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Posted at 8:55AM on 8 Sep 08. Permalink.

"Gang-rape" is the new "Criticism"?

Posted at 9:08AM on 8 Sep 08. Permalink.

In her Herald on Sunday column, Deborah Coddington essentially apologises for the hurt her notorious Asian Angst story caused

I'm not even willing to give her that much credit. Essentially, even without the "gang rape" fuckwittery, it was the same old passive-agressive voice "I'm so sorry you're offended" drivel that's become a staple of PR spin.

She appears to be exactly the kind of person the world doesn't need in the White House: a religious zealot prone to abuse of executive power, and in the pocket of extraction industries. We should dread to think how that "doctrine" might read.

Well, the point is you don't really know what the hell Palin thinks about any substantive policy area -- and I'm pretty sure that's exactly how the McCain campaign wants it:

Rick Davis, campaign manager for John McCain's presidential bid, insisted that the presidential race will be decided more over personalities than issues during an interview with Post editors this morning.

"This election is not about issues," said Davis. "This election is about a composite view of what people take away from these candidates."

That's the real Palin Doctrine. And I find it amusing that the same O'Sullivan who blasted John Key as "Helen Clark in drag" a few weeks ago is holding up this empty pant suit as any kind of role model.

Posted at 9:09AM on 8 Sep 08. Permalink.

Oh, I was totally just ready to pop in with a short guest post out of retirement, because I was just so goddam provoked like the weakling I am. I'll just keep my comments here...

Firstly, politicians and journalists who feel a bit persecuted as a result of their own stupid actions should really just STFU with the "media rape" talk. It insults real survivors of rape and it makes them look deluded.

You may notice the ironic online sidebar to the Coddington article, actually referring to Winston Peters: 'related nzherald links: John Armstrong: When all else fails, play the victim card.'

I can't tell from Coddington's 'apology' article which category I fall under - the offended community members to whom she is apologising? Or the sadistic media bandwagon gang-rapists who will never be happy, because you offended them again by calling them gang-rapists? Keith and Charles Mabbett, who were at the panel session Coddington writes of, are in the same boat. We all had a hand in the media responses *and* the actual complaints. Keith is now working for his very own [Redacted Place] so perhaps cannot inform us whether Coddington greeted him at the panel discussion with a cheery "Sorry, ya Chinky rapist." It would be interesting to hear about the context.

It'd also be nice to be gracious at this point, as Coddington clearly thinks she is being gracious (rather than deluded and self-serving). "I wish I'd never written that article..." she writes plaintively. The reason? "...because I unwittingly pressed a button which unleashed the toxic nature of this country." Okay then. Good.

Wait a minute.

New Zealanders prefer to abuse, either anonymously on selected blogsites, talkback radio or via email those they may never have met, but harbour a visceral hatred of. It is, indeed, their right and I have to take it on the chin...

Oh. I see. She's sorry that she unleashed an orgy of hatred... directed against her! Not against Asians! No wonder she's sorry. She should have just said: "I wish I'd never written that article...Because I didn't get away with it."

It's hard to get all the way through a Coddington column, but the last line is worth quoting:

"...do haters have no soul?"

Dude, emo.

Coddington's plaintive, rained-on-kitten call for media sanity and kumbayahs all round is part of a broader murmur I'm hearing from abroad - that this election is shaping up 'dirty'. Secret taping, leaks, media 'pack-rapes', sabotage of billboard grammar... You know what? This is fine by me.

Last election was dirty because politicians were targeting vulnerable sections of the population. Maori. Immigrants. Solo mothers. Somehow, amazingly, it didn't work. So this time around, they're beating up each other instead. Well and good; just leave the people be.

Posted at 9:14AM on 8 Sep 08. Permalink.

Leopold, indeed ...

Richard Boock points out in another very thoughtful contribution article a 'deep irony' in the fact that many of those who whinge loudest about alleged political correctness are also the most likely to take exaggerated offence to criticism, even when it is reasonably polite and professionally-argued.

[aside]fucking cry-babies[/aside]

[Fran] offers an idiom previously unknown to the english language

A lovely mixed metaphor? I presume she was searching for "high-tailing it back" but got distracted by "tail wagging the dog" (tired cliche to be used in next week's froth against MMP, no doubt).

Posted at 9:23AM on 8 Sep 08. Permalink.

Last election was dirty because politicians were targeting vulnerable sections of the population. Maori. Immigrants. Solo mothers. Somehow, amazingly, it didn't work.

You meant to write that it did work, but wasn't enough to put National over the top, didn't you? Because I can't quite think of a more successful and game-changing piece of bashing as Orewa the first.

Posted at 9:30AM on 8 Sep 08. Permalink.

it did work, but wasn't enough to put National over the top

Indeed. It did work, but didn't work enough. And so, the game has changed back - I hope. I guess we'll see...

Posted at 9:32AM on 8 Sep 08. Permalink.

You meant to write that it did work, but wasn't enough to put National over the top, didn't you? Because I can't quite think of a more successful and game-changing piece of bashing as Orewa the first.

