Media Far from Neutral on Swiss Voters Approving Deportation Measure for Violent Criminals
Correction [December 7; 15:05 EST]: Ms. Bachmann has informed me Tages-Anzeiger is based in Zurich, not Geneva.
The liberal media are generally fond of touting European countries for their liberal domestic policies, chastising America by comparison for being too conservative.
But when the electorate of such a country votes to institute a strong conservative policy over the objections of its political elite, the media's fascination with the European everyman evaporates.
Take Sunday's vote by Swiss citizens to institute a referendum law requiring foreigners convicted of serious crimes to be expelled from the country after serving out their sentences. Fifty-three percent of voters approved the bill, dismissing the objections of their professional political class who urged "no" votes.
Covering the story, the Christian Science Monitor decried the move as "the latest example of a sweeping set of popular antiforeigner measures around Europe":
Story Continues Below Ad ↓The vote to deport came over and against the views of many elected Swiss politicians, who seemed unable to rally against it.
On Monday, Swiss editorial positions warned against the nation being ruled by referendum or a new “dictatorship of the people.” The Geneva-based [sic] Tages-Anzeiger stated that, “The image of a cosmopolitan, tolerant, and internationally engaged country has taken a further battering.”
The Zurich-based Blick daily took a center line: "We are talking of 500 to 1,500 foreign criminals who would be expelled every year. Almost 2 million foreigners live here peacefully and contribute to our well-being. We should not lose sight of this proportionality."
In her dispatch from Geneva, Time magazine's Helena Bachmann at least put a human face on the pro-deportation majority, opening her story with one Lise Thevenaz, a Geneva receptionist whose teenage son "was brutally beaten last summer by a band of immigrants from Eastern Europe":
When she found out Sunday night that 53% of voters also supported the proposal, "I thought that finally we would be able to feel safe in our own country," she says.
But Thevenaz was the only pro-deportation voice in Bachmann's piece, as the Time contributor devoted the rest of the article to critics slamming the new law as violative of treaty obligations and possibly of the human rights of foreigners, as well as a cynical ploy by a minority of Swiss politicians appealing to populist anti-immigrant sentiment.
At no point did Bachmann include a pro-deportation lawmaker who would argue the deportation measure is about law and order, not an indictment of all foreigners.
For its part, the New York Times painted the move as a victory for the "far-right":
GENEVA — After heated debate and a campaign utilizing controversial “black sheep” posters, Switzerland’s far-right party won voters’ support in a referendum Sunday that calls for the automatic deportation of foreigners who are convicted of serious crimes.
Voters also rejected an initiative to set a minimum national tax rate for the wealthy that opponents asserted would have dimmed Switzerland’s allure as a tax oasis for rich foreigners and would have prompted an exodus by many wealthy Swiss and foreigners alike.
By contrast, the Times labeled the tax measure as coming from the "leftist" rather than "far-left" Social Democrat Party noting that "[e]arly enthusiasm for the initiative faded in the face of arguments by business organizations and threats to leave the country issued by some of Switzerland’s prominent rich."
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Comments
While the progressives in
Submitted by Barack_must_go..... on Tue, 11/30/2010 - 1:48pm.
While the progressives in this country where busy mocking God, us real Americans, Tea Party folks, business, free trade, private medicine while touting the ways of the rest of the world as more civilized than us conservative barbarians.
The rest of the world has done a complete turnaround , now feverishly clamouring to become just like us.
Obama surely has been the president that funda-MENTALLY change things.He has scared the entire world almost to death thinking he would be successful in destroying the greatest society, country and people ever to inhabit the earth........he was wrong and the rest of the world has come to it's senses.
Thanks Barack just for being you. You've singlehandedly guarenteed the world will survive and stamp out muslim terrorism before it even gets started.
Barack_Must_Go.....
It just shows how much
Submitted by Cappmann1962 on Tue, 11/30/2010 - 3:53pm.
