It got more headlines than poor Dumbledore's "outing," at least in Norway: Gerd-Liv Valla's new book, called Prosessen ("the Process"), about the events that led to her resignation as head of the Norwegian confederation of labor unions, LO. (A side scandal has also come up that she wrote much of this book while she was on sick leave, since Norwegians aren't allowed to work while on sick leave. But she only spoke into a tape recorder; there was a ghost writer. So now there's soon going to be a debate as two what constitutes "work" for sick leave purposes).
Valla is unkind to most of her former colleagues and fellow party members, from what I can tell. Norway's prime minister comes across as a bit of a wimp, etc. It's hard to keep up with these personalities, especially since this issue has close to zero relevance for anyone except the principals.
Pundits are falling over each other complaining about Valla's emotional immaturity. She has to take responsibility for her own role in the matter, they say.
I hate to get all religious, but this whole matter is a good example of why one should avoid lashon hara, or speaking ill of others in Hebrew. Things have been said about Valla, Yssen, Fougner, Stoltenberg, and a whole pantheon of characters, all of whom depend on their credibility to do their job, who are in the public eye all the time, and who have limited means to defend themselves.
There is no doubt this is simply the most public of many internal power struggles within the Norwegian Labor Party. Its most valuable lesson is not that some people are nasty - we already know that - but rather how much energy is expended on things that have absolutely nothing to do with the country's well-being and future.
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