Hard News: Dirty Politics
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nzlemming, in reply to
I've been linking to this as contrast.
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Joe Wylie, in reply to
I’ve been linking to this as contrast.
The 'Crusher' personality cult stuff seems awfully subadult now. From memory, John Armstrong was at least as enraptured.
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Gotcha II
UK Dirty politics as well?In a setback for Mr Cameron, whose party is trailing the opposition Labour party in most opinion polls ahead of a national election in May, Brooks Newmark said he had written to the prime minister to announce he would be standing down.
Mr Newmark announced his decision two weeks after he resigned from a junior ministerial post over a story in a Sunday newspaper saying he had sent sexually explicit pictures of himself to an undercover male reporter posing as a woman. -
mark taslov, in reply to
Her fury was directed at Key: ‘‘If you are the person that is charged with telling me this then that says an awful lot about the person that should be doing it, and I am utterly disgusted.’’
A spokeswoman for Key said it is his intention ‘‘should Ms Collins be cleared in the current inquiry, to recommend to the governor-general that she be granted the use of the title ‘The Honourable’ for life.’’
Just because we might end up having to say it, doesn’t mean any of us believe it Judas.
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Rob S, in reply to
Her fury was directed at Key: ‘‘If you are the person that is charged with telling me this then that says an awful lot about the person that should be doing it, and I am utterly disgusted.’’
She reminds me of Dolores Umbridge in Harry Potter, 'I must have order'.
Of course the punishment is for getting caught not necessarily her actions as I find it hard to believe other players in the National Party weren't aware of her methods and contacts.
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mark taslov, in reply to
Yes, which would really grate, her reaction there being quite understandable, her verbal response though, quite farcical:
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Cognitive Dissonance about the FBI and NSA at 60 Minutes
60 Minutes, which has been harshly criticized for running puff pieces for the NSA and FBI recently, is at it again. Last night, they ran two unrelated yet completely conflicting segments—one focusing on FBI Director Jim Comey, and the other on New York Times reporter James Risen—and the cognitive dissonance displayed in the back-to-back interviews was remarkable.
from boing boing
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like a virgin… ?
Act II: in which he who should not be referred to as a pampered menial becomes a ‘well kept man’, or is he just a one ‘made man’ band?ACT leader David Seymour has been sworn in as New Zealand’s first parliamentary under-secretary since 2005, with Prime Minister John Key signalling a ministerial post lies ahead.
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He now holds the roles of parliamentary under-secretary to the minister of education and to the minister for regulatory reform.
He will also serve on the finance and expenditure select committee.
The under-secretary position means Seymour will not be subject to questions in the House. It appears he will not be subject to the Official Information Act also.<My incredulous emphasis>
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Sacha, in reply to
The Minister he is 'under' will however be subject to both on his behalf. In theory. You can imagine what the Speaker will allow instead..
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Sofie Bribiesca, in reply to
ACT leader David Seymour has been sworn in as New Zealand’s first parliamentary under-secretary since 2005,
Oh good, now Team Key can hide behind his behind. Let’s see how much manipulation happens now under urgency. just call up Seymour, shorten select committee submissions and everyone may as well wag Parliament. There will be no point in debating anything. with the Speaker already biased and restrictive in Question time, there will be very little need to show up. Just a bunch of scum sucking leeches
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Finally throttled down my strained outrage-ometer and finished the book. Fuck, what horrible people. And what restrained reportage from Hager - he could have delved into the personal detail he obviously had access to, and a lesser journalist might have, but the picture he painted just by constraining himself to the political is bad enough.
Something must happen. I now have to think hard about how.
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BenWilson, in reply to
Finally throttled down my strained outrage-ometer and finished the book.
Good on you. I haven't managed to finish, because it will actually fuck with my mental equilibrium, which I need for at least another month.
Something must happen. I now have to think hard about how.
I'm planning a contribution, but it needs some free time to work on it. In a nutshell, I think the main contribution that netizens of the left can make is not to fight dirty with dirty, but to fight it with soap. The solution to our politics being hijacked by secret interests using dirty tactics is not to join them, but to shine as bright a light on it as possible, as Hager did.
The rhetorical power of people opposing this stuff is not really the problem, it's just that rhetoric against rhetoric is only a part of the battle. The war could be won with overpowering factual information.
I see a need for better information that holds our politicians accountable. Something that is an antidote for the memory hole. We need an Iraq Body Count of poverty. We need a Promise-ometer. We need better measures better conveyed of where our country is actually at, and also where it has come from and is going to.
