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Doe Maar Normaal or Rot Op Naar Je Eigen Land

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Doe Maar Normaal or Rot Op Naar Je Eigen Land

If you don’t like it here, rot op naar je eigen land. (Go back to your own country). Yes dear reader, the statement above is not from some nationalistic grandma in a sleepy Dutch village, angry about ungrateful immigrants protesting against Zwarte Piet. No this wonderfully tolerant statement comes from none other than the current Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Mark Rutte.

A sudden shift to the far right is there an election soon?

Some unkind people say that Prime Minister Mark Rutte has the passion and temperament of a jellyfish. Yes his motives might be transparent, but there’s a general election taking place soon, and his party, the VVD are behind in the polls to Geert Wilders PVV.

There’s a good chance that Geert Wilders party could win the most votes in the next election, so the master strategists behind Mark Rutte have advised him to prove that he also cares about the things that upset average hard working Nederlanders like Henk and Ingrid.

rot op naar je eigen land if you don't like it here
Go back to your own country even if it’s the Netherlands


a jellyfish
Mark Rutte moving further to the right

Henk and Ingrid

Henk and Ingrid are typical PVV voting native Dutch people living in the provinces. They’re not in the least bit racist but don’t like Moroccans, Turks, Muslims, Eastern Europeans, Syrians, Africans, Americans,  or people from other parts of the country. They’re partial to a bit of roti, but aren’t that keen on black people unless they’re in blackface during the Sinterklaas season or are playing for the Dutch national football team.

They strongly believe that white people have the right to dress up in blackface, and to suggest that blacking up is in any way offensive, is actually racist….to white people.

The state of the world is what they read in the Dutch tabloid ‘De Telegraaf‘, which is like a modern day version of Der Sturmer.  It’s also the official mouthpiece of Geert Wilders.

Spot the difference between two headlines, one from 2017 and the other from during the second world war.


These are the people that Mark Rutte needs to win over if he’s to stand a chance of the VVD remaining the largest party following the next election.


A letter to all Dutch people

Typically, Mark Rutte’s natural voters are entrepreneurs,  and the Het Gooi and Wassenaar roll your rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr’s rrrrrrich for generations types. To appeal to Henk and Ingrid in the buurtkroeg (neighborhood pub), he needs a message that will cut through the clouds of smoke and appeal to brains softened by vast quantities of cheap beer.

His strategy is to appeal to the base nationalistic and xenophobic tendencies of the average PVV voter. It’s a sound strategy, and worked wonderfully for the former UK Prime Minister David Cameron when he targeted potential UKIP voters by proposing a referendum for the UK to leave the EU.

hangover after the UK voted Brexit
Moving to the right worked so well for the UK

Mark Rutte and his letter to all Nederlanders

So the Prime Minister has sent an open letter to all Nederlanders. Parts of which I’ve translated to English. For the full letter in Dutch click here.

Picture of a toilet roll representing Mark Rutte's letter to all Nederlanders
Who needs toilet paper when one has Mark Rutte’s letter to all Nederlanders?

Why say what you mean when you can insinuate?

The jellyfish has no spine or backbone. Therefore, when you put one in front of a keyboard, it won’t dare say what it really thinks but will use insinuation and a play on words. The opening paragraph of Mark Rutte’s letter to all Nederlanders is a masterpiece in jellyfish tactics.

“There is something wrong with our country. How is it that we as a country are so prosperous, but some people behave so poorly?”

Who could he possibly be referring to?

The Silent Majority

The first WTF moment in Mark Rutte’s letter is when he talks about a ‘silent majority’. Anyone that’s spent anytime in the Netherlands will know that the Dutch are many things, but silent??? Kom op nou!

woman shouting into a megaphone
Rot op met je silent majority

Antisocial Behavior

He then goes on to talk about antisocial behavior on public transport, on the road, on the street. People that believe they should always come first. That dump rubbish on the street. Now so far he’s talking about the everyday behavior of people in Amsterdam and other parts of the country. Such behavior applies to both native Dutch people and so called ‘newcomers’.

He then adds an additional sentence about people that spit at bus drivers and tram conductors, and groups of people that hang around and intimidate and assault people. Which he goes on to describe as niet normaal.

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It’s as clear and transparent as a pair of white granny panties visible through a pair of tight black leggings, who he’s referring to here. These are references to incidents that have been featured heavily in the Dutch media involving Moroccans.  Thus reassuring Henk and Ingrid that their prejudices are justified. Yes he’s leading by example.

leggings are not pants
Leggings are still not pants


Rot op naar je eigen land!

His letter then builds up to a crescendo.

He talks about people that refuse to adapt to Dutch norms and values, and reject Dutch habits. That hassle homosexuals, shout comments at women in short skirts. (I can’t say I’ve ever seen a Dutch woman in a short skirt, they’re usually in ripped jeans or wearing leggings as pants). He then goes on to drop the ZP bomb. “People that accuse ordinary Dutch people of being racists”.

Pass the kleenex, I’m crying onto my keyboard. Yep the jellyfish strikes again, riding on the popular bandwagon of hatred against Sylvana Simons. A black woman that stands accused of calling ALL Dutch people racist. Even though it’s easier to prove who killed JFK than finding actual proof of her ever making such a statement. Who needs facts? It’s much easier to shout “rot op naar je eigen land”.

He then goes on to say that he understands why Dutch people say rot op naar je eigen land to people if they don’t like it here. He even agrees with those sentiments.

After reading that Henk felt a stirring in his trousers that he hadn’t had in years, and Ingrid was wetter than a July day in the Netherlands.

old people discussing Mark Rutte's rot op naar je eigen land statement
“Henk, Mark Rutte’s brief aan alle Nederlanders heeft mij geil gemaakt, ik wil neuken”



Having clearly hinted who is causing all the problems in the Netherlands, the letter then goes on to warn people not to tar all groups with one brush, but to make absolutely clear what kind of behavior is acceptable in the Netherlands. In other words, “I’ve dropped some pretty large hints about the pesky ‘newcomers’, making life hell for the Dutch natives, but please don’t blame all of them, even if I just did so in a cowardly underhand manner in the previous paragraphs”.

The entire letter is a desperate attempt to convince bigots and the rot op naar je eigen land crowd to vote for Rutte instead of Geert Wilders.  Personally I despise Wilders, but one thing you can say about him is that he’s consistent. He hates Islam, people that are against Zwarte Piet, the EU, and anything that doesn’t fit with his idea of being a Nederlander.

Rutte on the other hand, is simply a pretender. He’s trying to appeal to PVV voters but lacks the balls to come out and speak to them with the clear and blunt language used by Wilders. Subtlety and word games will pass over the heads of many PVV voters as they’re not exactly the brightest bulbs in the box.

picture of pig and testicles
What I think of Mark Rutte’s letter to all Dutch people


Why Vote for a poor copy of Geert Wilders?

If you’re a genuine good old fashioned tolerant, non-racist, Dutch nationalist hater of Islam, why would you vote for Mark Rutte when you can vote for the real thing? Geert Wilders at least has the guts to say what he thinks.  As people in the UK and US are discovering, countries usually end up with the leaders they deserve. Doe maar!

Geert Wilders
Geert tells it like it isn’t

No jellyfish were hurt during the writing of this post.

Till next time, rot op naar je eigen land if you don’t like it here. If you happen to have a Dutch passport, hou je snavel and agree with the majority, doe maar normaal or rot op naar Duitsland, they take everybody. 😉







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About Simon Woolcot
