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Wednesday, June 30, 2010

WNW: Besti Flokkurinn

This will probably take some explanation before it makes sense, so just bear with me for a moment.

Most of you are probably too young to know who Pat Paulsen is. The short version is that he was a comedian on the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour who, as a satire, ran for president from 1968 to 1996. What's amusing is that in some elections, he actually received more votes than some actual politicians (though he never won a single race.)

Fast forward to 2010. Something similar happens when Icelandic comedian Jon Gnarr decides to create a political party named "The Best" and runs for mayor of Reykjavik, the country's capital city. He makes all sorts of weird political promises, like building a Disneyland at the local airport and a drug-free Parliament by 2020 (as if!) He even creates this campaign video, set to a Tina Turner song:



Now here's the wacky part: he actually wins the election with nearly 35% of the popular vote.


I have no idea what is going to happen next, and neither does anyone else, including Jon Gnarr. It will probably be gloriously epic, though whether it will be a triumph or a trainwreck remains to be seen. Regardless, this is Political Discordianism at its finest. Hail Eris!

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