Posts by Craig Ranapia
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For my part, I've been informed by the discussion following this post, and I really appreciate Ian's reply.
Ditto, RB. And thanks for Mr.Llewellyn giving a bit of insight into the process, especially when there's a meme doing the rounds that the media are all John Key's willing bitches. I guess it's just human nature to go into a defensive crouch when faced with criticism, so it's refreshing to see people calmly engage with their critics.
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But c'mon -- if you have a great speech, you give it in every town, right? Sure, Joe Klein from Time is gonna get tired of hearing it, but the people in those towns won't.
Well, yes. I can understand why everyone is getting campaign bus cabin fever -- just before Super Size Me Tuesday both Clinton and Obama were visibly exhausted and sounded like they'd picked up a three carton a day cigarette habit. Primary season is bad enough, but the general becomes outright sadistic.
Dare I say it, perhaps politics nerds occasionally need a reality check: Not everyone shares our passion for microscopic textual analysis of ever cub-clause, and furiously trying to divine the metaphysical significance of Hillary buying a new pant suit or Obama scratching his balls to rapturous applause.
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I know know how closely you watch these things, Damien, but Senator Clinton is no slough at having plenty of folks who will piss their pants on cue. And I can't for the life of me understand why Bill Clinton still get treated like a rock star, though I've got to admit the Clinton Charisma always struck me as somewhat opaque.
I actually like that Key and Clark have all the charisma of stale rock buns. Winston Peters has 'charisma', and he's a douche bag.
And just to play devil's advocate for a moment, could Obama's real problem be that he's way too 'black' -- and like it or not, so much African-American rhetoric and culture comes straight from the pulpit and the choir loft. Deal with it.
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Well, Paul, sometimes the bleeding obvious needs to be repeated frequently and at the top of your voice. You know, like the frequent occasions when 'common sense' appears to be as rare as a kosher ham and cheese sandwich.
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Wow... am I the only person who finds a messiah a damn sight more attractive than someone whose supporters should get off the martyr trip, and do something useful with the lumber and nails?
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Are we to get a tax cut on top of WFF?
Who's "we", kemosabe? I'd respectfully suggest to any PA reader who is that outraged by the notion of receiving a personal tax cut and WFF can either 1) cut the IRD a cheque (as far as I'm aware they can't make you take it), or, 2) not claim WFF benefits in the first place.
And to be perfectly blunt, I'm more than a little tired of the media/political assumption that if you don't -- or can't -- have children its wine and roses all the way. If only... God knows I'm not looking forward to growing old without the prospect of guilt tripping the kiddies into picking up the slack.
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When either party announces tax cuts, why does no journalist ever ask them what service cuts they plan to introduce as a result?
To be fair, Daleaway, the question does get asked. And both Cullen and English will put a pat of butter in their mouths, tell you that you can have massive tax cuts without cutting government spending as opposed to massively increasing it (which is only inflationary when those other bastards do it, BTW) then pull it out again. Great party trick, but this bear of little brain isn't convinced.
I guess the comeback is that a dirty market fundamentalist would say that, wouldn't I? I'd squee my pants with glee if every penny of tax cuts was equalled by a penny of spending cuts, but that would require treating voters to something a little more thoughtful than Prononomics.
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Up to a point, Tom. But I've got to admit to feeling a pronounced lack of sympathy for politicians like Tony Blair, complaining on their way out the door about the media culture they did so much to create, and were certainly happy to take full advantage of when the going was good. Lie down with whores, odds are you're eventually going to get up with a nasty infection -- though I'm not really sure who's screwing who in this scenario.
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how much would you like your wages cut by Craig?
Wrong question, Snowy. Remember you're talking to a freelance writer who fills the gap by temping.
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Craig seems to be an expert authority on so many things political that I figured he might be able to fill the vast vacuum of National's non-policy.
Snowy: I seem to be the only person in these parts who isn't on the distribution list for this 'secret agenda' I keep hearing so much about. On the partisan tip, I'd be quite happy if Labour spends the next eight months pushing a bill of goods nobody wants to buy. But it really adds nothing to substantive political discourse, don't you think?
I get as bored and frustrated as anyone by 'horse race' process stories (and I've long been on the record with my desire that media outlets sack the pollsters and hire a few more actual reporters), and politicians of all stripes who get away with, shall we say, strategic ambiguity. I'm just a little more sceptical than others that Key is the only beneficiary of less than ideal political journalism.
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