Demagogue

The Netherlands is currently governed by a conservative coalition. The Prime Minister, Jan Peter Balkenende, is widely disparaged as uninspiring and charisma-free, though I was impressed by his speech on (Dutch) Memorial Day (May 4) and in his joint appearance with Bush at Margraten Cemetary a few days later. But his reaction to the French vote against the EU Constitution was worthy of Scott McClellan, if not Ron Ziegler (ask your parents).

The Netherlands should vote yes, according to Balkenende, to show that although it is a small country, it can act independently of the big European powers like France. Until yesterday, his message was that the Netherlands should vote yes so as not to isolate itself from the big European powers like France. And, as one of my colleagues--who plans to vote yes--pointed out this morning, saying that the Netherlands should vote yes because France voted no does not exactly show that the Dutch vote is "independent" of the French vote.

Trenchant analysis from an eclectic blog that I can't quite figure out, but that seems to be written by a Dutch anti-capitalist lefty, at Dear Kitty.