Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: About Arie

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  • nzlemming, in reply to Sacha,

    Please take the multitudinous rude comments I could make here and apply them to oneself :-p

    Waikanae • Since Nov 2006 • 2937 posts Report Reply

  • nzlemming, in reply to Russell Brown,

    The Collins email doesn’t actually say “Public Address”. It says “Russell Brown’s blog”. She doesn’t seem to like me

    Publish and be damned? ;-)

    Waikanae • Since Nov 2006 • 2937 posts Report Reply

  • Matthew Poole, in reply to Hilary Stace,

    There is an angry email from her office circulating, mentioning PA.

    Anyone care to forward me a copy? I'm sure I'm one of the many whose impertinent questioning of her choice of words has raised her blood pressure.

    Auckland • Since Mar 2007 • 4097 posts Report Reply

  • Che Tibby, in reply to Matthew Poole,

    me too. would love to be privy to any correspondence.

    hell. might even OIA it.

    the back of an envelope • Since Nov 2006 • 2042 posts Report Reply

  • James Butler, in reply to Rex Widerstrom,

    Amongst all this deserved condemnation of Collins I have yet to see much of Goff for his “court martialed and shot” comment, which he later – in true “Crusher” Collins “I meant double bunking, not rape” style – tried to pass off as a joke.

    I think Goff's comments flow naturally from Collins', like his response to Key's list of celebrities he'd like to do - he wants to be popular like the Nats, so when he hears one of them say something outrageous, his first instinct is to one-up them.

    Auckland • Since Jan 2009 • 856 posts Report Reply

  • Hilary Stace,

    The building concerned was not actually a house but an old shop destroyed in the Sept earthquake and awaiting demoltion. So even less evidence for 'looting'.

    Wgtn • Since Jun 2008 • 3229 posts Report Reply

  • Che Tibby,

    hmmm... surely in order to be "court martialed" one need to have been in the armed services?

    or is this just me saying "me too!! me too!!"

    the back of an envelope • Since Nov 2006 • 2042 posts Report Reply

  • Matthew Poole, in reply to Che Tibby,

    surely in order to be “court martialed” one need to have been in the armed services?

    Or at least have been subject to their discipline. A large number of civilian employees of NZDF are subject to the Armed Forces Discipline Act.

    And, of course, capital punishment in New Zealand was abolished entirely in 1989. Goff was in Parliament then, and voted for the repeal Bill, so I'm surprised he doesn't remember that wee detail.

    Auckland • Since Mar 2007 • 4097 posts Report Reply

  • Rex Widerstrom, in reply to James Butler,

    he wants to be popular like the Nats, so when he hears one of them say something outrageous, his first instinct is to one-up them

    So, the apocryphal kid who, rather than stand up to the bullies, joins them in picking on even weaker people in the playground.

    Err... Phil? The first bit of the title you coveted for so many years? It's Leader of the Opposition.

    Perth, Western Australia • Since Nov 2006 • 157 posts Report Reply

  • James Butler, in reply to Rex Widerstrom,

    Err… Phil? The first bit of the title you coveted for so many years? It’s Leader of the Opposition.

    Not to mention the last bit, Opposition...

    Auckland • Since Jan 2009 • 856 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown, in reply to James Butler,

    I think Goff’s comments flow naturally from Collins’, like his response to Key’s list of celebrities he’d like to do – he wants to be popular like the Nats, so when he hears one of them say something outrageous, his first instinct is to one-up them.

    Sadly, I suspect you're right.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Hilary Stace,

    Autism NZ criticises police minister over comments.

    Wgtn • Since Jun 2008 • 3229 posts Report Reply

  • 3410,

    On radio station BFM on February 28, Mr Goff talked about meeting a man in Linwood whose sister was killed in the quake, whose house had been badly damaged but then it was ransacked by looters.

    "I saw the army out in the street and I thought court martial, firing squads you just can't believe how low a small minority of people can get," he told the radio station.

    Later...

    Mr Goff said it was clear he was joking.

    "I was making the point that first of all I had absolute contempt for anybody who would exploit other people's misery at a time like this but I was making a joke ... It was obviously not intended to be taken seriously by anyone other than the most dim-witted National Party blogger."

    Fucking weasel; can't even get his lies right either. According to Goff, his response to a bereaved man who's just had his house burgled (Maurice Gardiner, presumably) is to make jokes about it. I'm sure that even "the most dim-witted National Party blogger" will notice that.

    For the record, Phil, the correct response is: "I didn't really mean it. My anger over the situation caused me misspeak", ie the fucking truth!!

