"He's not suffering from psychiatric insanity, he's suffering from political insanity. And I'm worried it's contagious", said Mr Bekkedal after the verdict had been passed.
We have that same political insanity in this country; we see it in the right wing believing things which are factually demonstrably false. We see it in the failure of reason. We see it in right wing fear and hatred and willingness to engage in violence. We see it in a similar CPAC recognition for Pamela Geller as a blogger, and in CPAC welcoming right wing white supremacists and presenting 'anti-multiculturalism' seminars. Conservatives live in fear, they cannot accept change or anything new or unfamiliar. They seek to go backwards in time to an earlier period where they felt dominant, often a period which did not in fact historically exist as they imagine it. It is a political position which has become fearful, and therefore hateful and sometimes even violent in defense of a world they believe should be western european culture - oriented, and white dominant. Our conservativism has become dysfunctional, instead of the necessary check and counterbalance it should be.
Breivik is alike in kind, differing in degree from the American right wing. If you doubt the right is suffering from political insanity, look at this, which is just one example of an unfounded fantasy fear. It is part of the same ludicrous, utterly unfounded fears of voter fraud, sharia law, that public schools "make kids gay" by teaching factual sex ed, or that schools opposing bullying is an attack on Christianity. All of those fears are factually untrue, and only held by right wing extremists - but they sincerely believe them, and are willing to harm others in support of their beliefs. Sometimes that harm is only in disenfranchising them so they can't participate as legal voters; other times that involves more violent action. But it consistently involves seriously mistaken, untrue, factually wrong beliefs on the right.
From the BBC:
Breivik has always insisted he
is sane
Breivik had earlier said he would not appeal against a sanity verdict, and many here had wanted to see this long trial end.
"I feel happiness because he is a man who all the time knew what he has done," said Unni Espeland Marcussen, who lost her 16-year-old daughter Andrine at Utoeya. She was one of the very last people Breivik killed.
Yet Mrs Marcussen said she did not think 21 years in prison was enough for the man who killed her daughter.
"I think he should get 21 years for each he murdered. But I also know when the time is coming when he maybe should get his freedom, they have to find out if he is dangerous for society still, and if he is he won't come out."
One of those Breivik tried but failed to kill on Utoeya was Tore Sinding Bekkedal. He managed to hide in a storeroom while Breivik killed 69 of his fellow Labour youth members.
He too was happy the court found Breivik to be sane - something Mr Bekkedal had believed himself while watching the trial from inside the courtroom.
“I will never get my daughter Andrine back, but I also think that the man who murdered her has to take responsibility” said Unni Espeland Marcussen, Victim's mother
Many other survivors and relatives of the victims also welcomed the sanity verdict.
Mette Larsen, a legal representative for many of the bereaved, said said: "I think it was a correct decision, my clients are very relieved right now because they felt he was not insane. If he had been ruled insane, nobody would have understood."
Few, if any, defendants in a Norwegian criminal case have been subject to the same psychiatric scrutiny as Anders Breivik. Two teams of court-appointed psychiatrists came to conflicting conclusions about his sanity.
The court also heard from several senior psychiatrists, including some who had observed Breivik in prison. They all said they believed he was sane.
"This will imply a deeper debate concerning the premises and the methods for how forensic psychiatrists work," Pal Groendahl, a senior forensic psychologist who had followed the trial closely, told the BBC.
"We're in the middle of that debate and of course this reinforces such a debate due to the fact that two of Norway's most renowned court psychiatrists said that he was insane. Now the court says he's sane."
This is unusual. Whenever experts cast doubt on a defendant's sanity, Mr Groendahl says, the court often rules that he is insane as treatment is generally regarded as preferable to prison.
The trial of Anders Breivik might now be over and for many of the bereaved, this will be a chance to move on. They will have to live with their loss for the rest of their lives, but see Monday's verdict as a form of closure.
Unni Espeland Marcussen, mother of 16-year-old Utoeya victim Andrine, said it felt good to know her daughter's killer was now behind bars, perhaps forever.
"I will never get my daughter Andrine back, but I also think that the man who murdered her has to take responsibility, and that's good."
