Dutch Apologise For Being A Liberal Democracy To The Saudis Of All People

[jimmy olsen]

I don't think it can be assumed people who live in a dictatorship really understand how things work in a democracy.

Haven't declassified Soviet internal documents proved they were pretty clueless and didn't believe America worked as advertised.

[Maladict]

let's be honest: of course the Saudi's know how things are run in the Netherlands.
But they can play this at home as having humiliated a "decadent western infidel country, Allah rules and Islam is superior! Inshallah!".

They initially didn't get why an MP couldn't just be silenced by the government, but now they seem to understand. And they know it was just one guy foaming at the mouth, and not the view of the government.
But they'll play this game to get an apology. The Saudi government will get in trouble if they don't.

Also, our vice prime minister calling the sanctions a ludicrous threat didn't help much, either

[MadImmortalMan]

A private note to the King along the lines of "The government doesn't support this but if we make a public apology he'll get more votes next time 'round" would be my tactic.

[Eddie Teach]

I don't think it can be assumed people who live in a dictatorship really understand how things work in a democracy.

Haven't declassified Soviet internal documents proved they were pretty clueless and didn't believe America worked as advertised.

I liked the bit from The Americans where the KGB thought Al Haig had led a coup. 

[jimmy olsen]

Khrushchev (or was it Brezhnev) thought that the supermarket he was taken to was a Potemkin village.

[Viking]

I don't think it can be assumed people who live in a dictatorship really understand how things work in a democracy.

Haven't declassified Soviet internal documents proved they were pretty clueless and didn't believe America worked as advertised.

I liked the bit from The Americans where the KGB thought Al Haig had led a coup. 

I'm always baffled by the ability of projection to skew humans ability to comprehend.

Arabs really believe the CIA is an american Mubakaharat.
The Soviets really believed NATO governments were American Puppets.
Virtually every historical conspiracy perpetrator was first a conspiracy theorist.
Virtually every genocider in history feared a genocide against his own people.

Ultimately people can only ascribe motives to others which they comprehend and often share. Personally I was convinced none of the worlds professed religious believers actually believed until 9/11 cured me of that delusion.

It follows that anybody who makes such total mis-comprehensions of how the west works couldn't even be a democrat if he wanted to since he can't comprehend what it means. I think people should spend more time looking at what the dictators of the world say about the west to understand what they really think about themselves.

[MadImmortalMan]

Khrushchev (or was it Brezhnev) thought that the supermarket he was taken to was a Potemkin village.

Because the real Americans were in the hinterlands eating random birds and drinking snow.

[The Brain]

Khrushchev (or was it Brezhnev) thought that the supermarket he was taken to was a Potemkin village.

Shoppers were <400 lbs?

[Ideologue]

Khrushchev (or was it Brezhnev) thought that the supermarket he was taken to was a Potemkin village.

Because the real Americans were in the hinterlands eating random birds and drinking snow.

Were you able to bring back any good technology from 2015?

[derspiess]

Khrushchev (or was it Brezhnev) thought that the supermarket he was taken to was a Potemkin village.

Shoppers were <400 lbs?

Yeah.  We wanted them to be smaller than Mrs. Kruschev.