Whose color is SDP?

(portalnovosti.com)

It is irresponsible to claim that half a million Ustashas gathered at Thompson's concert - the citizen concluded. "It is more correct to say that absolutely none of those who were at the Hippodrome last Saturday are Ustashas. Ustashaism without Ustashas - isn't that a fundamental concept since the creation of the Independent and Sovereign?"

The husband rolled his eyes in a nearby armchair, which the citizen took as an incentive to continue his speech:

"Only when you praise Endehazija with all your heart, when you roar the Ustasha cry from the bottom of your veins, when you enthusiastically welcome the apology for the slaughter, and energetically refuse to be called an Ustasha, do you confirm yourself as an exemplary member of the community."

“What kind of community, for God’s sake?”

“Cynical communities, my dear,” said the citizen, delighted that she had managed to draw her sullen partner into her train of thought. “In a cynically structured society, such as this Croatian one, general hypocrisy is the basic fuel, which means that there is no longer any significant event in which organized hypocrisy is not involved. So those half a million singing Croats, together with their political guardians, can infantilize themselves to their heart’s content and insist on their benignity, knowing that by doing so they are not endangering, but rather strengthening, the Croatian fascist rise. Namely, they are aware that only as steadfast hypocrites will they realize themselves as steadfast Ustashas. That is the code.”

“What code?”

“The characteristic of contemporary Croatian fascism is that it presents its deepest essence as an unimportant folklore addition. It should be honestly acknowledged that the authorities have been consistent in this for all these decades: we do not want those who openly declare themselves fascists, but those who claim that they are not while wholeheartedly affirming fascism, those who abhor the Ustasha while shouting 'For the Homeland, ready'. Remember the late Tuđman, who publicly glorified Franco, and then subjected journalists who dared to call him a Francoist to legal persecution. Or when he had the achievements of ZAVNOH written into the state constitution, while at the same time ordering the demolition of three thousand partisan monuments. If you ask me, it is precisely this programmatic cynicism that makes Croatia specific in relation to the general triumph of the right in Europe.”

“Why would she be specific?”

“In many European countries, the radical right gradually comes to power, and in Croatia it gradually remains in power. For thirty-five years now.”

"With short periods of relaxation when the government was led by the SDP," her husband added.

“What you just said is the stupidest thing I've heard today!” the citizen interrupted him. “Sometimes you really do sound like the ultimate retard…”

“Why?!” the husband protested. “Well, look at the harsh statement the SDP put together regarding the Ustasha riots at the Hippodrome. They say it is a ‘worldwide disgrace’ and that ‘extreme messages have received state logistics and direct support from the top of the government’. They wonder how it is possible that Plenković avoided saying that ‘in Croatia, Ustashaism has no place and will have no place either on stage or around it’…”

“I know, I know,” his wife chimed in. “I especially liked the part about the ideology that ‘elevates Jure and Boban to the level of God and patriotism.’ And then that ingenious sentence: ‘If there is a hell, Jure and Boban are certainly in it’! Oh, please!”

"What's the problem?" the husband was confused.

“The problem is that I am quite old, and my memory has not left me,” said the citizen. “There is no greater misfortune than when you find yourself in a glass shop with an elephant's memory, surrounded by transparent goods. Disarray is guaranteed!”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“I am talking about how on May 9, 2014, the SDP mayor of Split, Ivo Baldasar, celebrated the opening of a monument to the unit named after the Ustasha butcher Rafael Boban and gave an impressive speech. Then he made that anthological slip about the ‘day of victory over anti-fascism’. So the Ustasha criminal was in hell, and the SDP official was on Split 3, devoutly gazing at the monument on which the criminal’s name was engraved.”

"I forgot that..."

“But I didn't,” the citizen snorted. “Let me remind you, Colonel Skejo greeted those present with the cry 'For the homeland, ready', to which Baldasar reacted with enthusiastic applause, a few hundred neo-fascists lined up in black uniforms, with black flags, and the place of honor among them - to complete the atmosphere - was occupied by Marko Perković Thompson himself. The SDP member shook his hand warmly, and perhaps even framed a joint photo for remembrance... And how did the SDP leadership respond to that?”

“How did it manifest itself?”

“No way!” the citizen concluded. “They were as silent as fish, every single one of them. And I remind you that at that time the Social Democrats ruled the country, Milanović was at the head of the government, your ‘short period of relaxation’ was in force… What would have happened if the leadership of the then ruling party had assessed the Split fascist rally as a ‘disgrace’, where ‘extreme messages received state logistics and direct support from the top of the government’, with a clear message that ‘in Croatia, Ustashaism has no and will have no place either on the monument or around it’? Why didn’t they do that? Because the event in Split was undoubtedly one of the micro-scenes that over time swelled to the Ustasha rally at the Hippodrome.”

"Okay, honey, but that was eleven years ago," the husband whined, "SDP may have changed, perhaps they have sharpened their worldview sensors..."

“I wouldn’t say so,” said the citizen. “As far as I can see, the upper echelons of the party are mostly the same people. The current president, Siniša Hajdaš Dončić, was the minister of transport at the time, his deputy Arsen Bauk served as the minister of administration… all those who are loud today were once silent. Only the party leader at the time changed his bedroom in the meantime, and now naps in a villa in Pantovčak… Not to mention how the shameful leftist silence resonated even louder the following spring, in 2015.”

"What happened the following spring?"

“Then, on April 10, the day of the establishment of the NDH, the SDP mayor of Split sent a wreath and an official delegation to the monument with the name of the Ustasha bloodthirsty carved in it. And the top brass of his party did not say a word about it. Moreover, Novosti contacted individual members of the SDP leadership on this occasion, but, with the exception of Vojko Obersnel, literally everyone refused to comment on the matter. So Boban was in hell, and the Social Democratic wreath was at the foot of his monument.”

“And what do you mean by reminding us of that historical episode?” the husband asked.

"That the SDP should vehemently criticize the filth it has been involved in promoting, whether by action or by silence," said the citizen. "Therefore, a self-referential note in that criticism would certainly be welcome. Otherwise: who is the SDP painting?"

"Okay, but we won't get to the point where we equalize the HDZ and SDP's contributions to the Ustashaization of Croatia, will we?" the husband protested.

“Absolutely not,” agreed the citizen, “it was the HDZ state project, for now completed with beautiful fireworks and mental pollution of Zagreb. It is just good to keep in mind that the ruling right-wing cynicism has not usually faced left-wing resistance, but rather left-wing contributions. Remember that Račan's first move after taking power in 2000 was to impose a false 'Declaration of the Homeland War' on the nation, thereby legitimizing the cynical matrix set by Tuđman.”

"Oh yes," the husband surrendered, "the so-called Croatian left lives in constant fear of being caught in a patriotic deficit, which, logically, leads it to shit, because it accepts the rules of the game of the hot-headed right. I'm afraid that the team from Možemo suffers from that too! They shy away from ideologies, and then neatly lay a wreath on Tuđman's grave, honoring him on his birthday."

“The best description of that state of mind was given a long time ago by the same Baldasar, who said that, as far as music is concerned, he listens to ‘both Cohen and Thompson,’” said the citizen. “I remember that at that time some guy, I forgot his name, published ‘An Open Letter to the Moron at the Head of Split,’ with a chillingly topical final sentence.”

"What sentence?"

“When musicians like Thompson enjoy honorary status, musicians like Cohen are usually on tour, traveling in cattle cars to one of Auschwitz.”

“Well, in the meantime our Lenny died too,” sighed the husband. “I’ll never get over him.”

"Life takes care of the balance," the citizen consoled him. "Cohen is gone, and Thompson is here."