It just shows how much America has supported Europe over the years, despite their socialist governments and wasteful social spending. This proves the saying - liberalism is fine until you run out of other people's money to spend. Now that we're becoming a European socialist nation, wasting money and not looking to the future (both socially and econimically), Europe is going bust. It is unfortunate that it takes national bankrupcy to finally bring these maroons to their senses (and I include Americans who supported the Obamessiah but no longer do so) and force them to realize that their system doesn't work. When American dollars stop coming in, they suddenly realize that the old American conservative democracy, while having flaws, is still the best system of government in the world. Look at how far America has come in just 230 years (I stopped the clock at 2006 - the beginning of our decline). While other countries have existed for literally thousands of years to our couple hundred, we have become the strongest, most prosperous nation in the history of the planet. The proof is in the pudding...
Dictatorship of the people
Submitted by ThisnThat on Tue, 11/30/2010 - 1:49pm.
Yeah, right. We're all dictators, and that's why voter positions in our country (USA) are regularly overturned by the democratic people-loving process of liberal judges! I hope the Swiss Tea Party has many, many more successful election results like this.
__________
“Didn't win the Medal of Honor? Didn't even serve? Then lie about it. We'll support you." — 9th Circuit Court
Tea Party doesn't seem that
Submitted by Ken Shepherd on Tue, 11/30/2010 - 1:53pm.
Tea Party doesn't seem that Swiss to me. Hot Cocoa Party maybe:
http://www.conagrafoods.com/consumer/brands/getBrand.do?page=swiss_miss
Just like Arizona..... But
Submitted by Ashrak on Tue, 11/30/2010 - 1:51pm.
Just like Arizona.....
But hey, let's recall how they snapped about a border fence here as Duncan Hunter pushed his bill about that subject. While at the very same time France was building the very same kind of wall for the very same reason.
It is not about immigration. It isn't about being more like Europe.
The common theme exists if people will only see it for what it is.
No matter what the topic is, the subject's side media takes is that it is WRONG to defend one's self especially in the rights epartment. Borders, firearms, bullying, private property, private contracts, war, taxation....the list goes on and on. No matter what, Old School media always takes the position that it is wrong to defend and that doing so is a punishable offense.
Dinaosauer media is losing its control and those pulling its strings know it even if they won;t admit it. The spoiled child will throw a tantrum about this happening, but there is no stopping it.
Notice how the Left has
Submitted by Van Halen on Tue, 11/30/2010 - 2:05pm.
Notice how the Left has gotten into bed with the criminal element? Communists, Socialists, Muslims, murderers, pedophiles, rapists, thieves, arsonists, militant homosexuals and environmental terrorists?
So it is NOT okay to deport
Submitted by WarEagle66 on Tue, 11/30/2010 - 2:10pm.
So it is NOT okay to deport VIOLENT criminals?
Send them all to live in San Fran or some other Liberal cesspool.
This is one is such a
Submitted by Francisco on Tue, 11/30/2010 - 2:38pm.
This is one is such a no-brainer that i'm surprised to see it wasn't already in place from the start (I always believed this to be the rule in most European countries, but apparently i may be wrong) ...
Even my most hardcore "multi culti" friends don't have any objection to deporting serious foreign criminals (many in fact demand it), so i fail to understand who were the 47% who voted "no"... I do stress "serious" though... deporting an otherwise law abiding citizen for a DUI or minor drug charge would not be as uncontroversial for me...
Except, Francisco, they
Submitted by MikeB on Tue, 11/30/2010 - 3:18pm.
Except, Francisco, they aren't citizens; they're alien residents, some legal, others, perhaps illegal. If the alien resident is in country illegally, they need to be deported whether they have committed any other crimes or not. Legally resident aliens need to understand that being in a country not their own is a privilege, not a right, and take care to obey all laws, even DUI and drug laws, of their host country. Otherwise, they have no right to complain if they are deported.
I agree with you on the
Submitted by Francisco on Tue, 11/30/2010 - 3:54pm.
