Surreal moments in political history

[Famous Mortimer]

Guatemala: Efraín Ríos Montt, one of the most genocidal dictators of the 1980s, remained free long enough to run in the 2003 Presidential election. He received nearly 20% of the vote in the first round. Interestingly, the majority of his supporters tend to be indigenous Guatemalans, even though they were deliberately massacred by his regime. Oh, and his daughter is a prominent legislator, shameless apologist for her father's regime, is considered a future Presidential candidate, and is married to a former US Congressman.


What the hell.

Why?

Rios Montt and the indigenous people are both Evangelical Christians.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Comparing the 1970 US Senate race in CT to the 2006 US Senate race in CT.

In 1970:
Anti-war Democrat is supported by Joe Lieberman
Pro-war Democrat turned Independent after losing primary is Chris Dodd's dad
Republican who wins is Lowell Weicker. He would lose in 1988 to the more conservative Lieberman.

In 2006:
Anti-war Democrat is supported by Dodd and Weicker
Pro-war Democrat turned Independent after losing primary is Joe Lieberman
Republican does badly

[beaver2.0]

When Tennessee State Senator Tommy Burks was shot by his opponent, Anthony Looper, who got 1,000 votes in the general election while Burks widow won in a landslide.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

1964, Senator Ernest Gruening is one of 2 Senators to vote against the Vietnam War.
1968, Senator Ernest Gruening is primaried. By Mike Gravel. The one who would publish the classified Pentagon papers in the Senate record.

[Crumpets]

Russia trying to surreptitiously revive Stalin's cult of personality in Abkhazia due to his ongoing popularity in Russia and the belief that Soviet nostalgia is good for the Putin regime. This, despite the fact that Stalin was an ethnic Georgian, and many of the reasons Abkhazia has been trying to move away from Georgia and towards Russia are due to Stalin's pro-Georgian, anti-Abkhazian policies.

[Yeahsayyeah]

Whoever is right on the details, the events of the last week leading to the Greek referendum should count.

[HagridOfTheDeep]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8P183mGLvkI

(And related incidents.)

[Simfan34]

Santa Anna's whole career was pretty bizarre. How does anyone serve as President on 11 non-consecutive occasions?

In that vein, the political career of Norodom Sihanouk surely counts. Twice King, thrice President, and ten times Prime Minister (if Wikipedia is anything to go by), not to mention inveterate ally of the Eastern Bloc and even the Khmer Rouge (!), who spent much of his final retirement dividing his time between houses in Beijing and Pyongyang (!!!).

But one probably cannot beat Emperor Bokassa I in terms of pure surreality.

[Gunnar Larsson]

I'd take Mummar Qaddafi and the Kim dynasty as living embodiments of surrealism.

I would imagine that at least in the case of Qaddafi it was some kind of political surrealism. It can be easier to get away with things if you are an absurd dictator rather than just a dictator.

[Gunnar Larsson]

Guatemala: Efraín Ríos Montt, one of the most genocidal dictators of the 1980s, remained free long enough to run in the 2003 Presidential election. He received nearly 20% of the vote in the first round. Interestingly, the majority of his supporters tend to be indigenous Guatemalans, even though they were deliberately massacred by his regime. Oh, and his daughter is a prominent legislator, shameless apologist for her father's regime, is considered a future Presidential candidate, and is married to a former US Congressman.


What the hell.

Also, in 2011, the wife of the president divoced him so that she could run for president herself. (http://www.cbsnews.com/news/guatemala-1st-lady-divorces-for-presidential-bid/)

[Gunnar Larsson]

This is a catch-all thread for your favorite bits of political history (American or otherwise) that stand out as bizzare or hilarious.

My favorite has to be the story of Horst Wessel's death. Wessel, a brownshirt who lent his name to the "Horst Wessel Lied", a Nazi marching song, shared an apartment with a live-in girlfriend in Berlin who happened to be a prostitute. He refused to pay his rent to his Communist landlady, who fetched some Communist toughs from a Red-run tavern to teach him a lesson. One of them, another pimp, shot poor Horst to death.

A bit of an oxymoron, no?

Well, one of the more well known local hotels is owned by a dedicated communist (and not so much in the eurocommonism style, the hotel contains busts of Lenin, Stalin etc.). In 2006 he managed to become entreprenour of the year.. All in all he is a major troll, a few years ago he wanted to buy a park from the municipality to create a Lenin park. His son was named "Brfxxccxxmnpcccclllmmnprxvclmnckssqlbb11116" (pronounced Albin..).

[Simfan34]

I'd take Mummar Qaddafi and the Kim dynasty as living embodiments of surrealism.

I would imagine that at least in the case of Qaddafi it was some kind of political surrealism. It can be easier to get away with things if you are an absurd dictator rather than just a dictator.

Idi Amin being the textbook case.

[Dancing with Myself]

"Let me make sure I understand. You're calling me back to retract your concession?" - Dubya

(Convo continues..)

"You don't have to get snippy about it George." -Gore

"Let me explain something," Gore lectures in a stony tone, "your YOUNGER brother is not the ultimate authority on this."

(Convo Continues..)