We have that same political insanity in this country; we see it in the right wing believing things which are factually demonstrably false. We see it in the failure of reason. We see it in right wing fear and hatred and willingness to engage in violence. We see it in a similar CPAC recognition for Pamela Geller as a blogger, and in CPAC welcoming right wing white supremacists and presenting 'anti-multiculturalism' seminars. Conservatives live in fear, they cannot accept change or anything new or unfamiliar. They seek to go backwards in time to an earlier period where they felt dominant, often a period which did not in fact historically exist as they imagine it. It is a political position which has become fearful, and therefore hateful and sometimes even violent in defense of a world they believe should be western european culture - oriented, and white dominant. Our conservativism has become dysfunctional, instead of the necessary check and counterbalance it should be.
Breivik is alike in kind, differing in degree from the American right wing. If you doubt the right is suffering from political insanity, look at this, which is just one example of an unfounded fantasy fear. It is part of the same ludicrous, utterly unfounded fears of voter fraud, sharia law, that public schools "make kids gay" by teaching factual sex ed, or that schools opposing bullying is an attack on Christianity. All of those fears are factually untrue, and only held by right wing extremists - but they sincerely believe them, and are willing to harm others in support of their beliefs. Sometimes that harm is only in disenfranchising them so they can't participate as legal voters; other times that involves more violent action. But it consistently involves seriously mistaken, untrue, factually wrong beliefs on the right.
From the BBC:
Breivik trial: Survivors’ relief over prison sentence
Breivik has always insisted he
is sane Breivik had earlier said he would not appeal against a sanity verdict, and many here had wanted to see this long trial end.
"I feel happiness because he is a man who all the time knew what he has done," said Unni Espeland Marcussen, who lost her 16-year-old daughter Andrine at Utoeya. She was one of the very last people Breivik killed.
Yet Mrs Marcussen said she did not think 21 years in prison was enough for the man who killed her daughter.
"I think he should get 21 years for each he murdered. But I also know when the time is coming when he maybe should get his freedom, they have to find out if he is dangerous for society still, and if he is he won't come out."
One of those Breivik tried but failed to kill on Utoeya was Tore Sinding Bekkedal. He managed to hide in a storeroom while Breivik killed 69 of his fellow Labour youth members.
He too was happy the court found Breivik to be sane - something Mr Bekkedal had believed himself while watching the trial from inside the courtroom.
“I will never get my daughter Andrine back, but I also think that the man who murdered her has to take responsibility” said Unni Espeland Marcussen, Victim's mother
"He's not suffering from psychiatric insanity, he's
suffering from political insanity. And I'm worried it's contagious", said Mr
Bekkedal after the verdict had been passed.
Conflicting conclusions
Many other survivors and relatives of the victims also welcomed the sanity verdict.
Mette Larsen, a legal representative for many of the bereaved, said said: "I think it was a correct decision, my clients are very relieved right now because they felt he was not insane. If he had been ruled insane, nobody would have understood."
Few, if any, defendants in a Norwegian criminal case have been subject to the same psychiatric scrutiny as Anders Breivik. Two teams of court-appointed psychiatrists came to conflicting conclusions about his sanity.
The court also heard from several senior psychiatrists, including some who had observed Breivik in prison. They all said they believed he was sane.
"This will imply a deeper debate concerning the premises and the methods for how forensic psychiatrists work," Pal Groendahl, a senior forensic psychologist who had followed the trial closely, told the BBC.
"We're in the middle of that debate and of course this reinforces such a debate due to the fact that two of Norway's most renowned court psychiatrists said that he was insane. Now the court says he's sane."
This is unusual. Whenever experts cast doubt on a defendant's sanity, Mr Groendahl says, the court often rules that he is insane as treatment is generally regarded as preferable to prison.
The trial of Anders Breivik might now be over and for many of the bereaved, this will be a chance to move on. They will have to live with their loss for the rest of their lives, but see Monday's verdict as a form of closure.
Unni Espeland Marcussen, mother of 16-year-old Utoeya victim Andrine, said it felt good to know her daughter's killer was now behind bars, perhaps forever.
"I will never get my daughter Andrine back, but I also think that the man who murdered her has to take responsibility, and that's good."
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