A few days late, but worth reading. A great insight into hate speech by a self-proclaimed liberal.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfre ... tten-heart

I contributed to the discussion as 'nobledonkey'. I'm sure that Horvat would have liked to expand on his theme, but the Guardian has a tendency to severely cap wordcount on lesser opinion pieces.

One of the joys of this referendum victory is watching the Croatian left's disappointment with the lack of condemnation from western press outlets. The Guardian had to enlist a nobody like Horvat while the Washington Post went and dug up some guy named Cepo.

Thanks Americro for the article. I saw the Washington Post article but not this one. Sour grapes.

One of the most fascinating aspects to this whole issue is something that no one ever talks about. Voter apathy.

We saw it for the referendum to join the EU and especially saw it in Dubrovnik for the referendum on the golf course on Srđ where the turnout was less than 50% bot the majority of those who voted cast their votes against the whole project. Because there was less than 50% turnout and despite the overwhelming no vote, the referendum failed. I recall reading somewhere that one of the politicians hailed it as a victory because people did not go out an vote and this was a sign that they were for the project.

What?

Since when is NOT going out to cast your ballot a sign of progress? What next, just set your voter turnout bar for 50% for any issue that you don't want to pass and encourage people to not go out and vote? Well that tactic is eventually going to bit you in the ass....

Cue the referendum started by "U Ime Obitelj" regarding gay marriage. The pro-marriage forces mobilized and forced the issue in light of a media blockade and a smear campaign by the left. Well voter apathy did not save you here. If you had an engaged electorate on the side of the left you could have waged a better battle at the ballot box. You can parade around people to comment how evil this is, etc but the the real blame needs to go to the ruling government for not being inspirational and getting the voters out there.

In fact I read a comment that stated that almost as many people voted "yes" on the referendum as voted for the current government in the last elections. I did not fact check that claim. If anyone knows please share. If that comment is true then I think that is the real story here. That the current far left wing Croatian government got got served a cup of "shut the f**k up" by the people has to have them scared. I would be if I were them. The fact that nobody in the West really took notice has got to be a big blow to their ego too...

2011 Elections: Kukuriku = 958,312 votes
2013 Referendum: YES = 946,433 votes