Fisking NYT: I wish there actually was a culture war

Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša

I read this article from NYT some time ago, and felt it was in need of fisking. Since I actually know the situation of Slovenian politics I decided to give it a go. The original article will be in italics. My responses will be in bold.

You can find the the original article here:  https://archive.is/jqkDx

A Populist Leader Kicks Off a Culture War, Starting in Museums

Right of the bat we have several problems. Janez Janša is not a populist. I wouldn't mind if he actually was, but he isn't. He still gets called populist a lot because the leftist media in Slovenia knows if they paint him as populist the foreign press will pick it up, and understand Janša = bad. It's not so much a culture war as it is war against lefty nepotism that was possible for the past three decades of Slovenian independence. Considering Janša was one of those who made Slovenian independence reality, the Communists and their descendants hate him with the passion of a thousand burning suns. I'm not exaggerating.

Slovenia’s government has replaced the directors of major institutions. But it says “run-of-the-mill artists really have nothing to complain about.”

The mandates of the replaced directors in the major institutions are limited. Their mandates ran out, Janša's government put in their place someone more suited to their taste. People who actually values Slovenian independence and quality art.

Last March, Janez Jansa, a nationalist politician who has been compared to President Donald Trump, became Slovenia’s leader for a third time. He was previously prime minister from 2004 to 2008, and, briefly, from 2012, until a corruption scandal brought his government down.

True, they compare Janša a lot to Trump. They should actually compare Trump to Janša. Back in 1990 the man was actually responsible for fighting the silent war against Communist Yugoslavia and in half a year prepare the terrain for Slovenian independence. The fact that Slovenian war only lasted 10 days is thanks to efforts of Janša and his men. You think Q, Trump, National Guard and all other cloak & dagger stuff is something? Janša did it 30 years ago, and actually won. And they want to fuck him up because of it ever since.

The "corruption scandal" was a trumped up charge the leftists made up, placed in foreign media and then ran with it until the Constitutional Court of Slovenia ruled Janša should not have been imprisoned, and there should be retrial. And what do you know, the case reached the statue of limitation, and in the eyes of public opinion, thank to the leftist media, Janša was never found innocent.

Just to make things clear. Janša was condemned to two years in prison for, as prosecution described it accepting a promise of reward at unknown time at unknown place and through unknown way of communication. They don't even know what the reward is, or if Janša ever received it. I'm not kidding. No actual proof of anything. The actual defence minister at the time who was in charge of the new defence contract was cleared of any and all charges. But they used the made up affair to keep Janša out of the loop for the next decade believing he would take the hint and bow out. Instead he returned, and won once again at the elections in 2018. The media pressured all the rest of the political parties to vow not to go in Janša's government. That lasted until January 2020, when prime minister Marjan Šarec miscalculated thinking that if he resigns there will be another snap elections and he'd be able to cannibalise the vote of his coalition partners. Two of those coalition partners opted to go with Janša instead. And then all the REEEEEEEEEEEEEs started.

Mr. Jansa has long been known for attacking opponents online, including news media he considers biased, as well as for opposing immigration. But since his return to power, another issue beloved of populists has become a focus: culture. 

Yes, Janša actually knows how to use Twitter and circumvent the mainstream media and their narrative. They hate it. True, he's against accepting illegal migrants coming to EU from Muslim world.

To understand why the biggest party in Slovenia, Janša's Slovenian Democratic Party cares so much about culture at this point, you need to understand the depravity people in Slovenia were subjected in the past couple of years in the name of culture. Everything from performing national anthem in Arabic on a national holiday, to rewarding performance artists who tear up Slovenian national flag and put it around their pregnant stomach, to a performance artist who was actually awarded for her breakthrough contribution to the culture for breastfeeding dogs. Somewhere along there was also insemination of a woman by dog's sperm, but my memory is hazy, and I'd rather not remember it.

Over the past 10 months, Mr. Jansa’s government has replaced the directors of some of Slovenia’s most important museums, including the National Museum, the Museum of Contemporary History and the Moderna Galerija, an acclaimed art museum.

Their mandate ran out. It's common for every government to install their own people on positions of power. Leftists just don't like it when their people are not in charge. Hah, "Moderna Galerija, an acclaimed art museum," better description would be a place where all the degenerates gather.

