About the chapter
There is a saying that ugly people play politics. Logically, I was very attracted to it. From the age of eighteen I began to actively follow the situation in the Netherlands and America. At that time in America it was about people like Barack Obama, John McCain and Hillary Clinton, here in the Netherlands it was André Ruvot, Jan Peter Balkenende and Henk Kamp. Although the influence of the US Congress in my life is very small, it has an irresistible attraction. In terms of experience, the difference between the Capitol and the House of Representatives is if you compare the Superbowl to the Dutch National Championship.
Because of his role as an authority figure, politics in America, despite all the glitz and glamour, was by definition reliable. But over the years, the show became crazier and the contestants different. We had a good laugh at Sarah Palin-like types as supporting characters of the time. People with this quality are the heroes today. So it became difficult to continue to see America as an infallible father figure. Like you’ve secretly watched Sinterklaas saunter up a tree with a can of beer in hand.
The low point came last week. A series of photos from the Georgia prison where former President Donald Trump and his associates were arrested for election fraud. Mugshots paint a sad picture. They are less like a sophisticated group of master con artists than a veteran musician’s B-actors.
Despite this, a large group continues to support him unconditionally. You yearn for the days when politicians were boring people who did their jobs. How we put that genie back in the bottle, I don’t know. But not to be discouraged, I’ll end this week with good news.
Takahe. New Zealand is a flightless bird. For hundreds of years it was thought to be extinct. But it turned out not to be so. So the people made a plan to make those birds come more. It works. No polarization, no conspiracy, no World Economic Forum involved.
Google him, Takahe. You’ll see nothing but souped-up dodo. But I see a walking monument that somewhere on Earth there are still normal functioning people.
This is a column by Editor-in-Chief Julian Verbeek
