Rotterdam Councilor’s Controversial Views on Politics, Democracy, and Humor

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As a councilor in Rotterdam, I of course also had to deal with entrepreneurs. The most intriguing was undoubtedly Willem van ‘t Wout. He was a scrap metal wholesaler ‘who traded in Cuba’. His daughter Merel cut tailor-made suits for Fidel Castro. Because The Chef didn’t always walk around in military fatigues. In his spare time he wore a tailor-made suit. Willem van ‘t Wout’s relationship with the political government of Cuba was therefore excellent.

In 1998 it was commemorated that it had been 350 years since the Battle of Matanzas had taken place. Piet Hein captured the silver fleet. On the occasion of that commemoration, Van ‘t Wout donated to Cuba a ‘faithful’ replica of the statue of Piet Hein, as it adorns us in Rotterdam Delftshaven.

That replica was made by the Rotterdam sculptor Willem Verbon. When making the replica, he allowed himself to make a small but significant deviation from the original. The laces on the left shoe by the Cuban Piet Hein are loose!

Cuba expert Willem van ‘t Wout spoke to me at the time the memorable words “Mr. K., man is not good enough for socialism!”

Today I’m actually starting to think that man is not good enough even for parliamentary democracy. After all, we are now busy throwing ‘the bridal bed of democracy’, parliament, on the scrap heap. And that at a staggeringly fast pace.

But what matters to me here is the loose laces on the left shoe…The humor of Willem Verbond. Delicate humor, which today you can find with a lantern.

On the other hand, there is no shortage of crude or fake humor. It is therefore a lot easier to produce. Let me give it a try: “No wonder the Netherlands has a fake parliament, after all, it is a fake country withdrawn from the North Sea…”

But our main supplier Grove Humor today is Geert Wilders. The politician whose style descends from the Venlo carnival. I’ve pointed this out before. For three days, the buutteredner, a character in a wig in a beer barrel, can insult the city council with impunity: “The councilor is a whoremonger!” and/or utter nonsense.

The people shout Alaaf after every ‘quip’, the mop orchestra does Chieng Boom. For three days. But then it has to be over. They return to the order of the day.

The problem is that Wilders did not quit after three days, but has now been playing the Venlo buutteredner in the House of Representatives for fifteen years. He insults continuously and often also spouts blatant nonsense. (Netherlands from the European Union, for example)

And the ‘people’ think, it is apparently non-stop carnival in the Netherlands today. Party every day! You know what? We’re going to offend a little too! And ever since, the reactionary crowd has been shouting Alaaf! on his brown accounts and the mop orchestra streams Tsjieng Boem!

Now, to make matters worse, Geert Wilders’ master servant Martin Bosma has now received the gavel of the House of Representatives, the man who once helped his boss discover the ‘head rag tax’. A great humorist, or so he thinks. He once (in 2010) had a column in the NRC, alternating with Femke Halssema. In his first column (November 24, 2010) Bosma wrote:

“Later we won’t tell each other anything: we don’t like each other. According to you, I am a populist, far right, I set groups against each other, I am secretly against democracy and actually… deep down inside a fascist.”

Dark humor indeed! And that is the man who, as fake chairman of the House, will soon have to hammer out the blunt one-liners of Geert Wilders, the intended fake Prime Minister of a fake country, in the fake parliament. Of course that’s not going to happen. In fact, I think Bosma will ‘delight’ us in Chamber meeting after Chamber meeting with his own fun.

Netherlands, wake up! Strengthen your democracy. A lot can (and must) be done extra-parliamentarily. Establish citizen councils. Expert think tanks are also not to be sneezed at.

First of all, a Migration Think Tank. It must be possible to write a Migration Memorandum that clearly explains what is and is not possible in this area.

Tomorrow I will cycle to Delfshaven. Why? To take a look at the Piet Hein statue or one of those laces of the right shoe los to sit. Why else?

2023-12-19 18:39:55
#humor #Matanzas #Joop #BNNVARA