Artists, academics and intellectuals claim the changes are an effort to control the museums and shift them in a more conservative and nationalist direction. The government denies that: The new directors are not political appointees, but “prominent candidates” selected by public competition, said Mitja Irsic, a spokesman for the culture ministry, in an email.

They're right. For the past three decades the left dictated the narrative in media, in art in museums in history books. From their point of view Janša is doing nothing but trying to shift everything in a more conservative and nationalist direction. That's the thing when you're trying to remove all the Communist narratives, and replace them with facts. The left goes crazy and calls you Fascist.

Mr. Jansa’s government has also announced plans for a Museum of Slovene Independence to celebrate the 30th anniversary this year of the country’s split from Yugoslavia. Critics have described this as “nothing but a propaganda institution,” but the government has dismissed that complaint, too. Mr. Irsic said the new museum would be “a celebration of freedom,” representing no particular political ideology.

The critcs of this idea are still salty that Slovenia managed to break free of Yugoslavia. They spent last three decades punishing Slovenians in every way possible for that decision. That's why these days V4 countries are not just comparable with Slovenia but well ahead of it.

“Accusations of political interference only surface once a right-wing government is in power,” he added.

True. The right wing in Slovenia is only alternative media. There is one private TV station, a couple of news websites and weekly magazines and that's it. Everything else, from state TV and radio to private media, websites, and biggest newspapers in the country, everything is in the hands of the left. When the right is in opposition MSM is attacking the opposition, when the right forms a government MSM is attacking the government.

Slovenia’s culture wars don’t just concern museums. Under Mr. Jansa’s leadership, the culture ministry has terminated the leases of numerous arts organizations and charities that rent space from the government, and tried to strip a combative rapper, Zlatko, of the status of “top artist” which qualified him for benefits such as health and pension payments.

While I wouldn't object if that was true, the fact is that those NGOs got their eviction notice well before there was even a hint of Janša forming a government at the start of 2020. That was stil leftist government in charge. They wanted to renovate the place. The thing with right-wing in Slovenia, they are anal about laws, deadlines, and contracts. Those NGOs were actually renting government property for free.

Zlatan "Zlatko" Čordić is a parasite. He did not have status of "top artist", that doesn't exist. What does exist, is Slovenia actually financially supporting recognised cultural artists, and paying their health and pension contributions. Don't ask me why, it's one of those Communist remnants we just can't get rid of. Čordić was beneficiary of that, but there are certain limits. Čordić crossed those limits, and was earning on the side, and hiding it in the form of his NGO. That's why he lost the status. Someone actually checked his earnings, saw the things are not in line, and acted on it.

Zlatko, whose real name is Zlatan Cordic, said in a telephone interview that the government had changed his status because he had spent too much time on antigovernment protests. He challenged the ruling in court and it was reversed, he added.

The decision was not reversed, but returned to Ministry of Culture to make a decision once again. The decision will be the same. And then years and years of litigation will follow because the leftists are in charge of judiciary. That's what happens when you don't follow up on lustration when you get the chance.

Artists and activists have reacted strongly to what they see as Mr. Jansa’s attempts to reshape the country’s cultural life, with regular protests, including street demonstrations, and open letters.

Yup, Janša actually wants to cut them off from the government teat. But that's just the start, and Janša is moving with the speed of glacier. That happens when you have  three other coalition partners, two now, who are afraid to death of MSM even uttering their name. Still, slowly but surely is better than nothing. All the screeching from the left makes it worthwhile.

Last year, protesters painted the word “shame” in huge letters outside cultural buildings around Ljubljana, the capital. In an October demonstration in front of the culture ministry, activists arranged desks labeled with the names of senior officials, then doused them in red paint. The culture ministry issued a news release that described the stunt as a death threat.

One man's painting, other man's vandalism. But when you "paint" other people's property, in this case the government property, that's vandalism, not art.

Yeah, those were death threats.

Criticism of Mr. Jansa’s cultural policies is not restricted to Slovenia. In December, 150 academics from around Europe and North America signed an open letter decrying the government’s direction. The culture ministry responded in a news release: “What is described in your petition has no common denominator with real life,” it said, adding that the signatories had been “thoroughly misled” by academics from “the Slovene radical left.”

