abstract
| - Brinker's greatest heroic deed was when he stuck his finger in the dyke near Maastricht, thus preventing seawater from flooding the entire country and saving millions of Dutchmen from death by drowning. During this heroic feat, he had to resist angry American tourists who interpreted the act as a mere obscene gesture directed at them. Brinker subsequently attempted more heroism on the political scene, using the pseudonym Elco Brinkman. Already a national hero, it was easy to get ministerial positions in Dutch cabinets. In his role as Brinkman, he was well-known for his hypnotic stare, which is a signature trait of Dutch heroes. In April 1997, Brinker was elected Pensions Minister of Bhutan, in a surprising write-in ballot on an unannounced election day while most Bhutanese were visiting their mothers. This made him only the third Dutchman to serve in the Bhutanese cabinet. As a result of this oversight, he retained his position for an entire month before the next ritual cabinet reshuffle.
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