Observation three days after the tragic events: Against many odds, todays mourning and manifestations in the streets have again raised our spirits and our belief in democracy, peaceful coexistence and open parliamentary political institutions. An amazingly strong sense of solidarity has appeared, and our political leadership has proved themselves to be worth of general support and confidence, across political and societal divisions. A belief in a shared and positive national identity has for long been widely accepted in Norway, and both openly and innocently enjoyed, as well as proudly celebrated. But what this identity and entity actually is about, is of course an open and contested issue. What has been reestablished today, is a belief in a better version of ourselves, a constitutional and praisingly unsentimental, non-romantic version, rather stressing the political commitments of citizenship and democratic participation of a modern European state. The 2083 muck version will never win. But there are good reasons to stay on guard:

http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/2809244.html

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/07/25/breivik_s_swamp?page=0,1

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/jul/24/norway-bombing-attack-far-right?intcmp=239