Funny thing about those letters from the world. They always get prepared by the leftists in Slovenia, who then activate their network to push it out, and then bring it to Slovenian public as if the whole world is aghast by what is happening in Slovenia. I bet at least 100 of those 150 academics wouldn't even be able to show Slovenia on a map, let alone follow what is going in a country that has just 2.000.000 people.

Populist governments elsewhere in Europe are also trying to shift cultural institutions in a more conservative and patriotic direction, and many fear Mr. Jansa is copying their playbook. In Poland, the governing Law and Justice Party has replaced the directors of several museums with more ideologically aligned figures. In Hungary, Prime Minister Victor Orban has changed funding rules to gain influence over theaters.

I wish Janša would copy Poland's Law and Justice Party and Hungary's Fidesz. Because as of right now, Janša might be flirting with the two, but the actions are rather soft than decisive. Again, that happens when you have a center right, christian cuckservative, center left and left-wing party in the same government. And yes, Janša's SDS is center right. They actually care about national identity and Christian heritage, but their social program would probably make leftists of the world blush. The difference is SDS actually wants to help the Slovenian citizens and not the world.

The Slovene word for “shame” painted outside Metelkova 6, a building that once housed several arts charities, until their leases were not renewed.Credit...Borut Krajnc/Mladina

Ahahahahahahahaha. Ahahahahahahaha. Ahahahahahahahaha.

Sorry, couldn't help myself. Metelkova is the rundown place in the very center of Ljubljana, Slovenian capital, where used to be a military base in times of Yugoslavia. After Yugoslavian Army left, the leftists took over, ilegally. The place is falling apart ever since. Its one of the centres of the wannabe young Bourgeois leftists where they can larp as anarchists getting high as a kite through the night, and then retreating to their apartments bought for them by their parents who got their pockets full during the transitional steal in the 90ies.

As a side note, Metelkova is located next to Ministry of Culture where those death threats were made. Metelkova is also where Ministry of Culture was letting various NGOs operate for years rent-free until recently.

Unlike in Poland or Hungary, where populist parties have parliamentary majorities, Mr. Jansa’s government is a fragile coalition, including a center-left party. But many see similarities in the personnel changes at the top of Slovenia’s museums. Since Mr. Jansa took office, Slovenia’s culture ministry has replaced the directors of five major institutions.

Slovenian leftists are drawing paralels between Janša and Orban for almost a decade now, probably longer. Orban too was a strong opponent of Communism. Is there any wonder why the commies hate anticommunists?

The directors of publicly funded museums in Slovenia serve five-year terms, and many were scheduled to come up for renewal shortly after Mr. Jansa took power.

And there we have it. Finally. It took Alex Marshall, the author of NYT article 2/3 of the entire text, to actually admit, Janša is doing nothing out of the ordinary.

“On the one side there’s people who want museums to be responsible, relevant and ethical, and places of understanding and tolerance especially of minorities,” said Kaja Sirok, the outgoing director the National Museum of Contemporary History, said in a telephone interview.

Is it a National Museum of Contemporary History, or a Museum of Minority History? Good riddance! And I say that as someone who is actually a nonrecognised minority in Slovenia.

“And the other side want them to be patriotic,” she added. Ms. Sirok will be replaced in February by Joze Dezman, a conservative historian who led the museum once before, as an appointee of Mr. Jansa, from 2005.

Dr. Jože Dežman is also the lead expert on the topic of extrajudicial Communist killing after WW2 on Slovenian teritory. And he rubs the leftists all kinds of wrong because it is because of his discoveries and pictures showing innocent children thrown alive in mine shafts, their skulls and hair braids that keep them from saying publicly they are proud to be descendants of Communists. They still say it, but they hate being faced with the reality of their heroes being mass murderers.

Ms. Sirok said conservatives like Mr. Dezman tended to present a highly patriotic point of view, with much focus on atrocities during Slovenia’s time under Communist rule. She had tried to make exhibitions that included a variety of political and historical viewpoints, she said, relating Slovenia’s past to contemporary issues, like immigration. Those efforts were likely to stop once she was gone, she added. (Mr. Dezman did not reply to a request for comment.)

