Outrage in Norway?

Our dictionary definition of “outrage” is: “What any gang of shouting, fist-raising demonstrators display, usually against a nation or people so far away the demonstrators can safely scream all they want.” Today’s outrage, as anyone who is awake knows, is not against a nation or people but against our President-in-Potty-Mouth. For example, take this New York Times story, headlined in The Boston Globe, Jan. 13, 2018, “From Norway to Haiti, remarks prompt outrage.” The story, datelined Oslo, says: ” It was already past midnight Friday when the news arrived in Norway… Trump told Congress the United States needed more immigrants from places like Norway and fewer immigrants for countries like Haiti. Many in this prosperous Scandinavian country were already asleep, but several prominent Norwegians who were still online took to Twitter to vent their outrage and disgust, not only at Trump’s vulgar language but at what many saw as a racially tinged insult.”

That many were asleep while many saw an insult is New York Times journalese, which means it’s the reporter’s opinion. But outrage is popular at the New York Times. A quick check turns up 50,308 citations, with the first on Sept. 19, 1851. The Boston Globe is way behind, with only 9,062, starting in 1872.

What makes this story more interesting is that the Times reports that “many” Norwegians (two were quoted) would be outraged over a compliment from Trump. Anyone who has spent a bit of time in Norway knows that Norwegians get outraged over important matters, like running out of lutefisk on Christmas Eve, burning a salmon steak, or the price of crude oil falling. Or, worse, being mistaken for a Swede.

File under: Another from our outrageous president.