"Fine do you what you have to do Al."- Dubya.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

"Let me make sure I understand. You're calling me back to retract your concession?" - Dubya

(Convo continues..)

"You don't have to get snippy about it George." -Gore

"Let me explain something," Gore lectures in a stony tone, "your YOUNGER brother is not the ultimate authority on this."

(Convo Continues..)

"Fine do you what you have to do Al."- Dubya.

That's not the only surreal thing about the 2000 election. On January 6 2001, the Presiding Officer of the US Senate repeatedly denies attempts to have a vote to challenge the election results in favor of Al Gore because no Senator has signed the challenge. The Presiding officer is Al Gore.

sh**t gets crazy at 27:20

http://www.c-span.org/video/?161423-1/electoral-college-ballot-count

[Crumpets]

"Let me make sure I understand. You're calling me back to retract your concession?" - Dubya

(Convo continues..)

"You don't have to get snippy about it George." -Gore

"Let me explain something," Gore lectures in a stony tone, "your YOUNGER brother is not the ultimate authority on this."

(Convo Continues..)

"Fine do you what you have to do Al."- Dubya.

That's not the only surreal thing about the 2000 election. On January 6 2001, the Presiding Officer of the US Senate repeatedly denies attempts to have a vote to challenge the election results in favor of Al Gore because no Senator has signed the challenge. The Presiding officer is Al Gore.

sh**t gets crazy at 27:20

http://www.c-span.org/video/?161423-1/electoral-college-ballot-count

That video made all the more weird considering what we now know about Denny Hastert.

[StateBoiler]

"Let me make sure I understand. You're calling me back to retract your concession?" - Dubya

(Convo continues..)

"You don't have to get snippy about it George." -Gore

"Let me explain something," Gore lectures in a stony tone, "your YOUNGER brother is not the ultimate authority on this."

(Convo Continues..)

"Fine do you what you have to do Al."- Dubya.

That's not the only surreal thing about the 2000 election. On January 6 2001, the Presiding Officer of the US Senate repeatedly denies attempts to have a vote to challenge the election results in favor of Al Gore because no Senator has signed the challenge. The Presiding officer is Al Gore.

sh**t gets crazy at 27:20

http://www.c-span.org/video/?161423-1/electoral-college-ballot-count

That video made all the more weird considering what we now know about Denny Hastert.

Hastert never served in the Senate.

[VPH]

"Let me make sure I understand. You're calling me back to retract your concession?" - Dubya

(Convo continues..)

"You don't have to get snippy about it George." -Gore

"Let me explain something," Gore lectures in a stony tone, "your YOUNGER brother is not the ultimate authority on this."

(Convo Continues..)

"Fine do you what you have to do Al."- Dubya.

That's not the only surreal thing about the 2000 election. On January 6 2001, the Presiding Officer of the US Senate repeatedly denies attempts to have a vote to challenge the election results in favor of Al Gore because no Senator has signed the challenge. The Presiding officer is Al Gore.

sh**t gets crazy at 27:20

http://www.c-span.org/video/?161423-1/electoral-college-ballot-count

Would have been interesting had a senator signed it...

[pikachu]

Trump 2016 has to count at this point, right?

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

"Let me make sure I understand. You're calling me back to retract your concession?" - Dubya

(Convo continues..)

"You don't have to get snippy about it George." -Gore

"Let me explain something," Gore lectures in a stony tone, "your YOUNGER brother is not the ultimate authority on this."

(Convo Continues..)

"Fine do you what you have to do Al."- Dubya.

That's not the only surreal thing about the 2000 election. On January 6 2001, the Presiding Officer of the US Senate repeatedly denies attempts to have a vote to challenge the election results in favor of Al Gore because no Senator has signed the challenge. The Presiding officer is Al Gore.

sh**t gets crazy at 27:20

http://www.c-span.org/video/?161423-1/electoral-college-ballot-count

That video made all the more weird considering what we now know about Denny Hastert.

Hastert never served in the Senate.

It's a joint session of Congress. The Vice President usually presides, but there have been cases where the Senate pro tempore presides instead. I think people would have understood if Gore didn't show up, but he did.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Would have been interesting had a senator signed it...

None did, but Boxer challenged Ohio in 2004.


It failed 74-1 in the Senate
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&session=1&vote=00001
It failed 267-31 in the House
http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2005/roll007.xml

[Potus]

In 1888, there was a contested gubernatorial election. There was a huge reputation of voter fraud in West Virginia. The Democrat and Republican both filed a series of legal actions, with different courts in the state handing down different rulings leading both men to declare victory. So, each of these two guys said they were governor. The legal fight went on for so long, it passed inauguration day. The Governor claimed that a successor had not been elected, so he said that he wasn't required to abdicate the Governor's office. The President of the Senate, who was only elected to arbitrate the controversy over the gubernatorial election on the 126th ballot, declared that the Governor's term had ended and that there was no elected successor to fill the vacancy, so he decided he was Acting Governor.

So, in effect, West Virginia had four men claiming the Governor's office all at once.

EDIT: here's the full story http://www.wvgazettemail.com/article/20150623/DM04/150629736

[mvd10]

Trump 2016 has to count at this point, right?