Set up and run by spooks in 1969, his party, the MLPN, had its own newspaper, De Kommunist, written and edited by the secret service. As well as Mr. Boevé playing Chris Petersen, the secretary-general, it had a chairman (another fraud) and a Central Committee stacked with secret agents. To add authenticity, the party let Mr. Wartena and a handful of other true believers join its otherwise nonexistent ranks, telling them that they were part of a network of underground cells. . . .
"I totally wasted 12 years of my life," says Paul Wartena, an ex-MLPN member who was so dedicated to the cause he used to donate 20% of his salary to the fake party. He says he "had some doubts now and then" about the MLPN but stayed loyal because "I was very naive and Mr. Boevé was such a good actor." Now a researcher at a university in Utrecht, Mr. Wartena wants Dutch intelligence to
pay him back for all his donations.
Mr. Boevé, now 74, scoffs at his acolyte: "He was an idiot."
At first I was simply amused at Wartena's actions. He joined a fake group and even contributed 20% of his salary to Dutch intelligence! That is a real hoot. We're used to hearing about "useful idiots" but a "useless idiot" is a welcome change.
But then as I think about it, it is appalling. He considers this episode to be "a waste" of twelve years of his life. So even after the horrors of communism have been revealed, this man regrets that during the twelve years he thought he was a Maoist cell member, he was not. One would hope that in the aftermath of the fall of communism, such a man would heave a sigh of relief that by good fortune he did not spend twelve years helping those murderous thugs. He should be happy that this failure of judgment on his part does not weigh quite so heavily on his conscience. Sure, he should feel guilty for trying to help the communists, but at least he did not. He has not taken this opportunity to reflect on his errors of thought. I guess if the Maoists had won, he'd be all giddy that he was part of the glorious revolution. What an idiot.
And Wartena wants his money back. Good grief, I hope that will never happen. I kind of have a good guess who he'd donate it to now.
But it is still pretty funny.
