Well Hmmm

Who's writing the script?

I mean.... If someone says, "A rose by any other name...," then anyone decently read has the Shakespeare bell go off immediately. When we watch ten different news anchors parrot a phrase like, "Muslim seminary," we know that writer of The Memo is speaking.

So when two speakers thousands of miles apart utter almost precisely the same words, who's writing the script?

Akin, US: "First of all, from what I understand from doctors, that’s really rare. If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down. But let’s assume that maybe that didn’t work or something. I think there should be some punishment, but the punishment ought to be on the rapist [and the woman] and not attacking the child."

Van der Staaij [Staatkundig Gereformeerde Partij = Political Reformation Party = Anti-Civil Rights, Anti-Choice, Anti-Family-Support, Anti-Interracial-Adoption, Anti-Etc.*], NL: "Volgens SGP-leider Kees van der Staaij is er na een verkrachting maar een ‘hele kleine kans’ dat het slachtoffer zwanger raakt. Mocht dat wel gebeuren, dan is abortus geen optie, zo zei de lijsttrekker van de SGP vanmiddag bij RTL Z." [According to SGP-leader Kees van der Staaij there is, following a rape, only an 'extremely small chance' that the victim will get pregnant. If that happens, then abortion is not an option, says the top candidate from the SGP today on RTL Z (news channel).]

They don't both work for Faux News. They don't both have an interest in US politics, or Dutch politics for that matter. V.d. Staaij is running against the grain of vast majority of the Dutch population, and in the US, half the population will readily say they're opposed to abortion... until the situation is in their lap.

So who's writing the script? Has The Memo spread? What a horrific thought.

Just things that make you say hmmm.

* For the Americans amongst us, the Dutch system is very different. In the US, because there is direct voting for the Executive branch, political leanings are forced into two groups for the sake of survival. In NL, the head of the Executive branch is the first member listed by the party with the most votes in the Second House (Parliament). Because of this, and the coalition system that is used to form the government, political difference is encouraged. A party like the SGP, which represents just 5k (.4%) of the votes, is still taken seriously.