Meh... I don't really want to relitigate the '05 election, but let's not pretend Labour was exactly a bullshit-free zone. After Shane Jones' performance on Agenda this week, it sure looks like the 'wreckers and haters" cudgel never got put away.

Posted at 9:36AM on 8 Sep 08. Permalink.

I understood the press council complaint was about breaches of professional standards.

Rather than, like, being offended.

Posted at 9:37AM on 8 Sep 08. Permalink.

"New Zealanders prefer to abuse, either anonymously on selected blogsites, talkback radio or via email those they may never have met.."
whilst i prefer the to do it from the comforts of my paid columns

Does Deborah ever read her own work.?An incredible plea for victim status from someone who quite honestly just shouldn't be encouraged to write.

..as for Fran she is obviously privy to some interesting high level business dialogue and when she reflects on this she is quite readable
but Sarah Palin is an appalling choice for vp and anyone who can't do the basic vetting of her and realise the 'karl roveist' placing of her in this us election just shouldn't be writing about politics.

Posted at 9:41AM on 8 Sep 08. Permalink.

Meh... I don't really want to relitigate the '05 election, but let's not pretend Labour was exactly a bullshit-free zone.

I didn't mean to suggest otherwise, to the contrary, Orewa led (and it should be no excuse) to Labour doing some spectacular bashing of its own. Bipartisan whack-a-maori, it was truly something to behold there for a while. I thought I might seize some land myself, it was so popular.

Posted at 9:48AM on 8 Sep 08. Permalink.

..as for Fran she is obviously privy to some interesting high level business dialogue and when she reflects on this she is quite readable

She can be great when she's doing that -- she gets the inside word.

But this week's effort was so far off.

Posted at 9:48AM on 8 Sep 08. Permalink.

I though Walsh's metaphor had a touch of the 'tail between its legs' to it myself. Not to mention some consonance with 'to dove tail'. A neat little eggcorn, if ever there was one.

Posted at 9:55AM on 8 Sep 08. Permalink.

Given the title of this post, RB, a brief nod in the direction of the Warriors, and their achievement this last weekend, might have been in order!? ;-)

Posted at 10:15AM on 8 Sep 08. Permalink.

but Sarah Palin is an appalling choice for vp and anyone who can't do the basic vetting of her and realise the 'karl roveist' placing of her in this us election just shouldn't be writing about politics.

Indeed, and if McCain really wanted (to be crude about it) a twat to trump the nigger on the other side, Palin was the best he could do? Apart from being insufficiently ideologically rigid on on abortion (and even there more in form than substance), Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinston -- who was reported on the longlist for a while -- ticks all the conservative boxes. I don't expect her politics to be applauded around these parts, but she's at least got some form.

Posted at 10:27AM on 8 Sep 08. Permalink.

but if the public service is going to stage a talking shop about journalists' work, it should bloody well invite some journalists along.

I wasn't there, but Simon Pound was, and he'll be preparing a report for Media7.

Is that tacit acknowledgement that Simon isn't really a journalist ? :^)

Posted at 10:32AM on 8 Sep 08. Permalink.

Given the title of this post, RB, a brief nod in the direction of the Warriors, and their achievement this last weekend, might have been in order!? ;-)

Lol; so that would be finishing bang middle of a 15-team competition then?

And staring at a thrashing next week…

Posted at 10:38AM on 8 Sep 08. Permalink.

Is that tacit acknowledgement that Simon isn't really a journalist ? :^)

Snark! No, it means he's reporting on the encounter between the journalists and the public servants.

Posted at 10:40AM on 8 Sep 08. Permalink.

That passage labours under a syntax that would stop the heart of a horse, it offers an idiom previously unknown to the english language

It's interesting that you reference is now the sole one before the:

In order to show you the most relevant results, we have omitted some entries very similar to the 1 already displayed.
If you like, you can repeat the search with the omitted results included.

message.

this empty pant suit

Mostly, I thought she'd been wearing skirts - though I haven't been giving it my absolute attention...

Posted at 10:41AM on 8 Sep 08. Permalink.

That'd be 16 teams, Leggie ... unless you're deliberated omitting the Bulldogs?

Posted at 10:49AM on 8 Sep 08. Permalink.

describing herself as having been subject to "the media equivalent of gang rape" by "sadists"

It's morning, so I'm not very articulate, but Emma Angry!

I was going to be all sarcastically supportive, but she doesn't even rank that. This is like assaulting someone and then complaining that your trial and conviction was horribly traumatic.

Does she wake up screaming in the night reliving her gang rape? Is she scared to go out in case she meets her victimisers? Does she get sweaty palms every time she walks past a shrubbery in case a regulatory body leaps out and attacks her? Perhaps she should pop down to her nearest Women's Refuge and tell everybody about the terrible trauma she's suffered.

Meanwhile I'm ordering her a Get Some Fucking Perspective sandwich.

Posted at 11:17AM on 8 Sep 08. Permalink.

Meanwhile I'm ordering her a Get Some Fucking Perspective sandwich.

