Liberal Talk Radio

The Norwegian diaspora in the upper Midwest loses a point of pride when Norway closes its consulate in Minneapolis.

But give it to the Norwegians themselves for an underwhelming, if charming, show of class:

Wegger Christian Strommen, the recently appointed Norwegian ambassador, said no one was abandoning the Midwest.

“We’re not going to leave,” Mr. Strommen said in a telephone interview from his Washington office. “We are going to take all these things forward, in a slightly different way.”

An honorary consul (usually a local resident with strong ties to the home country who is not paid for the part-time service) will be appointed for Minneapolis, the ambassador said. He said that Norway would pay for at least one staff member at the honorary consulate and that he intended to spend more time in the Midwest himself.

I love the idea that Norway will appoint a local “ethnic pride” guy to be its “honorary consul”.  I hope the job at least comes with a lifetime supply of lutefisk.