Today Dutch Voters Told Geert Wilders, Vladimir Putin And Vladimir Trump To Go To Hell

Holland voted in parliamentary elections today, electing all 150 members of the House of Representatives. I lived there for nearly 4 years and never could get a firm grasp on their particular brand of multi-party coalition politics. There were 28 parties competing for seats in Parliament today. By this evening, the European headlines were blaring that the Freedom Party (PVV) of neo-fascist politician Geert Wilders-- a Trump ally-- had done unexpectedly badly and that center-right Prime Minister Mark Rutte would be back as head of government. We can be happy Wilders got slapped down, but Rutte is no bargain.

The Dutch had no intention of giving Putin an easy win by allowing him to hack-- for real hack, not the bullshit about propaganda-- the electronic voting machines the way he did in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Florida and Michigan. The Dutch switched to paper ballots. They had near record-breaking turnout (81%) and turned Wilders' and Putin's names to schijten (see, I told you I lived there for 4 years). The U.S. will never admit Putin hacked the machines in fear that no one will vote. Instead, they should switch to paper ballots like the Dutch did.

Yesterday the last Ipsos poll predicted the top 7 parties would come out of today's election with this many seats in Parliament:

• center-right VVD- 29 from 40
• religious right of center CDA- 23 from 13
• fascist PVV- 20 from 12
• centrist Labor Party PvdA- 9 from 35
• progressivish D66- 18 from 12
• left of center Socialist Party SP- 15 from 15
• left of center Green Party GL- 15 from 4

Earlier in the week, several polls had shown Wilders' PVV beating the VVD and winning the most seats. The projected score-- number of seats-- as of this evening is:

• VVD- 33
• CDA- 19
• PVV- 20
• D66- 19
• GL- 14
• SP- 14
• PvdA- 9

So the hackish centrist Mark Rutte will be Prime Minister again-- of another unpopular, ineffective, dysfunctional conservative government wedded to the kind of failed Austerity Paul Ryan is eager to import into America. Wilders had been endorsed yesterday by the French fascist candidate Marine Le Pen, although that doesn't seem to have helped him at all. He polled something between 17 and 18% nationally.

Although the fascists won in Rotterdam, the Green Party finished first in Amsterdam with 19.3%, followed by D66 with 18.2%. Rutte's VVD came in 3rd with 15.2% and Wilders' fascists came in 6th with just 7%. Nationally, the Green-Left Party, headed by 30 year old Jesse "Jessiah" Klaver, quadrupled their 4 seats and are suddenly a real power in Parliament. Klaver is often compared to Justin Trudeau-- there's a slight physical resemblance-- but he is definitely the anti-Wilders guy-- son of a Moroccan father and an Indonesian-descended mother-- he sounded more like Bernie Sanders than like Trudeau. "What I would say to all my leftwing friends in Europe: don’t try to fake the populace. Stand for your principles. Be straight. Be pro-refugee. Be pro-European. We’re gaining momentum in the polls. And I think that’s the message we have to send to Europe. You can stop populism." In a much-talked about TV debate he told Wilders that it was rightwing populism, not Muslim immigration, that was undermining Dutch culture and traditions. "The values the Netherlands stands for-- for many, many decades, centuries actually-- its freedom, its tolerance, its empathy… they are destroying it. It’s terrible when people are born in the Netherlands have the feeling they are not part of this society and it is not something to be proud of, but something to be ashamed of. And I want to change that."

As Colonel Morris Davis tweeted this morning, "Too bad for Wilders there's no Electoral College where finishing in 2nd place can still be a win."

Rutte begins negotiating with his coalition partners-- presumably the CDA and D66-- tomorrow and, since he won, he gets to pick this evening's goodnight song-- his favorite:

A Bruno Mars Signed Guitar... For A Lou Vince Contributor This Week

Before moving to Arizona, Lee Rogers, last cycle's progressive Democratic candidate in CA-25 (Santa Clarita, Simi Valley and the Antelope Valley north of Los Angeles), worked with local Democratic clubs and progressive activists to find a candidate who could win the newly blue district. The locals were excited about Agua Dulce councilman Lou Vince, a former marine and ex-L.A. police officer.

If you think all former marines and ex-L.A. police officers are conservative, you haven't met Lou Vince, a dedicated progressive, and not just on the easy issues. "The banks that were too big to fail are even bigger now," he told us this week.

We need to re-implement the Glass-Steagall Act so that Wall Street can't gamble with Main Street's money. It's not right that Wall Street caused the Great Recession, didn't face any penalties, and is now richer than ever. We need to send a cop to Congress to keep Wall Street in line and put handcuffs on the bankers if necessary.

This week, Blue America is trying to help Lou raise campaign funds. Bruno Mars signed a guitar for us to give away as a thank you for one randomly selected Lou Vince contributor. The autographed Fender Squier Bullet Stratocaster is a one-of-a-kind that Bruno, a Hawaiian Jewish Puerto Rican superstar, signed specifically for this giveaway. So far he has won two Grammy awards and has sold over 100 million singles and albums.

Unlike the Tea Party Republican incumbent, Steve Knight, or the conservaDem also trying to run, Lou Vince is committed to doing something on climate change, which he calls "one of the most pressing issues of our time."

I am undoubtedly the most committed to protecting and safeguarding our environment to ensure our children and grandchildren have a sustainable future. The nation needs to follow California's lead and seriously tackle climate change on the federal level.

The fundraiser will end next Sunday when we select one lucky winner. It doesn't matter how much you contribute, just that you do. In fact, if you're strapped for cash and can't give, just send a postcard to Blue America PAC at PO Box 27201, Los Angeles, CA 90027, and let us know that you want a chance to win the autographed guitar too. Otherwise, this is the page to contribute on.

This Bruno Mars video for "Just The Way You Are" was been viewed over 600 million times on YouTube-- and it's not even his biggest song or video!