Mr. Hakkarainen goes to Helsinki

[This post is one of a series about Teuvo Hakkarainen, the newly elected True Finns Party MP from Viitasaari. For the record, my grandfather was born in Viitasaari.]

Teuvo Hakkarainen
[Photo credit Sami Kero from Helsingin Sanomat - International Edition]

MP Hakkarainen recently urged that refugees who were denied asylum in Finland should be sent on their way. Except that he referred to the asylum seekers, many from Somalia and other parts of Africa, as niggers. “I didn’t know that it was an abusive word. It came naturally to me,” he said. He was surprised that his comments drew a lot of attention. He is from a small town in the country where people speak plainly, he noted, characterizing his choice of words as "a little mistake".
Hakkarainen was chastised by True Finns leader Timo Soini. For our American readers, this is the equivalent of Rep. Michele Bachmann telling someone in the Tea Party to tone it down.