Is this comment by Barnet Green party parliamentary candidate racist or just obnoxious?

Sometimes in life, you have to sit back and take a deep breath before you say what you really want to say. Of all the blogs I've written so far this is the one I've thought longest and deepest about, because what I have to say is extremely serious. Following a blog I wrote which criticised the Green Party for not standing in Burnt Oak, I had an exchange of comments with one of their local Parliamentary candidates, Donald Lyven.  You can see the original post and the comments here :-


http://barneteye.blogspot.com/2010/05/barnet-greens-more-like-barnets-biggest.html

Mr Lyven left a series of comments, which weren't particularly complimentary about me. Whilst much of this was personal and abusive, I guess most people would probably take the view that a blogger such as myself probably deserves it (you'd probably be right as well). When a Candidate makes a comment with what could be construed as deeply racist tones, I believe that is a more serious matter and one which cannot be ignored. I believe it is one which deserves public scrutiny. In his final comment, Mr Lyven said the following :-

Oh, I hear there's a seat going in Zimbabwe North, why not try for it Rog? Don't worry about small parties standing there against you; they can be dealt with...I have a life, Au Revoir!

 I could not believe that a member of the Green party would say such a thing. Zimbabwe is one of the worlds poorest and most deprived countries. How insulting for the people there to be belittled in such a patronising way. It is also ill informed because there is an opposition party to Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe. It's called the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). Does Mr Lyven not realise how insulting it is to them to make such comments. Does he really think he can compare me saying that it was disgraceful that the Greens didn't stand in Burnt Oak, with the repression and violence meted out by Mugabe thugs on the MDC? In case it has escaped Mr Lyvens attention, the Lib Dems in Barnet are a small party. They have three seats out of 63 on Barnet Council.

Why choose Zimbabwe as a country to ridicule? There are plenty of repressive regimes in the world of all colours. There are plenty of corrupt politicians of all colours. There are many regimes who have killed far more opponents and in a far more systematic manner than Mugabe. So why does Mr Lyven choose Zimbabwe rather than Iran, China, Cuba, Burma or any of a host of middle eastern states to demonstrate his argument? Why does Zimbabwe, out of all of these states come to mind for Mr Lyven?

I have my own opinion about Mr Lyven and this comment.  I'll let you draw your own conclusions.