From Gates of Vienna:

It’s for real. The original, that is. A breathtaking social cluelessness that must be labeled Only In Norway. (Or perhaps North Korea?) Could the gleam of avarice and opportunism show through the heavy-handed “Nordic Law and Order” grotesquerie any more clearly than it does in those pictures?

How ever could such an appalling display be considered seemly? These look like a publicity shots for a reality TV show. Congruent, really, since that is how degraded the Breivik “trial” has become. Think of some of the episodes so far:

The dramatic tension of the first team of forensic psychiatrists, as the whole country waits to hear their expert diagnosis. [Norway loves ‘experts’]. End of first episode: Perpetrator is insane. The mass murderer isn’t like the rest of us.

Then, the infamous meeting between Fjordman and the police. The one that begins with several hours sitting in the police station with his lawyer while he is roundly ignored. The drama builds as they rush to Fjordman’s home and ransack the place. Looking for what? The clues in his socks? We never find out. End of second episode: Fjordman learns that the police don’t always tell the truth. His lawyer is shaken by the ‘just-this-side-of-the-law’ demeanor of the police.

Moving the story line along, the real clown star of the series (think Fellini here) knows what he wants. He is sane now, he was sane when he killed all those kids, and he demands a new diagnosis. It is shortly forthcoming as those-in-charge suddenly realize they can hardly put a crazy man in the dock for mass murder. The insane are, by definition, not fit to stand trial in compassionate, civilized countries. Thus, two other trained monkeys are quickly found to render a brand new study with the changed diagnosis necessary to carry the circus forward. Can you guess what the second team of psychiatrists found to be the perpetrator’s mental condition?

Further episodes have included slow revelations of witnesses who will be called to testify at the circus. Gasps are heard in the audience as new names are revealed…

Look at that picture again. Either our version or the original — the expression in the eyes is the same in each; they haven’t been photoshopped.

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