The Netherlands are not at all a freedom-loving country anymore. I live there, I carry a Dutch passport. This used to be a liberal country, where some things were legal that were outlawed elsewhere -- a lot of that has already changed, and soon smoking weed and squatting will be outlawed here, too. We have a very nasty extreme-right party growing in the polls, that wants to kick all muslims out. Asylum seekers are treated very badly by the state. Some die in custody. And the Dutch government is introducing one law after another that dismantles what little privacy we still enjoy in an overcrowded country. For the first time since the German occupation, people all have to carry ID now. There will be fingerprints in the new passports, from september. CCTV cameras proliferate. Parents have to answer the wildest questions about themselves and their children (like: Does you daughter have pubic hair already? How much What colour? -- I am NOT making this up). In fact, the loss of privacy and freedom is reason for my wife and me to seriously consider leaving the Netherlands. And go ... where?

Wilders, it seems to me, has simply found an intricate and very public way of committing suicide. Of course, we should hope no-one actually succeeds in killing him, but is it wise to parade into a pub frequented by hooligans of team A, when you're all dressed up in the colours of team B, and announcing team B's utter superiority, and inevitable victory?

I, like many others here in the Netherlands, am quite fed up with professional hate-mongers like Wilders and Ayaan Hirsi Ali. I live in a "mulitcultural" part of the city, and get along just fine with my muslim neighbours.

Of course, Wilders has every right to release his movie. But perhaps he could pay for his own security, from now on?