STOCKHOLM/LONDON (Rixstep) — Perhaps it was the fact that Lady Gaga had spent five hours together with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange when she herself has yet to get an autograph from the pop star. Perhaps it was the resounding universal approval of the Australian television biopic on the young hero. Perhaps it was the reaction to her participation in the 22-minute 'documentary' that preceded the biopic. But whatever: Expressen's Karin Olsson went berserk again today.
MIA Invite
Gaga was scheduled to premiere her new perfume at Harrod's, literally around the corner from the Ecuadorean embassy. And British musician Maya Arulpragasam (aka 'MIA') who'd composed the music to the Julian Assange Show sent Gaga a personal invite on Twitter.
Five Hour Visit
The queen of pop accepted the invitation and spent a reported five hours at the embassy, sharing dinner with Julian Assange.
Perhaps he treated her to an exotic Ecuadorean dish such as pictured below (in addition to MIA's tea and cake).
All the while poor Karin Olsson was stuck in Stockholm.
To call the Knightsbridge supé anything but a coup would be an understatement.
Underground!
Or it could have been the global acclaim for Rob Connolly's biopic on the heroic young Julian Assange, airing in Australia on Sunday and based loosely on the book coauthored by Assange and Suelette Dreyfus. Starring Rachel Griffiths, Anthony LaPaglia, Laura Wheelwright, and Alex Williams as the young Assange, it featured already this summer at the Toronto International Film Festival where an outspoken LaPaglia came to the defence of both Assange and his organisation.
Okey-Dokey with Hamish
Or it could have been the way people reacted to her treatment of Hamish MacDonald in the offices of Expressen in Stockholm where she expressed disbelief Assange could ever turn against her tabloid even as she showed MacDonald the very article with the interrogation from 30 August 2010 that the Swedish police inspector had promised would not leak.
But whatever: today Karin Olsson (aka Gottegrisen - literally 'Candypig', her own epithet - or kossan as described at Swedish blogs and websites) went on the warpath in another of her pathological attacks on Assange.
Karin Olsson's attempts to smear both Assange and WikiLeaks, goaded and guided by her boss Thomas Mattsson, have been going on for two years. She's tried unsuccessfully to claim she represents common sentiment in Sweden - something that's been demonstrably disproven by the near unanimous condemnation of her vitriol in comments to her articles. Yet she's been allowed to continue by an equally pathological Mattsson.
Flashing Back
The comments on the massive forum Flashback speak for themselves. Here a selection of the most telling.
espressino:
Everybody's against Karin Olsson, the paragon of virtue in Swedish journalism. She shuffles and deals, alternating between half-truths and outright lies.
In a rallying tone she refers to a fictional character like Lisbeth Salander as the target in the Saudi Arabia of feminism. Who needs a Lisbeth Salander when we've got a Karin Olsson and an Anna Ardin?
According to KO, Israel Shamir is an anti-semite - how's that supposed to work when the guy's a Jew? But she said she heard it's true from a Magnus Ljunggren who is a professor in Russian literature. Thin arguments hung up on borrowed feathers formed by academic titles. KO's obsessed with titles and is sinking deeper and deeper into the morass all by herself. And nobody's going to rescue her back out again.
HimlensHemlighet:
Karin Olsson shows clear signs of clinical paranoia.
HappySadHarry:
Karin Olsson - what a rotter she is. She thinks she has a right to vomit her bile over Assange and make herself spokesperson for the entire Swedish nation. But as soon as anyone responds, she dons the shawl of the victim and starts whimpering!
HusvagnSvensson (moderator):
Expressen's cow lowing again!
It's a classic trick: highlight excesses in the criticism and stand up to them as an independent and neutral observer.
But that's not the way things are. Expressen's always been out to get Assange, describing what they do as 'news coverage'. Yet they've refused to give a nuanced coverage of the issues, as they claim it would be in violation of journalistic ethics? They've also attacked on fundamental state-feministic grounds and been conducting an unparalleled show trial against Assange.
If there's anyone who's tried to smear WikiLeaks by continually referring to the allegations against founder Julian Assange, it's been the 'Cow' and Expressen. Systematically and meticulously. Her latest article is but one more proof of that.
Now with Gaga herself in the other camp, Karin Olsson is bound to short-circuit for good.