en Casablanca. No hay alternativa a la de la lucha implacable contra los que quieren destruirnos: destruirlos. No sabemos lo que hoy dirán las urnas pero nosotros seguiremos diciendo lo mismo: estamos con el Gobierno legítimo de España y contra el terrorismo. Y estaremos con cualquier otro Gobierno legítimo que luche contra cualquier terrorismo. Ayer, hoy y pasado mañana.

Our editorial of the day before yesterday was entitled: "It was ETA; but if it had been Al-Qaida, what?". We can keep that by inverting it: "It was Al-Qaida, but if it had been ETA, what?" The victims would still be victims, the crime would still be a crime whether the assassins were killing in the name of Allah or Euskal Herria. After 9/11, the West has been engaged in a war against Islamic terrorism; for this, we defend every national and international action conducted against terrorism. It is not possible to stand against terrorism in Madrid but not in Manhattan. Who under the aegis [?] of the ETA in Catalonia is so vile and stupid that he seeks to make all Spain an Islamic terrorists' protectorate and abandon the alliance with the nations which find the Islamists odious: the United States, Israel, Great Britain... and Spain. Bin Laden, before the war in Iraq, had already vindicated Al Andalus -- that is, Spain, [I suspect Al Andalus is the historical name for Spain under Arab rule, and this use is tantamount to, say, Germany referring to Poland as "East Prussia"] releasing Morroccan Islamic terrorists to attack the House of Spain in Casablanca. There is no alternative to this implacable fight against those who which to destroy us than this: to destroy them. We do not know what the vote will be today, but we will certainly say the same: we stand with the legitimate Government of Spain and against terrorism. And we will stand with any other legitimate Government which fights against any sort of terrorism. Yesterday, today and tomorrow.

I find this amazing; it certainly puts the lie to the claim that the US is engaged in a unilateral war. I certainly think there are things wrong with Western liberalism, but I would much rather live in a materialist, somewhat hedonist society and work within that system than undergo physical persecution in a Muslim theocracy, and it appears that Spaniards, Englishmen, Poles, Japanese, Australians and Iraqis feel the same way (they signed a new Constitution the other day, in case you didn't notice, and also attacks are petering off)....

Update: Preliminary results are in; with 76% of votes counted, the Partido Popular has lost, going from 183 seats to 147 and from 44.5% of the vote to 37.1. PSOE has gained 40 seats to a total of 165 (from 34.1 to 43.1). I'm not sure what all the other parties are, but IU rose from 5 to 8 seats, CiU from 10 to 15 and ERC which is I think the Basque nationalist party down from 8 seats to one. I know very little about Spanish politics though, for a much better analysis check out Iberian Notes, excellent blog run by an American living in Barcelona.

Posted by Tim at March 14, 2004 03:21 PM | TrackBack