The scandal. Admittedly, we here at the leadership position in this newspaper have long warned of "the blue danger". We have been skeptical of the effect of how the individualist rhetoric in the political language in the long run will also apply itself in practical action. And how, in the long run, opponents of the conflict should be gagged and shut down.
(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
One way of doing this is as the Progress Party and the Right now do with the Culture Council: You cut the budget by about 10 percent overnight. Not only does it mean less book purchases in the country. It also means that the small niche newspapers in the country will receive NOK 1,5 million less in support this year than last year.
And from next year, or as soon as possible – the government will have the weekly newspapers transferred to the Norwegian Media Authority. The weekly newspapers will then no longer be subsidized based on the role they play in society, and which votes are allowed into the Norwegian public, but on the basis of how large a circulation they have. The more you sell, the more money you will get. Such is the Conservative and FRP logic. These are targeted measures that in practice will also close down a newspaper such as Ny Tid, which these communities strongly dislike.
This is how the new, blue-blue government is attacking freedom of speech and freedom of speech in Norway. How the Ministry of Culture's Secretary of State Knut Olav Åmås can participate in such a thing is a mystery.
But a bigger riddle, and far worse, is what appeared in the Aftenposten February 13. It is unbelievable, but at least this government's true face is revealed. What is amazing is that on Tuesday night, Culture Minister Torild Widvey (H) made personal contact with Rasmus Brodtkorb, chair of the Museums in Sør-Trøndelag (MIST), under which the Trondheim Art Museum is located, for clarity in the play from a Swedish museum director. And said Brodtkorb is none other than the brother of the prime minister's own secretary of state, Julie Brodtkorb.
And why did the minister contact? Well, because the courageous, clear-minded and down-to-earth director of the Trondheim Art Museum, Pontus Kyander, had written the following as a thematic text for the museum's program this spring:
"Nationalist parties – such as the FrP – are dangerous; they downplay concepts such as human common sense, human rights and equality. Like an acid, they etch away our soul and our respect for others – if these "others" happen to step on the same ground as us. This is our country, not theirs. We are the proud owners of this country, and they are not. We have rights. They do not have that. "
And that text can be a lot to think about. But if nothing else, it is more clear-sighted, more courageous and more true than most of what has been said by the FRP's populist politicians in their proposals over the past three decades. Kyander also knows how to provoke today's citizens, who are trying to be brainwashed into a misunderstood, nationalist soup of myths and deceptions.
Kyander has attracted attention in Iceland before, when he helped mount the following message on the facade of the country's national gallery: "Your country does not exist". Aftenposten reports that Kyander writes in the preface that the global upsurge in nationalism is shocking and that Norwegian nationalism is no better than the nationalism that has flourished in other countries.
And what proves that Kyander is probably right is that the Conservative minister contacts his boss to gag such opinions – strong opinions about a party the Conservatives themselves have protection like the plague for the last 40 years, except then the last year or so.
As Harald Stanghelle in Aftenposten writes so correctly: "That Julie Brodtkorb now confirms that she has called her own brother – that is, the chairman of the board – on the occasion of the case, yes, that makes it unreal.
For here is demonstrated an adventurous lack of role understanding in the innermost circles of power. "
This is an attack not only on Kyander's freedom of speech. The Minister of Culture and the Prime Minister's State Secretary have attacked us all. They have trampled on Norwegian values and artistic freedom, free thought. They should not have our trust until they have earned it again.