Re: <nettime> for our american friends: wilders explained

[carl guderian <carlg@vermilion-sands.com>]

Hi all,

The world, however, didn't wait...

A quick troll of news websites the day after yields barely a mention  
for Wilders outside of nu.nl or NOS. Geert Wilders may be an A-list  
bastard here in the Netherlands, but his name sure doesn't conjure in  
the US, assuming anyone knows how to pronounce it.

Last night I tried to read and watch Wilders's speech. It was long  
and lacking any rheorical flourish. He was repetitive like a drunk  
trying to steer a barroom coversation back  to his pet conversation.  
It must have disappointed anyone trying to use it as political  
capital for the November elections. It certainly disappointed me, as  
I hoped Wilders would say something even more offensive to potential  
partners back home. At best it's jus another example of him running  
off when he gets bored building a government, which may at least  
offend the civic sense of CDA parliamentarians. (The VVD'ers have no  
sensibilities to offend nor do they have any moral qualms about  
anything, so this is all irrelevant to them.)

Pam Gellar's ' No Ground Zero Mosque protest drew about 1500, says  
MSNBC, but a counter-demonstration supporting the center got 2000.  
She already gets on-air spealing gigs for their shock value, but if  
she hoped to ride this event any further, she was sadly mistaken. The  
real A-list wingnuts, Glenn Beck & Sarah Palin, were holding a 9/11  
rally in Anchorage Alaska. Tickets were $65 (€50,-) a pop, and the  
photo below shows seating for maybe 150 people. Add it up and the  
takings run to maybe $10,000 ($20,000 if you believe Ms. Palin's  
figure of 300)--small potatoes for the egos and speaking fees for the  
two.

Pic of Anchorage rally here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ 
32527116@N06/4981752538/

I think we hit a high-water mark for 9/11-connnected bigotry and it  
scarcely got our feet wet.

I marked 9/11 by burning a picture of Augusto Pinochet.

Yrs,

Carl


On 11-sep-2010, at 22:45, dan s wang wrote:

> Thank you, Geert, for forwarding this primer for us, the myopic  
> Americans.
 <...>


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