And may I recommend for Madame, a tall frothy fuckupachino to accompany her entree, with a steaming hot helping of crow and humble pie to round out the dining experience? :)

Meanwhile, I'd love to see Fran O'Sullivan's views on the Palin Doctrine of Economic Management:

The biggest project that Sarah Palin undertook as mayor of this small town was an indoor sports complex, where locals played hockey, soccer, and basketball, especially during the long, dark Alaskan winters.

The only catch was that the city began building roads and installing utilities for the project before it had unchallenged title to the land. The misstep led to years of litigation and at least $1.3 million in extra costs for a small municipality with a small budget. What was to be Ms. Palin's legacy has turned into a financial mess that continues to plague Wasilla.

"It's too bad that the city of Wasilla didn't do their homework and secure the land before they began construction," said Kathy Wells, a longtime activist here. "She was not your ceremonial mayor; she was in charge of running the city. So it was her job to make sure things were done correctly."

And Palin's credibility as a fiscal conservative is zero.

Now what the fuck does John Key have to learn from Sarah Palin again, Fran?

Posted at 11:36AM on 8 Sep 08. Permalink.

In Palin, the Republicans have their own smiling assassin who adds authenticity to the view that, as a result of the surge, US troops in Iraq have now brought victory in sight.

I read this three times. How does choosing Palin as a VP candidate add authenticity to the view that victory is in sight in Iraq? Shouldn't you look at, y'know, Iraq to figure that out, not US domestic politics?

This telling family story underlines, in a way that Obama cannot, that Palin is a heartland American, one of the many small-town parents who have farewelled loved ones to fight our wars, following in the tracks of her running mate John McCain in Vietnam.

Wait, we're picking on Obama now for his kids being too young to serve in anything other than a school play? Kay...

Posted at 11:39AM on 8 Sep 08. Permalink.

How does choosing Palin as a VP candidate add authenticity to the view that victory is in sight in Iraq?

It doesn't.

Posted at 11:40AM on 8 Sep 08. Permalink.

Coddington seems genuinely surprised that her article was read by real people who had real reactions to it. Surely she's not so naive as to still be operating in a time where the only feedback an article got were the carefully vetted letters to the editor?

Posted at 11:41AM on 8 Sep 08. Permalink.

And Palin's credibility as a fiscal conservative is zero.

Oh cool. I heard the Alaska Dems' vetting documents on Palin were good, but I hadn't had time to go through them.

He has a killer last line:

In so many ways, Palin is a contemporary Republican: no abortions ever but mounds and mounds and mounds of debt for the next generation.

But it does no good for we Sullivan-reading types to know this. The Obama campaign has to make this an issue in a very blunt way.

Posted at 11:46AM on 8 Sep 08. Permalink.

FTA

Palin Left Behind Almost $19 Million In Long-Term Debt, Compared to None Before She Was Mayor.

And she got $27m in earmarks for Wasilla? Which means a spend of at least $36m over 6 years

In a town of (at the time) 5000 people.

Unbelievable

Posted at 11:49AM on 8 Sep 08. Permalink.

Wait, we're picking on Obama now for his kids being too young to serve in anything other than a school play? Kay...

Yeah, and if O'Sullivan really wants to go there doesn't Palin's son (and every other serviceman and woman) deserve people sitting in on national security briefings who can bring a little more to the table than invoking "God's will"? Earlier this year, Palin gave an interview where she admitted that she didn't really know anything about the surge other than what she picked up off the TV news but (of course) she was absolutely and unconditionally supportive. I'm still looking for any evidence that Palin has shown any interest in foreign affairs, let alone delivered a substantive policy speech. Like Biden or not (and I suspect Fran doesn't), you can't say the guy is a lightweight or clueless after thirty four years on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Come on, Fran...

Posted at 11:55AM on 8 Sep 08. Permalink.

Oh cool. I heard the Alaska Dems' vetting documents on Palin were good, but I hadn't had time to go through them.

And what really spooks me is either the Alaska Democrats vetted Palin more thoroughly when she ran for Governor two years ago than the McCain team did, before putting her up for Vice President of the United States.

Or they did, and coldly and cynically don't care. Vagina trumps competence. Vagina trumps credibility. And everything is hinging on the idea that enough people believe that being ready for Oprah is the same thing as being competent to (potentially) occupy the Oval Office.

Posted at 12:00PM on 8 Sep 08. Permalink.

Post RNC bounce or whatever, Gallup has McPalin 3 points ahead today

Will it last...maybe not but it's a big jump from 5 points down a week ago.

Posted at 12:04PM on 8 Sep 08. Permalink.

I'm going to stay out of the rape-as-metaphor discussion as others have already pointed out how inappropriate it is.

This passage:

I wish I'd never written that article. Not because I agree with all the criticism, but because I unwittingly pressed a button which unleashed the toxic nature of this country.

is also infruriating also.

Not only does she eschew any responsibility for her errors, not only was she unfairly criticised, but the whole country is full of bubbling bile. What complete bollocks.

I don't like Coddington's work; I think it's crappy and populist and usually under-researched (her advocacy for vouchers in education doesn't extend to having insight into how they'd improve learning outcomes for instance). I have no difficulty with her being roundly criticised for that - her editors too.