Thursday, September 21, 2006
CNN Correspondent Finds Charm in Hungarians' Naiveness
Source: Portfolio Online Financial Journal CNN's Barry Neild said that street violence aside, there was “something exhilarating" about this week's public reaction to the Hungarian Prime Minister's confession that his government was guilty of playing fast and loose with the truth.
About 10,000-15,000 people rallied on the streets of Budapest, mostly at Parliament and a few hundred - later identified as soccer hooligans and far-right extremists - stormed the state television and clashed with police. Riots continued on Tuesday and Wednesday dawn, but the police was swifter to react and suppress the vandals.
The anger was triggered by Ferenc Gyurcsány who admitted lying for years to win April elections. "We lied in the morning, we lied in the evening, and also at night," the PM said, in “a conversation that had presumably been taped in the afternoon," Neild commented.
“The public anger reveals that until now, Hungary's voters had presumably believed that Gyurcsány's government had actually been telling the truth, an assumption many might laughingly dismiss as naive," he added.
“A cynical statement perhaps, but government leaders worldwide can hardly claim to have an unblotted copybook when it comes to setting the record straight."
Neild has also cited the old adage that goes, you can tell when a politician is lying -- he's moving his lips. MORE
About 10,000-15,000 people rallied on the streets of Budapest, mostly at Parliament and a few hundred - later identified as soccer hooligans and far-right extremists - stormed the state television and clashed with police. Riots continued on Tuesday and Wednesday dawn, but the police was swifter to react and suppress the vandals.
The anger was triggered by Ferenc Gyurcsány who admitted lying for years to win April elections. "We lied in the morning, we lied in the evening, and also at night," the PM said, in “a conversation that had presumably been taped in the afternoon," Neild commented.
“The public anger reveals that until now, Hungary's voters had presumably believed that Gyurcsány's government had actually been telling the truth, an assumption many might laughingly dismiss as naive," he added.
“A cynical statement perhaps, but government leaders worldwide can hardly claim to have an unblotted copybook when it comes to setting the record straight."
Neild has also cited the old adage that goes, you can tell when a politician is lying -- he's moving his lips. MORE
# posted by ATN @ 1:17 PM 