I agree with you on the principle (being a resident non-citizen is a privilege.. I am one myself and agree fully with this position)... However, in practical terms, deportation in minor cases will cause a lot of grief, not only to the subject but to all the people in it's web of relations (many of them citizens that may depend on him, e.g. work, partnership, etc.) not to mention the cost that has to be incurred by the deporting country. Whereas in the case of serious crimes this is a non-issue, in the case of minor offenses i think this imposed grief might be needless... but I wouldn't lose my sleep over it either (unless it's a parking ticket, in which case I would have been deported a few times over already)..
If you're an illegal immigrant, you shouldn't be there, period ... I have to confess I admire many of the illegal immigrants who have the courage and personal drive to face all of the perils that both the trip and the settling entail in search for a better life for themselves (not necessarily the ones who jump the fence, but the ones who build rafts, starve, swim and drown) ... But if you're caught, game over, no complaining there...
My last paragraph might not sit well with many here, but so be it...
However, in practical terms,
Submitted by Dan The Man 2 on Tue, 11/30/2010 - 4:34pm.
However, in practical terms, deportation in minor cases will cause a lot of griefPerhaps we could give him your green card? I don't care how much grief it causes deport immediately and without any notice to others. After a few months we could deports hundreds of thousands. First we need to make the border a very inhospitable and indeed dangerous place to cross. I m envisioning a North/South Korea border with the same ROE. We need to militarize our border, take some of Mexico if need be.
I am obviously talking about
Submitted by Francisco on Tue, 11/30/2010 - 5:35pm.
I am obviously talking about _legal_ residents, so no need for extra green cards for them.. or for me, for that matter..
So you have citizenship?
Submitted by Dan The Man 2 on Tue, 11/30/2010 - 8:54pm.
So you have citizenship? Your profile indicates otherwise "European, Engineer, Born in 77" and if you are European then you are here on some kind of visa or green card. Anyone who violates the law is subject to deportation. So if will you give up your visa or green card to be here in the USA?
Well, i guess my profile is
Submitted by Francisco on Wed, 12/01/2010 - 2:14am.
Well, i guess my profile is not clear enough.. I mean European as in both born and living in Europe (in different countries). Sorry, i wasn't trying to be misleading on purpouse...
Sure, any violations of the law are potentially deportable in the US (which makes sense), i'm just commenting on mandatory deportation for "minor" causes (and i mean minor as in being caught with a joint or crossing a red light)..
And I'm arguing on the principle, not on whether in would produce subjectively desirable consequences (like increased deportations)...
Which country you from as it
Submitted by Dan The Man 2 on Wed, 12/01/2010 - 3:56am.
Which country you from as it could mean a big difference in your outlook. Part of the problem with immigration in the USA is our politicians are weenies when it comes to enforcing the rules. Pot in the USA is not a minor crime, in fact bigger quantities are felonies and visas and green cards and sometimes naturalized citizens can be deported for felonies.
Traffic offenses like running red lights are dangerous and the alien should be deported if committed frequently.
Needless grief.
Submitted by CobraMan on Tue, 11/30/2010 - 4:54pm.
"Whereas in the case of serious crimes this is a non-issue, in the case of minor offenses i think this imposed grief might be needless."
I believe that it's the other way around. I don't believe in the concept of "major" and "minor" offenses against the law. ALL illegal activity, all "offenses" against anyone, all crime itself, is "major," as each and every crime negativity affect one or more individuals, as well as society as a whole. When too may "minor" offenders are allowed to continue their illegal activities because we simply choose to label those illegal activities as "minor," then the concept of law itself is negated, which is something no society can endure. History has show us this valuable lesson again and again and again.
To be effective, the law itself must be absolute. There can be no "relativity" in law enforcement, no moderation in how we treat each individual crime or variation in the punishments involved. It is that very relativity that allows crime to continue unabated, as we witness every single day in every single country worldwide. It is that concept of relativity in crime that causes needless grief in every society that practices it.
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. The US Constitution
Unless you're a fetus. The US Supreme Court
Or Anwar al-Awlaki.
"eye for an eye"... still a
Submitted by Francisco on Tue, 11/30/2010 - 5:33pm.
