Geoff Coupe's Blog

Reflections on life at “De Witte Wand”…

Category: News and politics

  • In Denial

    I watched the BBC’s Political Editor, Nick Robinson ask George Bush if he was in denial about Iraq. Bush’s answer reminded me of a fish flopping at the end of a fishing line. I see that the Guardian’s Simon Hoggart had a similar reaction, only with him it seemed like a dead fish twitching on the fishmonger’s slab.
     
    But the really grisly thing, which makes the laughter die on the lips, is the reality that Bush and Blair, and the rest of their crew, have given birth to in Iraq. And it’s not as though the results were not foreseen before the invasion. We seem an awful long way from "Mission Accomplished" now.

  • Electoral Deadlock

    So, the Dutch Electorate have spoken. Trouble is, they have not spoken with a clear voice. No one party has control, so we’re going to have yet another coalition government. And the ingredients are even more like chalk and cheese, or sodium and water.
     
    I’m pleased that the Socialist Party has made substantial gains (added a further 17 seats); dismayed that the far right party of Geert Wilders has won 9 seats, and rolled my eyes that, only in the Netherlands, the party for animal rights has won two seats.
     
    I watched the "results debate" on Dutch TV – the leaders of the parties talked about the results together at midnight last night. Wilders was audacious enough to propose that it would be a good idea for Balkende to include his members in the government. You could feel the waves of distaste rolling from everyone else seated around the table. Mark Rutte, leader of the VVD (liberal) party, couldn’t contain himself, and expressed what I’m sure everyone else was thinking. It was, I thought, interesting that Balkende himself kept his counsel, but was happy for Rutte to leap in and say what needed to be said.
     
    Some more, and better analysis, here and here and here.

  • Sledgehammers and Nuts – Take Two

    I wrote earlier this month about the intention of the Dutch Government to ban the burqa. It seems as though the lovely Rita Verdonk got her way last week, and the Dutch government are indeed going to press ahead with this ill-conceived idea. Not surprisingly, there’s a lot of discussion about it.
     
    Jill, over at Feministe, summarises much better than I could, why the proposed ban is a bad idea. It is not going to help the process of integration one jot, in fact it’s going to make things worse on all sides.
     
    Verdonk is a menace. I hope that in tomorrow’s elections, the Dutch electorate will throw a spanner in the works.

  • A Party Political Broadcast

    We’re in the middle of political campaigning here in The Netherlands, leading up to elections later this month. Since I don’t (yet) have Dutch nationality, I’m not allowed to vote. So I thought I’d bring you a sample of political campaigning from Poland.
     
    Here, for your delight, and doubtless extreme puzzlement, is the party political broadcast of one Krzysztof Kononowicz, would-be mayor of Bialystok. I am indebted to Obscene Desserts for this gem. 

  • Sledgehammers and Nuts

    Disappointing news that the Dutch government is moving towards a total ban on the niqab and burka. While I happen to think that the garments say more about the odd ways in which women are viewed by one religion (and gawd knows, it ain’t the only one), I don’t think that banning them is going to help one bit towards the avowed intent of integration into Dutch society. It’s more likely to drive the "us and them" wedge further into this society’s hearts and minds.

  • Quote of the Day

    President Bush at a press conference yesterday: "In my first act of bipartisan outreach since the election, I shared with her [Pelosi] the names of some Republican interior decorators who can help her pick out the the new drapes for her new offices."
     
    Er, hello? I think the President’s brain has gone AWOL again… Perhaps he’ll offer her an unwanted neck massage next, à la Angela Merkel.
     
    (hat tip to Bitch PhD.)

  • Lipstick on the Pig

    Steven Poole, over at Unspeak, draws our attention to some of the wilder shores of Dubya’s rhetoric. As if we needed to be reminded that there is a buffoon in the White House.

  • Whose Brain Is Missing?

    While it doesn’t come as a complete surprise to me that Cheney doesn’t believe that waterboarding is not torture, and is a technique that is a "no-brainer" to use, I still have to draw a breath at the fact that people such as he hold power in the current administration of the US. How are the mighty fallen…

  • The Lady Is For Turning

    Some good news today. The Dutch newspapers are reporting that Rita Verdonk, the hardline minister for immigration and integration has done an about face on her position regarding Iranian gays who seek asylum in The Netherlands. She was on record earlier this year as saying that Iranian gays should not be granted asylum, and should be deported back to Iran. This caused heated discussion in the Dutch parliament at the time.
     
    Now it appears as though she has seen reason and reversed the decision. 

  • It’s That Man Again

    Keith Olbermann with another rousing piece of oratory – this time on the many lies of President Bush.

  • One Down, Two To Go…

    Life imitates artlessness… I read the extracts from the Downing Street memo on how Blair should bow out with a dizzy sense of losing my grip on reality. Quote:
    The retirement blueprint aims to promote the "triumph of Blairism" and allow the PM to quit on a wave of euphoria after 10 years in office. The secret strategy – drawn up by a small group of loyalists – is well under way. Mr Blair’s "farewell tour" includes plans to appear on Blue Peter, Songs of Praise and Chris Evans’ radio show.
    Now it appears that it wasn’t a figment of a crazed imagination. Some people actually think this way. Here’s one I made earlier. One down, two to go. Somehow, "euphoria" isn’t quite the word I’m searching for to describe my feelings about this. "Nausea" is probably closer.

  • No Free Passes

    This man Keith Olbermann is a magnificent orator speaking words of truth. Pity that his fellow countrymen seem incapable of waking up to it.

  • Letter From Thailand

    Doug Ireland, on his DIRELAND blog, has a report from Alan Platt on the coup in Thailand. It makes interesting reading. Perhaps it is indeed "a step back to make a step forward".

  • Unworldly Or Just Stupid?

    So the perpetrator of the bomb hoax who tried to stop Madonna’s concerts from going ahead this week turns out to be a Dutch priest. The astonishing thing was that he used his home phone to call in the threat. He’s either an idiot or perhaps he thought God would screen his number from the authorities. And it seems likely that he will get off lightly. If I were the judge, I’d throw the book at him. I have no problem in the priest saying that he disapproves of Madonna’s act, but trying to stop other people from seeing it by using a bomb threat is not right. 

  • Tone Deaf

    The main event in British politics is, of course, the "will he, won’t he" stepping down of Tony Blair and the question of who will succeed him.

    It’s a really unedifying spectacle watching the Blair and Brown camps plunging in the knives. Mind you, the key players don’t seem to be emerging with too much dignity either. And I confess I have a lot of sympathy for Rachel’s view that Blair is likely to be brought down in the end by people’s laughter rather than their anger at his misjudgements. Hopefully they’ll get rid of his coterie at the same time, particularly the idiots behind that fatuous memo. An appearance on Blue Peter? Beau Bo D’Or has the perfect comment on that idea…

  • Cloud On The Horizon

    According to this report in The Guardian today, President Ahmadinejad has called for a purge of liberal and secular academics in Iran’s universities. Terrific, just what we need, more evidence that life in Iran is becoming more theocratic than ever. However, according to Professor Sadegh Zibakalam, a political scientist at Tehran university: "Ahmadinejad is a populist trying to create a charismatic image for himself. These comments are aimed at those who voted for him and perhaps designed to divert attention from Iran’s economic problems. They don’t mean there is an orchestrated plot against more liberal lecturers."
     
    I sincerely hope those don’t turn out to be a case of famous last words.

  • A Wake-Up Call

    Being a simple Britisher, I don’t know who Keith Olbermann is. But I doff my cap to him. This coruscating comment on Donald Rumsfeld and all he stands for is simply stunning. I’m glad to see that some Americans, at least, realise that the current administration is a disaster of the first water.

  • Oh Gawd…

    So Angela met with Ratzinger and she thinks that the EU Constitution should enshrine "Christian values". Oh dear. She is reported as saying that: "We spoke about freedom of religion. We spoke about the role of Europe and I emphasised the need for a constitution and that it should refer to our Christian values."  
     
    Look, Angela, what I’d really like is freedom from religion to be enshrined in the constitution if at all possible. If people want to believe in the sky fairy, then let them do it in the privacy of their own homes and preferably between consenting adults – no corruption of innocent children should be allowed. Just don’t make it part of the state, thank you very much.

  • The Leader Of The Free World

     
    *With acknowledgements to Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington.

  • Hysteria At Large

    Armando Iannucci, in today’s Observer, sums up my feelings about the hysteria that is washing over us at the moment. But he says it much better, and funnier, than I could.