Dutch Reaction to the U.S. Election

By Onno Visser

These elections received more media attention in Holland than ever before. Amazement has always been the keyword in describing Holland’s feelings towards the presidential elections; this time outright incredulity took its place. A president who systematically and continuously lies to the American people, and the world at that, who ruined the economy and who makes it very clear that he will attack rights that no one in Holland, very orthodox Christians (a small minority here) excepted, would ever dare question. Same-sex marriage and abortion are probably the most obvious examples.

Though Kerry was not an ideal candidate (at all…), an overwhelming majority of the Dutch people would have ousted Bush the very first opportunity they had. Dutch media were almost as obsessed with the polls as I imagine those in the States were… until last week, Election Day.

A Dutch filmmaker and columnist was shot and stabbed to death by a 27-year-old Moroccan Muslim extremist. Van Gogh was the producer of a very outspoken anti-Muslim movie, dealing with domestic violence in Dutch-Muslim families. I mention this since it seems to have triggered a reaction in Dutch society that scares me, especially when looking at post-9/11 American society.

The media and right-wing politicians jumped all over the alleged lack of security in our country, the alleged lack of freedom of speech (if not here, show me where…), there is talk of "a society under great pressure" and right-wing politicians, of course, have all the right (populist) answers. After the murder, many arrests followed, a "death-list" was discovered, a mosque was set afire and there was a bomb-threat to the American Embassy in The Hague. Just as with the murder of Pim Fortuyn (a very charismatic right-wing Dutch politician) a couple of years ago, a shift towards the right is probably unavoidable.

But even now Bush would not stand a chance in Holland. How is it possible that Americans tolerate the two-party "choice" that is offered to them? An oft-heard Dutch response to the re-election is: "If that’s what they want, that’s what they’ll get". Bush is going to make the gap between rich and poor even larger, ruin the economy for generations to come, install judges in the Supreme Court who, in our opinion would best belong in a medieval setting, and he will do it with a smile. With a two-party system like this, "the man" is always going to win. Since both Kerry and Bush are "the man," it does not really matter who wins. Although I still get to vote for a green or socialist party which actually can make a difference, I know this is a luxury that will probably disappear within a decade. So, my reaction to the election is both one of anger (how could this happen, is this really a majority who wants Bush?) and one of fear. The political and societal similarities between America and the Netherlands are striking to me and the current trends in both hold nothing but potential for developments that will threaten freedom, our social system and most importantly democracy.

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Onno Visser is a Dutch citizen, a graduate student at Leiden University and a friend of Marlow Schindler; he wrote this analysis by request.

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