Posts by Craig Ranapia
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Up Front: The Up-Front Guides: The…, in reply to simon g,
That’s not just a dig at National, incidentally. I haven’t forgotten Shearer’s uninspiring reaction when Obama “came out”. Glad he’s found a spine (or read a poll) since then.
Here’s hoping, though I think it’s exceedingly unlikely he’d vote against a private member’s bill in the name of one of his own caucus. (Though watching the internet – and the Labour Party – goes up in flames if he did would be entertaining in a sick and awful way.)
And much as I adore and respect Obama, watching his (atypically) ungainly "evolution” back to his position while running for the Illinois state senate in 1996 was… unedifying. Hell, it was like watching a weasel after it got into Walter White's stash.
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Up Front: The Up-Front Guides: The…, in reply to Emma Hart,
Well, he's a douche-free fix. (Ms. Wagner will be getting an invoice presently.)
"Of course, this is a highly controversial issue, and I welcome a full range of views from my constituents"
Because, you know... that's what representatives in a mature Parliamentary democracy are supposed to do -- listen to people they don't necessarily agree with or even don't particularly want in the room without a taser to hand. Or something.
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Up Front: The Up-Front Guides: The…, in reply to Emma Hart,
There’s a word for what I’m feeling right now. It’s German.
Currywurst? (It's vile but omnipresent in Berlin. Take from that what you will.)
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Up Front: The Up-Front Guides: The…, in reply to Gee,
I am aware that some people feel that marriage is between a man and a woman and I try to respect their feelings as well.
Now, no disrespect to Ms. Wagner but that's a bit of Weasel-speak that gets on the nub of my last nerve. What the hell does that mean? "I'll smile and nod through that awful load of dingo-arse, then make a dent in the bottle of gin in my desk as soon as they leave" or "collapse into a puddle of goop like candy floss in a monsoon"?
Somedays, I just want to slap MPs with a rolled up copy of Burke's famous speech to the electors of Bristol.
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Up Front: The Up-Front Guides: The…, in reply to Phil Lyth,
am filled with hope, as yet unrequited, that Act On Campus will bring their MP to his senses.
I've certainly been proud of the Young Nats recently, though with a certain amount of melancholy reflection on how damn unpleasant it was banging my head against the brick wall of the 'senior party' back in the day. Oh well, sometimes the kids do you proud. :)
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Up Front: The Up-Front Guides: The…, in reply to Emma Hart,
It is frustrating, but I suspect everyone has been told to STFU ahead of the caucus discussion which (IIRC) is going to happen early next week. (I've certainly done my time in the collective responsibility trenches on a less exalted level when I was in the Young Nats. Let's just say I wasn't on the winning side of every policy debate, and have the scar tissue on my inside bottom lip to prove it.)
My National Party gossip isn’t as 110-proof as it used to be but I’m hearing it’s going to be lively.
God knows my appointment with Maggie Barry should be interesting – being agreeable for more than ten minutes in a row makes my knuckles itch.
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Up Front: The Up-Front Guides: The…, in reply to Emma Hart,
I will respectfully disagree that this is any kind of actual answer to the question “What’s your view…”
I'll equally respectfully suggest you're disagreeing with something I've not actually said, Would I be getting fitted for new squee-pants if the National caucus came out en masse for marriage equality? Too fucking right, but if they're not trotting out the Romney-esque dog-fucker analogies either? Well, I'll take what I've got and work with it.
(BTW, I'd note making the right noises at this stage doesn't make anyone a reliable ally - or a certain foe - either. I'd suggest you take a look at the four New York GOP state senators who crossed the floor to secure passage of their marriage equality bill. Until the last moment they were so firmly on the fence the lobbying from all sides was going on almost literally until the last moment.)
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Up Front: The Up-Front Guides: The…, in reply to Damian Christie,
On this we agree, except I think they both miss the irony of their position.
Not only the irony but the spectacular circle-jerky intellectual dishonesty of it. I've been working on a post of my own on that, but keep finding that typing "fuck you" several hundred times, while relaxing, isn't exactly adding value to public discourse.
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Up Front: The Up-Front Guides: The…, in reply to Russell Brown,
Well, we certainly all need to see 3 News’ bonus footage of government ministers squirming and running away in response to straightforward questions about their views on “gay marriage”.
Which struck me as bizarre when “We’re going to be discussing that in caucus next week, and I’ll talk to you afterwards” is a reasonable – if infuriatingly commonplace – response to those awkward stand-ups. And you know what, I might snerk you without mercy but you really need to harden the fuck up and take it. You're a politician -- odds are at least half the population at any given moment is going to think you're the anti-Christ.
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OK, so apparently I’m held to a higher standard of responsibility when I sign my tax return than I would be signing a campaign finance return while seeking public office. An office where, presumably, I’d have some not-inconsiderable influence over the disposition of billions in public funds and be expected to get my head around a never-ending stack of papers awaiting my signature?
That’s comforting.
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