Should We Apologize to the Netherlands?

[DHBirr]

A fellow using the handle "tom bruggem" made several comments, most of them acerbic and some very cleverly so, appended to this Washington Post article about the embarrassing ambassador we sent to the Netherlands.  My favorite was when Mijnheer Bruggem took exception to another commenter describing President Windrip as "the Orange Combover."  He responded testily, "As a Dutchman I would appreciate it if you stopped defaming our national color by using it to describe Donald Trump."

[hazard]

Yes, you should apologize as a nation.

Unfortunately, the only ones who can make that happen are the people in charge and they seem to be invested in digging the hole as deep as they can to either reach China/Russia and/or dodge the incoming nukes.


And for those US citizens saying 'this isn't (the) US,' sorry, you elected him. And the Republicans supporting him. Your entire government at the top Federal level, legislature, executive and even the judiciary is Republican aligned to the point that when a vote occurs along party lines opposition is meaningless.

This is the US you voted for as a people.

[Labster]

I'm glad you appreciate our politicians as much as we do, hazard.

When I was an A'dam last summer, I did apologize to the admission clerk at the Dutch Resistance Museum.  You see, that was about the time that Trump had wanted to listen to all sides of an issue where a Neo-Nazi had killed someone. FFS.  She was one of the few people I met over there who wasn't great at English, but I got the point across.

However, this really isn't the US.  We didn't elect him, our system did.  In the last election, the majority of votes cast went to Trump's opponent.  The majority of votes cast in congressional elections also went to Democrats.  However, due to the way our system is gerrymandered, this translates to Republican majorities in all branches of government.  The people of the United States did not vote for our current government, but we got it anyway.

What really happened here: Every 10 years, we have a census and redraw legislative districts.  2010's census happened during a Republican upswing year.  The census has been the same since 1790, but there was a new factor in 2010: computers and GIS software.  So instead of somewhat fudged districts from the party in charge, we get custom-designed districts that model population changes over 10 years to ensure that Republicans keep majorities.

For instance, in Virginia's House of Delegates, Republicans lost by a -9 margin but still control the house.  (Since that article was written: One race was a tie, and the coin flip went to the Republican. #ThisIsWhatDemocracyLooksLike) So please don't blame the people of the US, because our government is not a representative democracy.

[robkelk]

So why do you tolerate it?

Whenever I ask about your Second Amendment, I'm told that this is the sort of thing it's intended to prevent...

[hazard]

Labster?

You can't toss this onto the 'but the system of government' pile. Either the people elected him under the rules they want to use, or the first words of the US Constitution are meaningless because 'We the People' are not the ones with the power that the US Constitution says they have.

And if they don't? Why does the public tolerate it? It is theirs by right and the politicians aren't supporting what they swore to support.

[Labster]

Necroing this thread so I can ask for an apology from the Netherlands for interfering in our elections.

Uh, let's find a random relevant article... Who is Alex van der Zwaan, Special Counsel Robert Mueller's New Defendant?  That's right, a Dutch citizen has pleaded guilty to lying about for working with the Russians.

Another guilty plea recently is uh, some programmer guy who lives like 10 miles from me and went to the same community college as me.  Seriously news is getting weirder.  Headline yesterday was "High Speed Pursuit ends in Poisoning", which happened on the freeway within walking distance of my house.  I'm afraid reality is starting to lose coherence.

In reply to Hazard's previous point, I'm just going to refer you to the Discordian Sermon on Ethics and Love.  Just because everyone wants something doesn't mean very much.

[hazard]

In rebuttal I will note that he was born in Belgium and raised and educated in London. The extent to which he is Dutch (beyond his passport) is debatable. I'm also not sure he's part of the conspiracy to interfere with the elections, but the Mueller investigation is nearly impossible to get any information out of and evidence of that would be locked down anyway. The fact that he was arrested by the special counsel does point in that direction though.

And for that I will apologize.

Also, Lab, just because everyone wants something may not mean much, but that they then make it happen does.

[Labster]

That wasn't seeking a real apology, it was just one of those "hey, right back at ya" things. We can't be responsible for the crimes of all our random countrymen (unless, you know, we make it really really easy for them to get a gun).