Yes: this is an ode to Mark Rutte

Dear Mark. I never thought we would end up at this point, you and I. I still remember when you were elected as prime minister. Man, man, 2010 already. I found you a bit – sorry, at this point it all becomes very honest suddenly – clumsy at first. The divorce. The glasses. The way of speaking. Yes, I don't know. Charismatic was different, I thought.

But now, Mark. We are ten years further. And I must confess: you have shown strong leadership. You have overcome multiple crises. I thought your best speech was the one during the MH17 times. How you addressed us Dutch people back then, it didn't go unnoticed internationally. 

You are now at the beginning of a new crisis. If only we could say it's the end, but you and I both know that this is just the beginning. Where your back used to be straighter than straight, I sensed a slight curvature yesterday. Your sigh was telling. This is the heaviest thing you have ever had to tell 17 million people live on television. What must you face all day. How poorly you must sleep. 

I see a prime minister in a moment of crisis. A prime minister who is very aware of the fact that he must keep communicating. Hope must be given, but no false hope. He must remain transparent about information, but not create fear. Damn, just try to handle that. ‘This coronavirus crisis is one of the largest, most impactful and threatening periods that any of us will ever experience,’ you said yesterday. ‘How large and how threatening, we will only know that afterwards together.’ 

We heard you talk for the first time about the own stress you felt in the past days. And then it happened. You transformed from prime minister to human. The sigh. ‘I would love to say that more can be done, but at the same time that is very scary and dangerous when you know how the numbers are developing.’ You know it, Mark. Even the most unpleasant information, nothing is spared from your brain. 

You showed your own vulnerability for the first time. The dilemma in which you and your colleagues have been for weeks. You all want to give us the freedom of the old life so badly, but you just don't dare to yet. Not at the expense of others‘ health. And rightly so. ’Caution now is better than regret later.' The look in your eyes was different. The sentences came out differently. Your political mask came off for a moment and for the first time I saw a genuinely concerned man and that suited you. 

So hence these words for you. I don't just want to applaud the heroes in healthcare, I also want to applaud the hero who rocks us through this crisis. I want to applaud Rutte. The man I initially wasn't a fan of, but he has made me learn to love him.