Austrian Fascist Hearts Che Guevarra

Time Magazine covers the upcoming Austrian elections and profiles the hard right's rising star Heinz-Christian Strache:

Though he has built his career on dire warnings about the dangers of foreigners, Strache poses on his website as Che Guevara, donning the rebel's trademark beret and highlighting the last three letters of his name for anyone who misses the point. He praises Venezuela's left-wing demagogue Hugo Chavez and, in his campaign rap "Viva HC!", chants "Yes-We-Can" (in English), a reference to the campaign slogan of Barack Obama. That's an odd choice given that Strache is urging that some African immigrants be deported. "Austria! First!" he sings, backed by an unsettling crowd chant. "Our Homeland! Our people! Our culture! Our language! Is what I stand for, HC Strache!"

The Austrian right, including the party led by Jörg Haider, whose favorable comments about Adolf Hitler's policies led to international condemnation a decade ago, could garner 25% of the vote when polls open on September 28.