    Fuck!

    Can we please get rid of this clown already?!

    Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 2618 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso, in reply to James Butler,

    I think Goff's comments flow naturally from Collins', like his response to Key's list of celebrities he'd like to do - he wants to be popular like the Nats, so when he hears one of them say something outrageous, his first instinct is to one-up them.

    You mean like when he also rated the hotness of Liz Hurley and I died a little bit inside?

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson, in reply to 3410,

    Can we please get rid of this clown already?!

    No chance of that during an election year.

    Personally, I've never ceased to be bitter on the man since he introduced student fees.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • 3410,

    No chance of that during an election year.

    Tell that to Geoff Palmer. ;)

    Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 2618 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson, in reply to 3410,

    Tell that to Geoff Palmer. ;)

    True. What I should have said is "No chance of that if Labour wants to win the election".

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • James Butler, in reply to giovanni tiso,

    You mean like when he also rated the hotness of Liz Hurley and I died a little bit inside?

    Exactly. I'm thinking of starting a sweepstakes - next time a minister says something particularly vile, and a quorum of Kiwiblog commenters agree with it, how long until Phil Goff pipes up with a "me too, only bigger!!!"?

    Auckland • Since Jan 2009 • 856 posts Report Reply

  • Rich of Observationz, in reply to Matthew Poole,

    Civilian NZDF or service employees are only subject to the Armed Forces Discipline Act when the unit they are working for is on "active service". A civvie sent to Afghanistan, such as a member of Willie Apiata's PR team, probably would be. A librarian in Trentham wouldn't.

    Back in Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 5550 posts Report Reply

  • Rex Widerstrom, in reply to 3410,

    For the record, Phil, the correct response is: "I didn't really mean it. My anger over the situation caused me misspeak"

    But that doesn't occur to you if you didn't really mean it in the first place. I didn't condemn Whaleoil for his "looters should be gutshot" post because it was obviously prompted by honestly felt anger - anger most of us feel when confronted with behaviour so abhorrent that it offends our deeply held values.

    The response is visceral - straight from gut to mouth, bypassing our brains. We're humans, it happens sometimes.

    But this wasn't that. I suspected - and his "I was joking" excuse confirms, at least to me - that Goff now has no values beyond the attaintment and retention of power and that his response wasn't visceral, it was calculated. And indeed he's so far removed from being able to respond genuinely that the obvious, and acceptable-under-the-circumstances, response, "I was overcome by anger" doesn't even occur to him.

    Of course Key is made from the same mould... as are many contemporary politicians.

    Or to put it another way... if Norm Kirk had seen his patch devastated by a quake and then seen some citizens robbing others, he'd probably have called for them to be shot too. But we'd have believed that came from the heart, and forgiven him.

    Perth, Western Australia • Since Nov 2006 • 157 posts Report Reply

  • 3410,

    Oh, God! You could be right, Rex.

    Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 2618 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    And the sad thing is that while Goff flounders around trying to please people, Lianne Dalziel and Brendon Burns are showing what being an Opposition MP should be about.

    Dalziel actually uttered a unfortunately violent phrase about Ken Ring to the Herald, but it hasn't become an issue. I suspect this neatly bears out Rex's point. It passes because she is clearly and authentically mad as hell.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • 3410,

    but it hasn't become an issue

    Well, now it will.

    Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 2618 posts Report Reply

  • Mike Hollywood,

    I realise I’m probably just stating the bleedin’ obvious here, and I’m certainly no expert on this stuff, but it seems to me that Labour’s biggest problem is that its next leader hasn’t been elected to Parliament yet. Any leadership change prior to the election, perhaps even immediately after it, will surely only be an interim measure, and the post-Clark period of transition looks likely to last at least one more term unless something extraordinary happens.
    Let’s face it, it is going to take a monumental cock-up of unprecedented proportions for National to lose this year ... just imo. Yep, full of the joys of Friday, me.
    (A bit gutted, as a Wellingtonian (does Raumati count?) to have missed last night’s event ... maybe next time when I’ve exchanged my lurker ‘L’ plate for a full participant’s licence.)

    Since May 2009 • 51 posts Report Reply

  • Bart Janssen, in reply to Mike Hollywood,

    meh to be really cycnical the election is in November, nothing that happens before July will matter a damn.

    That said I can't see based on current performance that National will lose this nor that Labour will win it, but current performance is irrelevant, it's just those last 5 months that matter to the short term memory of the the public.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 4461 posts Report Reply

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