Braids of underage girls, innocent victims of Communist extrajudicial killings after WW2 excavated from abandoned mine shaft called Barbara rov in Slovenia

Širok tried to hide the bodies, while Dežman publicly shows them. She wants to make exhibitions about how hard is for immigrants in Slovenia, and how much immigrants contribute to Slovenia, while Dežman wants a National Museum to actually celebrate Slovenian history.

Zdenka Badovinac, 62, who had served as artistic director of Moderna Galerija since 1993, said she had reapplied for the job when her most recent term ended last year, but lost out in a competition that was rerun several times. After one round, the culture ministry dropped a requirement that the director must have five years’ experience running a museum, she said. The ministry had also ignored the advice of museum boards — including the Moderna Galerija’s — on who should be appointed, she added.

Zdenka, like Čordić is not a Slovenian. She's Yugoslavian leftover. Moderna Galerija is a place where the state funded all the leftist artists and their degenerate exhibitions. One of which was an exhibition by three leftists who renamed themselves into Janez Janša. That too is considered art. I saw their exhibition in Moderna Galerija. It was a waste of time. Degenerate, ugly, and useless. But a certain way to finance leftists.

Mr. Irsic, the culture ministry spokesman, said that the government did not always follow those recommendations, because some museum boards were dominated by left-wingers. “The Minister’s reliance on due process of picking the best candidates is the only line of defense against a politically appointed apparatus,” he said.

The government is not obligated to follow the board's recommendations. They are just that, recommendations.

Two recently appointed museum directors denied in interviews that they were political appointees, or had conservative agendas.

They don't have a conservative agenda, they're not political appointees, they're just comitted to the truth, and for that in the eyes of the left, they are Fascist.

Robert Simonisek, a well-known writer and poet who replaced Ms. Badovinac at the Moderna Galerija, said in an email that her shows had often focused on 1980s avant-garde art from Eastern Europe, but he wanted to see “a more equal presentation of the diversity of artistic voices of contemporary art.”

Just to give you a taste of what 1980s avant-garde art from Easter Europe means, look up Marina Abramović. You might be familiar with the name from leaked Podesta emails, where John Podesta is saying how very much he is looking forward to the next session of "spiritcooking" with her. As I said, degenerate, and downright evil.

“I am not politically active — I represent a professional choice,” he added.

That's the problem. If he spent his life sticking his head in the asses of the leftists, he would not be a problem. But because he opted to just focus on his work, and was recognised by the right as a professional fit for the job, he's not good enough.

Pavel Car, a former IT company manager who now runs the National Museum, said he wanted to make the institution more suited to the digital age, and would add new virtual-reality exhibits. He would also reorder the collection to refocus on Slovenia’s history, he said. He added that this was not about promoting a nationalist agenda, but appealing to foreign tourists, who make up half of the museum’s visitors.

This is true. The ruling SDS is a big proponent for everything digital. For years now. A decade ago they were campaigning on getting every school child a smart tablet. Everyone laughed. Then corona-chan hit, the schools closed their doors, and everyone was thinking how maybe SDS was onto something.

Mr. Irsic said the furor around museum leaders was a fuss over nothing. “Regular run-of-the-mill artists really have nothing to complain about,” Mr. Irsic said.

Regular run-of-the-mill artists are rarity in Slovenia. Most of them are leftist activist parading as artists in order to live a good life. It's easy. You write something, are critical of the right, and some of the publishers even the publishing houses owned by the state will publish you. It's not about quality, it's about being on the left, because the left takes good care of their own.

“There is no conspiracy of the right-wing government, nor a push to the conservative values in culture,” he said. “Freedom of expression is sacred.”

Sadly, that true. The government just wants to follow the already established rules. The left is protesting because the never played by those rules, because they didn't have to.

But such assurances don’t soothe the government’s critics. “Janez Jansa has an agenda to turn the country’s culture to the right — he’s been talking about it for a long time,” said Matevz Celik, a former director of the country’s Museum of Architecture and Design, who lost his job in November. “This is a cultural war.”

Janša actually wants culture to reflect Slovenian values and celebrate Slovenia instead of denigrating it. What else would a man who loves his country want? Cultural war? Maybe. But left isn't waging war for culture, instead, it's war for continuation of their benefits.