Hope it doesn’t go wrong for Ann Linde

The program, which aired in mid-summer, was widely publicized, because the Chancellor was on the warpath, she responded carelessly and arrogantly to some questions, and the Swedish right wing was delighted that she, too, spoke English at the level of a child. 11 years old. The program’s interviewer claimed that Sweden deliberately had a Corona strategy that affected its population.

At Expressen, Linde now says she was “absolutely furious” when asked the question. I don’t care about bad English, I speak much worse myself, but the fact that we have a foreign minister who can be beaten, who can suddenly get furious, I think is quite sinister. You know that with people who are angry, they don’t make good decisions. Hopefully Ann Linde will not rage in difficult foreign policy situations in the future, but I don’t know if there is anything to feel more hopeful about. She seems to be an emotional person about her. In the interview, she told about the criticism she received after the interview, which she did not address or think much about, instead just feelings: “It hurt me deeply.”

Clearly, it is important to feel among the politicians at this time. In the past, they have stood firm and firm behind the rostrum, sensitive, articulate, away from anger. But now, suddenly, emotions are all over the place.

Culture Minister Amanda Lind, widely criticized by Jonas Gardell for her delay in helping cultural Sweden during the Corona crisis, tells on the “Assefa Schlingmann” podcast the feelings that filled her during the storm of criticism; she was “upset and angry.” And I wonder again, how good will decisions be if they are made when you are affected in that way? But there has been a trend in the whole thing, all politicians are furious, most of the time. Nyamko Sabuni is not only outraged, but “very outraged, to put it bluntly”, when she discovers that the corona virus has spread in the surrounding municipalities of Stockholm. Ulf Kristersson can’t choose feelings after a murder in Malmö a few weeks ago, so he starts to disabuse them, he becomes “sad, angry and frustrated” all at the same time.

The question is whether these recurring accounts of the emotional lives of politicians create inflation in everything. All of those superpowers are becoming less and less valuable to each new politician who expresses them. There is wrath and holy wrath and all are cursed left and right. It’s as if words have become subordinate in Swedish politics, they don’t mean so much anymore.

Today i heard Ulf Kristersson in Saturday’s interview. Asked about a possible government collaboration with SD, he firmly replied that: “It is not relevant at all.” Of course, he said, the moderates can cooperate, discuss and negotiate with SD on all important issues, including the budget. But therefore, they will NOT contribute to SD ending up in any government. And Kristersson sounded completely bomb-proof when he said that. The matter was not discussed. Here it was not emotions, but concrete facts: M will not rule with SD.

You would probably believe him if he hadn’t lied earlier. I understand that it bothers the m-leader, maybe this will make him sad, angry and frustrated, but to understand him and his promises, we must remember what he said during the last election campaign. He then promised never to “cooperate, speak, collaborate, co-govern with SD.” Now he has broken that promise and therefore openly talks about wanting to cooperate with SD. What will be the next turn here? How should these promises if the DS continues to reformulate itself, distort itself?

This is a concern for Kristersson. But it’s okay. They are only words. They’ll probably go away if you just say how angry you are at other things, if you just yell loud enough.