MP James Hirvisaari, who got expelled from the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party last week, appeared on Ruben Stiller’s Pressiklubi Friday. Compared with his appearance on Enbuske & Linnanahde Crew’s talk show the previous day, the new Muutos 2011 MP’s fabricated lies and ignorance were exposed in the raw.
See full program (in Finnish) here.
Just like the many urban tales spread by anti-immigration politicians like Hirvisaari, one of their favorite deceptions is to portray themselves as champions of free speech. In the case of Hirvisaari, it’s the state prosecutor and hazy ethnic agitation laws that attempt to limit his freedom of expression.
If we look at what Hirvisaari has written before about immigrants and Muslims, we’d notice that the MP has had a lot of freedom to insult and victimize other minorities in order to further his political career.
The fact that racist Islamophobic diatribe has found a home in Finland through the writings of people like Hirvisaari, reveals that this country has serious intolerance issues to deal with.
Before the historic 2011 elections, in which the PS won 39 seats versus 5 in the previous election, far-right voices like Hirvisaari were elected to parliament thanks to their fear-mongering and lynch-mob style writings, which spread like wildfire thanks to the social media and national media.
Pressiklubi did a good job at exposing Hirvisaari’s exaggerations and outright lies. Johanna Korhonen asked the MP if he could give one concrete example how his right to express himself about Islam was limited.
Hirvisaari didn’t answer the question because it would have exposed the secret of his fabricated lies and exaggerations.
Another fast one pulled by Hirvisaari on the show was claiming that criticizing multiculturalism was forbidden in this country. If this is true, why is their so much intolerance and criticism of cultural diversity on many social media websites and forums in Finland?
When the media and the general public understand that intolerance, racism and victimization of immigrants and minorities have nothing to do with our national interests but are harmful to our society, it will be easier to nip characters like Hirvisaari in the bud before they sprout into political Frankensteins.