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Teo Loses His Ish Again

So do others. Sometimes Swedish diplomats just don't know how to be diplomatic.

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DUCKPOND (Rixstep) — To think Yoko Ono can be infuriating - not because she reputedly broke up the Beatles, or moved her double bed smack into Abbey Road Two, or followed the Fab Four into the Little Boys Room to discuss politics - but because she deigned to bestow an award on someone she described as a 'very brave man'. It's enough to make a good Swede choke on his meatballs and start trashing his affordable IKEA furniture.

And poor Teo Z. He's been through the wringer before when the going got tough and the questions got tougher and everyone was after his boss for some good honest answers. He was fully within his rights to tell the world to fuck off - who wouldn't?

But this Yoko Ono Prize - a Yoko Ono Courage Prize - to Julian Assange of all people. Courage? Julian Assange? No hard-working employee of Carl Bildt can take that kicking back on the job.

Courage is when you can wear an Oscar Jacobsson to your cosy office far from the front lines and real controversy, where you can safely tell everyone else why you're better than them. For all Swedes are better than everyone else, aren't they?

Teo Zetterman. Deputy Director, press & digital communication @SweMFA/@Utrikesdep. 'SweMFA' is the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Carl Bildt's homestead. 'Utrikesdep' is 'Utrikesdepartementet' - same thing but in Swedish.

Make no mistake: cross paths with Teo and he will crush you.

Knights of Political Correctness

Teo had a bit of a chat with his good friend Fredrik Wass on Twitter the other night. Of course neither of them expected anyone to notice. Cheaper than using the cell phone. It wasn't meant to be propaganda in any way shape or form.

Fredrik calls himself a freelance journalist and a knight of political correctness. He claims he's worked in San Francisco and Afghanistan. He makes a 'podd' (Swedish slang for 'podcast', very cool) with accordion player Josefine Hådell and Julia Skott, deeply implicated in the infamous 'talk about it' campaign designed to smear Julian Assange.

They call their podcast 'Ministry of Power'. Isn't that great?

As with the current Swedish Pirate Party peeps in the EU parliament, they just don't like Julian Assange and aren't shy about admitting it. It's probably not a really personal thing. They just don't like people like that. Julian Assange is brave, smart, and dares stick his neck out. That's a very un-Swedish thing to do. Julian Assange is making Sweden the laughing stock of the world by exposing what a clumsy and corrupt country it's become. No Swede will stand for that!

Wutt? RT @wikileaks: New York, Feb 3: Assange to receive Yoko Ono Courage Award #assange

A very strange decision.

You Swedes: what do you really think of #Assange?

I don't like him.

Me neither. I'm just curious what other Swedes think. Everyone I've talked to feels the same way.

[Note: The account of @AdamFred5 has been suspended. A very strange decision.]