Comments on: On the radio

By: James

James — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 13:11:17 +0000

Oh come on… I bet most British viewers (who are pretty cynical about politicans) thought Geir handled that interview well. Icelanders must be harder to please during revolutions!

By: Kelp

Kelp — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 11:40:27 +0000

I think whether people see the interview as cringeworthy or not also depends somewhat on how they view that type of hard-nosed journalism. I think a lot of people mistake arrogance and rudeness for bluntness and journalistic integrity. I thought Geir did fine, because it seemed like the interviewer was just trying to rile him up, but he didn’t get riled up or extremely flustered. The interviewer kept going back to the same questions and you know with someone like Haarde you’re not going to get a different answer the second time you ask the same question, so I definitely think the interviewer could have prepared a wider variety of questions. It was just plain ol’ arrogant entertainment journalism meant to be a platform for Britons to feel like their anger was expressed directly to a top Icelandic official through humiliating him on TV.
As much as I don’t wish for more economic problems in the world, if Britain’s banks do end up collapsing, I hope at the very least it will humble the, in my opinion, too-arrogant and ignorant British media. (The American TV media also tends to be just as ‘hard-hitting’, read: for entertainment value only.)
Not that I agree with most of what Geir said.
I think for me it’s also a matter of not having had a TV in a long time, I’ve grown unused to that type of journalism… I get most of my news through written sources which on the whole tend to be calmer in tone and more varied in questions, at least outside the tabloid press.

By: Ljósmynd DE

Ljósmynd DE — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 08:54:13 +0000

I think there was a secondary aspect in this interview provided by the fact that Geir was speaking to a nation, whose PM had invoked terrorism law and implemented the freezing order, which among other things left many hurt feelings with all Icelanders. So, as Geir was referring to this overreaction, he could certainly speak in the name of most Icelanders, regardless of their political view.

And besides, he managed to go through this interview without putting more strain on Iceland’s reputation, which can’t be said about all interviews and press releases of the past days.

By: RK in Los Angeles

RK in Los Angeles — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 04:49:17 +0000

Ive never been as ashamed of an Icelandic politician or anyone representing the country as I am of this interview with Geir Haarde. I only hope that the rest of the world doesnt judge the whole country based on this. Only George W. Bush can show this utter lack of respect and accountability. Til hamingju Ísland með þann næst versta.

I thought we fired him a couple weeks ago. Why is he still representing the country? Is this nightmare ever going to end?

By: alda

alda — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 22:26:29 +0000

Thanks everyone. Very interesting takes on the Haarde interview here.

Perhaps it’s just in this comment thread, but I seem to discern a difference between Icelanders and non-Icelanders in their views on how Geir handled it.

Perhaps it’s all in the perception – I confess I was more concerned with his composure than what he said, because what he said I’ve heard a million times and it just sort of goes in one and out the other. “We’re not responsible, we don’t have to say sorry, etc.” – at this point I’m just yeah yeah, whatever. Let us just hope this new government does something differently.

By: Ljósmynd DE

Ljósmynd DE — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 19:48:47 +0000

The remark of Tryggvi about the lower number of flatscreens sold made Iceland’s predicaments sound like some luxury problem. You found the right answer to it and at least he seemed to have noticed.

I wouldn’t have expected Geir Haarde to say sorry on TV from abroad. I think he is right in stating, that this has to be done at home. But otherwise it is indeed strange to find that any concept of responsibility on a more abstract level doesn’t seem to be part of his world. He is leaving it to the cleverness of some officially installed investigator to define his share of responsibility, as stated repeatedly. If the investigator doesn’t find anything, then he seems to consider himself exculpated. This way the case is going to remain unsolved, that the government didn’t manage to guard the well-being of the nation -, which is exposing the problem of non-accountability once again.

By: Roy

Roy — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 18:05:56 +0000

How right you are Guðmundur! You have hit the nail on the head.

By: Bryan Bessette

Bryan Bessette — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 16:56:17 +0000

Alda,
Thank you for the blogtalk link. I hope you and Iceland appears more often on such a media. I check your blog every morning to get my Iceland news before I even read the news from America!
Through your blog I keep my colleagues abreast of the goings-on in Iceland. As hard as the times I believe Icelanders are going through, I remain proud of the people and the country.
Áfram Ísland!

By: tj3

tj3 — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 16:03:47 +0000

If Iceland’s story of today is not worldwide important, I do not know what would be.

The radio show was good in exploring the tale and letting the world know.

I would feel uncomfortable with the “Iceland is a canary in a coalmine” analogy. Unfortunately Iceland and Florida (home) and most other places effected are like little canaries poisoned by toxic finance systems.

The idea that we should all everywhere buy flat screen TVs and go into more debt for the sake of the economy is more than a little toxic itself. Wow what a solution!

What scares me here in the USA is that there is not even any real discussion about what to do… except pour more trillions into the pot and see if it cooks up another even more toxic mess or not. It is a cruel experiment to conduct on all of us little birds everywhere.

By: hildigunnur

hildigunnur — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 14:01:56 +0000

A good interview, Alda, I loved how you corrected Tryggvi just talking about people not buying any more flat-screen TVs, and spoke about people having problems buying food. Who cares about flat-screens when you can’t feed your children?

But I couldn’t finish watching Geir’s interview, it was just too painful. Cringeworthy par excellence. I didn’t think he did well at all.