"eye for an eye"... still a good practice IMHO
But seriously , do you
Submitted by Francisco on Tue, 11/30/2010 - 5:41pm.
But seriously , do you believe that a traffic ticket is merely quantitatively different than, say, a murder? Both are technically equally "illegal", but surely something is very different about them... it is that difference in quality that must be taken into account when dishing out punishment, not only the amount of damage caused to people and society..It's funny how the same libtards who want to allow more or
Submitted by no tingly legs on Tue, 11/30/2010 - 3:00pm.
less open borders, want to pardon (or not convict in the first place) violent felons, and want to restrict law-abiding citizens from exercising their second amendment rights are the ones most likely to live in gated/guarded communities. Ones like Barbra Streisand don't want us common folk to be allowed to walk on the beach in front of her estate and the totally clueless/nasty ones like Rosie O'Donnell think we shouldn't be allowed to own/carry guns BUT the security guard for her brat can do so.
Apparently the Swiss should have to keep violent, convicted foreigners on their soil after they've served their sentences so they can continue to prey upon law-abiding Swiss citizens. I just can't figure how the libs' brains got so mis-wired.
It is a step up, ya Swiss idiots.
Submitted by CobraMan on Tue, 11/30/2010 - 4:40pm.
So, the ruling elitists in Switzerland object to a democracy where the citizens themselves have control over their own rules and laws (called the Referendum process), and those elites even go as far as describing giving the power back to the citizens a "dictatorship of the people?' Why am I not surprised?
Hay, liberal Swiss idiots, allowing the citizens to control their own government through referendums, is as far from a dictatorship as you can get. Your preferred form of "democracy" where a few chosen individuals make all of the decisions of law and order, is far closer to a dictatorship than you're willing to admit. Will they sometimes make choices that YOU disagree with? I sure hope so!
I truly wish that, someday soon, our own federal government adopts a nation referendum process. That will reduce corruption amongst politicians in ways that are almost unimaginable right now.
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. The US Constitution
Unless you're a fetus. The US Supreme Court
Or Anwar al-Awlaki.
Swiss are different
Submitted by Don Miguel on Tue, 11/30/2010 - 6:12pm.
"But when the electorate of such a country votes to institute a strong conservative policy over the objections of its political elite, the media's fascination with the European everyman evaporates.
...
Covering the story, the Christian Science Monitor decried the move as "the latest example of a sweeping set of popular antiforeigner measures around Europe"
Two points:
1) The Swiss are not like other Europeans.
2) The Swiss have always been anti-foreigner.
not unusual
Submitted by Ciampino on Tue, 11/30/2010 - 8:57pm.
Most countries around the world already practice this deportation procedure. After all when a guest misbehaves, said guest gets booted out of the house. I believe we (the USA) did this earlier last century with Mafiosi when they got convicted.
Just because the U.S.A. has
Submitted by mostlymoderate on Tue, 11/30/2010 - 9:29pm.
Just because the U.S.A. has been screwed-up with multi-culturalism that doesn't really "work" doesn't mean Switzerland must suffer the same fate. Maybe the idea of gang violence and ghetto mentality doesn't look attractive to the Swiss. Maybe they want their language, traditions, mores and values to stay the same.
I think that is a tricky
Submitted by Francisco on Wed, 12/01/2010 - 2:20am.
I think that is a tricky statement to make, since most of the ghettos and gang violence (specially in the north and east of the US) involve black citizens, who can be hardly considered immigrants in the intuitive sense and with whom there are no real cultural clashes...
who can be hardly considered
Submitted by Dan The Man 2 on Wed, 12/01/2010 - 4:02am.
who can be hardly considered immigrants in the intuitive sense and with whom there are no real cultural clashesCulture is what you make it. in the USA civil war there were culture clashes at work and look what happened; the clash was between a largely agricultural south and a burgeoning industrial North. Anywhere you go there are culture clashes at work, it is basic human nature.
liberal mind
Submitted by AB_Normal on Wed, 12/01/2010 - 10:28pm.
The conservative looks at a murderer and sees a murderer.
A liberal looks at a murderer and sees a victim.
ab