In short, I think we need to supplant the news media with information media, devoid of rhetoric and spin. It seems to be happening already, that people already seek data out for themselves, but it could be vastly improved.
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Today’s Tremain
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nzlemming, in reply to
The solution to our politics being hijacked by secret interests using dirty tactics is not to join them, but to shine as bright a light on it as possible, as Hager did.
...
In short, I think we need to supplant the news media with information media, devoid of rhetoric and spin. It seems to be happening already, that people already seek data out for themselves, but it could be vastly improved.
Agreed. Well said.
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Sacha, in reply to
fight it with soap
someone hold Slater's mouth open.
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John Armstrong reckons that the 'rotten smell' of Dirty Politics will continue to linger for the Nats.
True, National has suffered casualties. Judith Collins was sacked. Jason Ede has exited. Or was exited.
There are men and women of honour at the higher levels of the Beehive - Bill English, Gerry Brownlee, Anne Tolley and Chris Finlayson come to mind - who must be appalled by what was being done in the name of the party for which they serve. But no one in National has yet to express any regrets.
It might be politically wise to do so, however. The new Parliament is up and running. Labour, the Greens and New Zealand First yesterday all flagged they would be using whatever mechanisms available to them to make those responsible for National's dirty tricks accountable for their actions.
National might think it is all over. It might be just the beginning.
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Tim Michie, in reply to
As Russell was saying before the election. *sigh*
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Key played super-evasive in parliament yesterday when responding to questions about his communications with Slater.
Norman asked Key how many times he had spoken to Whale Oil blogger Cameron Slater or sent a text.
"None in my capacity as Prime Minister," Key replied. That wording was very deliberate.
Key's argument is that any communications with Slater occurred in his capacity as leader of the National Party, not as Prime Minister. The distinction is important. It allows Key to wriggle free from his detractors, even if it is not very becoming.
As Prime Minister, Key is accountable to Parliament for his Government's actions. He is not accountable to Parliament for the actions and behaviour of the National Party. Any Opposition question straying into the latter's territory must be ruled out of order by Parliament's Speaker.
Labour's Chris Hipkins, however, sought to close off this escape route by asking whether Key had ever phoned or sent a text to Slater on his Government-supplied phone.
"I am not 100 per cent sure of that," Key replied to mocking laughter from the Opposition benches.
Given Key's earlier comment that he calls and texts Slater regularly, it's up to the opposition to nail down the facts and not let up on this line of questioning. Of course a record exists of all calls and texts made from Key's phone. I wonder how long it would take for an OIA request on this subject to receive a response?
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Speaker David Carter has ruled that Key was wrong when he refused to answer questions about Slater in parliament yesterday.
Having reviewed Mr Key's responses overnight, Mr Carter today said that was likely correct for most of Dr Norman's questions. However, one where Dr Norman asked if Slater was correct when he said Mr Key had told him the mother of a car crash victim was "the same woman f-ing feral bitch that screams at him when he goes to Pike River meetings" should have been answered.
The question "made a connection to the actions of the Prime Minister in response to Pike River Mine Tragedy," Mr Carter said.
"A connection having been made to a matter of ministerial responsibility an informative answer should be given."
Naturally, Key denies he was being deceptive and comes out with the following piece of meaningless dribble.
"At the end of the day, people have a variety of different relationships with different people."
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Of course the next question should be "how many tines have employees of the PM's office (including Ede) have been contacted by Slater (spit) in the past 4 years? And how many times have they contacted him?"
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Angela Hart, in reply to
In short, I think we need to supplant the news media with information media, devoid of rhetoric and spin. It seems to be happening already, that people already seek data out for themselves, but it could be vastly improved.
I'm with you here. There's so much damage simply from the senseless repetition of untrue sound bites without challenge or correction, let alone the spun stories and the lack of focus on what is really important.
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Kumara Republic, in reply to
I’m with you here. There’s so much damage simply from the senseless repetition of untrue sound bites without challenge or correction, let alone the spun stories and the lack of focus on what is really important.
Sadly, a populace with its hands full making ends meet is too distracted to raise the alarm. Or worse still, it'll be desperate enough to find a scapegoat or 2. (HT Dylan Horrocks)
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Scott Yorke -- John Key’s Prime Ministership has an off button
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Sacha, in reply to
repetition of untrue sound bites without challenge or correction
let's all do what we can on that front.
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Hager's legal team
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11347803
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