Posts by Craig Ranapia
Last ←Newer Page 1 2 3 4 5 Older→ First
-
Hard News: Friday Music: The Story, in reply to Luke Williamson,
The entire scene appears to me to be about looking at everyone else and trying to get them to look at you.
That's something new? :)
-
Hard News: Friday Music: The Story, in reply to Lilith __,
Swift is in her early 20s, but sings as an idealised version of a young teenager. I doubt being a teen was like that, even for her.
I’d warmly recommend laying hands on Tracey Thorn’s Bedsit Disco Queen: How I Grew Up and Tried to Be A Pop Star. Not your average rock memoir, and among much else really sharp (and more than a little pissed off) at how deeply inauthentic and damaging demands for some unattainable standard of “authenticity” can be.
-
Hard News: No Red Wedding, in reply to Bart Janssen,
I’m with Craig here, I think attacking independent officers of the government is far more serious than attacking mere politicians.
I'd agree with you up to a point - "just because you have an arsehole, doesn't mean you have to be an arsehole" (h/t John Scalzi) is an excellent general principle for everyone, everywhere. Civil servants have strong restraints on how they respond to attacks of that nature, and quite rightly so -- something I'm naive enough to hope Radio New Zealand would be particularly sensitive to, given its status as a state-owned broadcaster that jealously defends it's editorial and managerial independence.
That said, I certainly hope the on-air retraction apology would have been exactly the same if David Cunliffe was a senior civil servant, or a member of the public, rather than the leader of the Opposition. Right?
-
Hard News: No Red Wedding, in reply to Paul Williams,
Fair points Craig although, prima facie, Hooton defamed Cunliffe. That’s a little more significant than being rude.
While I bow to the superior legal expertise of others hereabouts, I would class wild and baseless allegations of party political bias on the part of the Police Commissioner and the Auditor-General (who happens to be an officer of Parliament) a long way above mere "rudeness" but moving right along.
What Hooten said about Cunliffe, with no basis in fact, was feckless in the extreme regardless of whether it's legally actionable. But I'd argue its not exactly without precedent, and a small part of me thinks you reap what you sow. Or, at the least, if you're going to let hyper-partisans loose without a hair-trigger kill switch don't be surprised at the entirely predictable results.
-
Hard News: No Red Wedding, in reply to Paul Williams,
I wonder if he will none the less retain his spot?
Why not? I’d note Matthew Hooten and Lila Harre’s services were retained after a particularly toxic round of mouth-farting at the height of the furore over dodgy election spending where I was sincerely gob-smacked that Ryan didn't shut them both down as they launched into pretty heated (and IMO grossly defamatory) attacks on the political independence of the incumbent Police Commissioner and Auditor-General. I don’t recall Kevin Brady or Howard Broad receiving an on-air retraction, let alone an apology, for that.
-
Hard News: Being Jim, in reply to Russell Brown,
Jim always refers to you as “my friend Craig”. For a young man who doesn’t have very many people in his life, that’s a very big thing.
Just between us, the feeling is mutual. I don’t apply the other F-word to people easily, or often, but Jimmy doesn’t make it hard. Must admit, though, it took a bit of getting use to that he’s kind of crap at feigning interest in pointless social chit-chat, but that’s not the worse thing in the world and I'm hardly one to talk. :)
-
Hard News: No Red Wedding, in reply to Russell Brown,
Au contraire. I have a couple of Twitter followers who confidently tell me these things all the goddamn time.
You too? Perhaps I'm a naif, but if Key and Cunliffe were the pair of evil genii Twitter would have us believe their life goals are tragically low. At the very least, HBO should have signed them up for a fashionably nihilistic drama by now.
-
Hard News: No Red Wedding, in reply to Russell Brown,
I suspect it’ll go about as well as Labour’s endless attempts to do much the same to Key did.
Bloody oath – and as I’ve said on Twitter, while Matthew really needs to get his Cunliffe Derangement Syndrome seen to by a professional, there’s a few parties that really need to dismount from the moral high horse. Seriously. You don't have to have any regard for Key to think allegations he was involved in massive fraud, or made multiple false statutory declaration, need to be made with extreme care.
-
Hard News: No Red Wedding, in reply to Bart Janssen,
Especially since National have not spent much political effort yet trying to minimise the bump Labour were always going to get.
Why would they? Before we get too carried away, it was a good poll but 1) after six weeks of favourable soft press for Labour and Cunliffe it would be a shocker if there wasn't some gains, and, 2) there's still a year to go before the only poll that actually counts. I do think that's worth repeating, because three years ago a fair few polls were saying National would be able to govern in its own right. How did that work out again?
-
Hard News: No Red Wedding, in reply to Russell Brown,
This morning’s Herald reports a very strong poll result for Cunliffe’s Labour.
If you can't get a poll bump after six weeks of pretty soft media coverage, your incompetence is truly inspiring. The trick is sustaining it.
Last ←Newer Page 1 … 118 119 120 121 122 … 1235 Older→ First