Denying the Cookie Crumbs
Are politics just as messed up in your country as they are in mine?
The Dutch government has once again survived a crisis night, barely four-and-a-half months after being sworn in. This time, the crisis was triggered by a possibly racist and polarizing quote from a minister. One of the secretaries of state resigned, very understandably not being able to align this with her own principles. While her party chose to keep the government alive, their decision implicitly showed a lack of full support for one of her members.
And so, the crisis was averted. For now.
During the post-crisis press conference, the prime minister felt it was necessary to deny (again) that his government includes any racist ministers. That denial is a problem on its own. After all, if you need to deny something, it raises the question: why did the issue come up in the first place? Wouldn’t it only be mentioned if there was at least a little bit of truth to it?
It’s like a child caught with crumbs all over their face, denying they ate any cookies. So far, this government hasn’t demonstrated that they rise above such behavior.
I’d like to hope they’ll improve in the future. But I doubt it.
2025 is going to be interesting...