Posts by Craig Ranapia
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Of course, if she hadn't tried to talk to the protesters, the narrative would have been that she scuttled away to the safety of the venue, afraid to face the crowd. Or something.
You're probably right - but I have a funny feeling there's a few folks in Labour (whatever they're saying in pulbic) - including Ovens herself - who'd have found that preferable. In the end, she made a call - didn't turn out to be the best, but perhaps all that proves is she's a rather ordinary human being.
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This is the news we could have been talking about instead:
Why? Michael Cullen sez we rock, the Tories are Blue Meanies, vote for us or the puppy gets it - what a shock. I expect Bill English to be throwing exactly the same soundbites of partisan raw meat to the party faithful at his next party conference, and expect to be equally indifferent.
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I hold no brief for Richards -- I'm quite happy to see him charged and/or expelled, whatever -- but the confrontation was at least in part a result of the atmosphere generated by the protesters.
Would it have killed them to stop screaming "Scab! Scab! Scab!" for a moment and actually listen to Ovens, who was, after all, on their side?
No it wouldn't have, but just to play devil's advocate how the hell does someone with Ovens' experience in the union movement read a crowd that badly? I'm not holding her personally responsible for her partner's arsehole-ism, but WTF was she thinking? Might have been a little more welcome - and effective - if she'd had the ovaries to stand up and say her piece on the conference floor, in front of both Clark and the press bench. Of course, she'd have been tarred, feathered and run out of the Bruce Mason on a rail ...
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I think what's different about this one is that it was like a family squabble on the capital-L Left.
No feud like a family feud - and the weird (and rather pleasant) thing about being in the Young Nats at Vic back in the 90's is that there were plenty of folks on 'the other side' you could at least be civil to, even quite good friends with. Perhaps I'm showing my grey hair, but it feels like politics isn't as much fun as it used to be - and a lot more bitter and apocalyptic.
Anyway, I very much doubt it was the first time Ovens found herself in the middle of *cough* a free and frank exchange of views. At least she - from the look of the story on Three - had the good sense to just walk away; seems as if her only error of judgment wasn't to make sure her husband/partner followed her inside.
And to be honest, RB, what kind of reception was Ovens really expecting? This wasn't a union gathering, but the annual conference of the Labour Party. And it sure looked like Clark thinks she's onto a winner by dog-whstling the terrorism meme as hard, and as long, as she can. ITA with you photos of a braying mob leading every news bulletin isn't exactly helpful to their cause. I'm just saying that I can understand why they may not have been interested in what any delegate to that conference had to say.
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They should terminate Richards' membership. It'd be good riddance.
The sad thing is that if he is going to be expelled from the party, I'm cynical enough to suspect that it's not going to be for what he did - but that he's upstaged the Prime Minister's tax cut pledge in (quite literally) the most graphic way imaginable.
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The hysterical nature of the protest no doubt raised the temperature. But Labour should still turf him out of the party.
Looked relatively clam compared to some of the protests I walked through back in the 90's, Russell - and I'd bet the house that there were plenty of folks inside the Bruce Mason this morning who were on the other side of the door then.
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Meanwhile, anyone catch the footage on Three of a Labour conference delegate bringing the biff to a peaceful protest - and the Police doing absolutely NOTHING - then flat out lying about it when quizzed by a reporter?
Couldn't. Make. It. Up.
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... I bet I could find you something more inflammatory from Michael Laws every Sunday.
Well, yes... you know, like Messers Shipton, Scholum and Rickards being on trial earlier this year for the kind of 'sensual excesses' we'd all cop to if we weren't so blinded by PC prudery. But come on... if you've got to defend a piece of work by taking Michael Laws as a baseline...
Hell, I wouldn't say my work on PA Radio is a string of flawless pearls, but I at least try to work at a marginally higher level than Laws'... um, more excitable radio work.
In the end, I guess the piece may be "fundamentally different to mainstream Pakeha thinking" - I personally found it a rather banal attempt to épater le honky bourgeois that might, just, fill a page in Critic on a slow week, but not really a sterling case study of the academic as public intellectual.
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Colbert's bid got shot down
And was anyone even slightly surprised - as the commentariat has pretty much appointed Hillary Clinton to the White House, you've got to wonder why the primaries are being held at all. :)
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Birch was... finance wasn't he?
If you believe certain people, Birch's primary job function was to keep Satan sweet, and dispose of the exsanguinated kitten corpses without anyone noticing.
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