ALL THE SCREAMING HOT GEERT WILDERS LOVE

Back in February fellow-blogger Treppenwitz posted something charmingly entitled "Just bite me, OK?!" It was a well-written post, which you might want to reread - especially in light of the peaceful noises coming from Israel's negotiating partners.

Rockets, bullets, insulting statements, and threats.
I am truly impressed by the Palestinian understanding of peace, and I wonder what word they use in their language for that concept.


After I had left a comment underneath, some exemplary product of the American school system saw fit to gently castigate.

QUOTE:
"At the Back of the Class,
Nice to know that you think English-speakers are too ignorant to inform themselves concerning the incredible complexities of the Netherlands. Did you not know that Dutch is one of that very small number of languages that can be successfully translated into English or that some Dutch-speakers are civil enough to inform the world rather than snark at it?
Here is what we see from North America: the pathetic little republic that now occupies the Netherlands is too gutless and incompetent to defend elected officials like Ayaan Hirsi Ali so the US is forced to offer asylum and security to these victims of official Dutch gutlessness. Now we are offered the disgusting spectacle of a Dutch judiciary willing to whore the rule of law to deny the basic right of free speech to a citizen.
There is nothing complex about cowardice and nothing at all surprising about seeing some portion of Dutch speakers who are eager to lick the spittle of savages and collaborate with bullies. Fortunately North America has two free countries that will and have defended the Netherlands while the gutless portion of Dutch speakers muttered into their tulips about the complexity of matters.
Thanks for accusing Laura of ignorance, otherwise we might have thought you a mere fool and not noticed that you were also a poltroon."


Eloquent, no?

What I had written was: "While I will not argue about Geert Wilders here, I really must ask whether you speak and read Dutch? Far too often English speakers are quite unaware of both the slant and the context of Geert Wilders' remarks, and far too often they are willing to believe that they have an accurate picture of the Netherlands.
The situation in the Netherlands is more complex, and in many ways quite different, than has ever been reported in any English-language fora.

I should also mention, by the way, that very few of us Dutch-speakers wear clogs, live in windmills, or grow tulips."

This in response to someone who huffily stated that she AGREED WITH EVERYTHING GEERT HAS TO SAY.


I do not agree with everything Geert has to say. But then, I have actually read more of what he has to say than the average dumb-ass Tea Partier (insult intended). Far more.


AGREES WITH EVERYTHING GEERT HAS TO SAY!

"Nice to know that you think English-speakers are too ignorant to inform themselves concerning the incredible complexities of the Netherlands."

As, indeed, your response seems to prove.


"Dutch is one of that very small number of languages that can be successfully translated into English or that some Dutch-speakers are civil enough to inform the world rather than snark at it?"

On the one hand, that is incorrect - Dutch does not translate well into English without tweaking (I have spoken Dutch and English as 'first' languages my entire life - please don't lecture me about either of my native tongues) - on the other hand it is quite clear that you have not read my blog. Had you actually read it, you would notice that I am one of those Dutch speakers who are 'civil enough' (as you put it). Please read my blog before you harangue me - you will find the labels 'Dutch' and 'Rottekaas' particularly useful.


"the pathetic little republic"

You mean 'constitutional monarchy'.


"Now we are offered the disgusting spectacle of a Dutch judiciary willing to whore the rule of law to deny the basic right of free speech to a citizen."

Please be so kind as to study the history of the Netherlands - freedom of speech has always had limits on it in the Netherlands, as indeed elsewhere in Europe, that would not be accepted in the United States. Mein Kampf, for instance, is not legally available. Lèse Majesty carries a prison sentence. Speaking against the monarchy is not advisable. And, for your information, laws against hate-speech do in practice cut both ways.
Do not, from this, assume that I am defending limitations on freedom of speech - for my view on that, read my blog - you will find the labels 'GeerWilders' and 'Fitna' particularly useful.


"some portion of Dutch speakers who are eager to lick the spittle of savages and collaborate with bullies."

Care to say that to my face?


"while the gutless portion of Dutch speakers muttered into their tulips about the complexity of matters."

Please be so kind as to get stuffed.


"Thanks for accusing Laura of ignorance, otherwise we might have thought you a mere fool and not noticed that you were also a poltroon."

I did not accuse, I asked whether she spoke Dutch. Too many people define the Netherlands either as Geert Wilders OR as tulips and clogs. Several more, mostly Americans, think in terms of hashish and the Amsterdam red-light district. Such simplistic views are as irritating as the European idea that all Americans are Indian-killing cowboys and Rednecks. Geert Wilders is not the be all and end all of Western Liberal Humanist values. To think that he is, is to overlook both the complexity of his political evolution and the norms of Dutch politics. Mr. Wilders is perhaps best understood as providing the regular kick in the pants that 'sGravenhage ('The Hague', to you) so desperately needs. Other than that, Dutch politics has a depth and viciousness greater than you seem capable of understanding.

As to who the fools and poltroons are, I maintain that that is still a matter of some debate.



And, further to both the Geert Wilders adulation on the one hand, AND the ignorant comments about the Dutch on the other, this:
Quote:
"Voor de PVV is het helder: weg uit Uruzgan, weg uit Afghanistan. Natuurlijk moet de Taliban worden bestreden, maar niet meer, voor zover we dat al deden, door Nederland. Ons land heeft meer dan genoeg gedaan. Het is mooi geweest. "
End quote.

Translation: 'For the PVV it is clear; get out of Uruzgan, get out of Afghanistan. Of course the Taliban must be fought, but no longer, insofar as we actually did fight them, by the Netherlands. Our nation has done more than enough. It's been fine.'

Those are Geert Wilders' own words. Either he is right, and the Dutch have indeed done more than enough, or he's a spittle-licking gutless etcetera.
Please clarify which of those points of view you endorse.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Labels referenced above:
Rottekaas --- Dutch --- Geert Wilders --- Fitna
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Of course, I never heard back from the gentleman to whom I had addressed my reaction. Possibly his acid-indigestion finally ate his brain on the way out.
But it is much more likely that, like so many worshippers of Geert Wilders, he couldn't find his way back to that comment string.
Not to make an unwarranted assumption, but that type usually can't tell the difference between their xxx and a xxxx in the xxxxxx - he probably wipes the xxx in the xxxxxx.


POST SCRIPTUM

If anyone who reads this also worships Geert Wilders, or has the misapprehension that a luminous orb shines out of his xxx, I will be more than willing to explain all of the long words in the post above - everything over four letters. Because I love you.

Oh, and just so you know - I've lived in the United States most of my life, so I am quite familiar with 'what we see from North America'.
The words 'myopia' (1) and 'tunnel vision' (2) come to mind.

1. MYOPIA = it mean: sight short, eye bad.
2. TUNNEL VISION = it mean: see only what in front of eye, think only what in front of mind.

==========================================================================
NOTE: If you wish, you may contact me directly:
LETTER BOX.
All correspondence will be kept in confidence.
==========================================================================