Thursday, March 4, 2010

Image Scrimmage

Al Jazeera endeavours to explain the ramifications of Geert Wilders's surging popularity:
The popularity of Wilders, who compares Islam to fascism and the Quran to Adolf Hitler's book Mein Kampf, has dented the image of the Netherlands as a country that has often portrayed itself in the past as a bastion of tolerance.
Well, not exactly. What has dented the Dutch image is the sight of its most popular politician being hauled in front of a kangaroo court to account for what amounts to a "blasphemy" charge. Also, homosexuals getting beaten up on the streets of Amsterdam by sharia aficiondados--from an image standpoint, not all that helpful.

And, oh yeah, let's not forget the assassinations of Pim Fortuyn and Theo Van Gough. Those murders haven't really burnished the old Dutch image, either.

No comments: