Jan Peter Balkenende Endures More Stale Harry Potter References

Mijnheer Eerste Minister loses his halo for presiding over a nation that thinks for herself.



RNW reports in their roundup of the Dutch press a most un-diplomatic scrap arising from the vile EUtopian view that referenda should be a rubber stamp affair, with a 300 million member Supreme Soviet:

«On Saturday, the Belgian Foreign Minister, Karel de Gucht gave what De Telegraaf generously termed an "un-nuanced interview". The intention was to explain his viewpoint on how badly the Dutch government sold the EU constitution referendum in the lead-up to last week's resounding defeat. »

How dare a population think for themselves, eh? True to form, the criticism gets abusive. Nutty tho it is, its a lot more interesting than the usual dreck that we find in the press. Guchts point might have a little to do with the Dutch showing too much free will but mine would be that except for certain departments in life, they dont show enough

«To each his own opinion, one might think. Except, in the interview, he managed to criticize in no particular order: the sexuality of our fallen political warrior, Pim Fortuyn, the haircut of maverick MP Geert Eraserhead Wilders and the fickle decision-making process of the entire Dutch public.

Not content, he went on to deliver a good old-fashioned personal attack on the Prime Minister himself, describing Jan Peter Balkenende as a cross between Harry Potter and a well-behaved, but somewhat stiff, middle class kind-of-guy.»

As if there was anything wrong with not being an self-absorbed twit, or being gay, or the worst crime of all, occasionally respecting the broad range of the public's political views.

«"In whom", he went on to say - digging deeper and deeper - "I can detect no trace of charisma".»

Which is one of the reasons they also dont like George Bush: he is straightforward and rather honest a VERY rare trait in a Western European politician.

Algemeen Dagblad further reports on de Guchts plonk:
«...the government finds these insults "unacceptable". Specifically, Dutch Foreign Affairs Minister Ben Bot is furious...» As well he should be. The Euro-nitwit leadership class is starting to treat one another like they treat Americans. What next? Blame 'hegemony' on the late Pyn Fortuyn?

De Volkskrant adds that according to survey of voters, they found public interest to be reasoned and related to the issues, not braying ignorance:

«Subjects on which they would like to have a say include the issues of elected mayors, the welfare system and the future of the euro.»

But not if Karel de Gucht has anything to say about it.