Posts by Kumara Republic
Last ←Newer Page 1 2 3 4 5 Older→ First
-
A good litmus test if an apology is genuine or not, is how many repeat offences have been committed since the apology.
-
Legal Beagle: The Greg King Memorial…, in reply to Graeme Edgeler,
I don’t want to be all censorious, but this post really isn’t about David Garrett, so it would be cool if people could lay off the trawl through his history.
Fair enough. But something rings hollow when those who thump down the tough-on-crime card then declare that it’s not illegal when Richard Nixon’s doing it. The 'chickenhawk' is a related thing in military/foreign policy circles.
And from linking to that Investigate Magazine article (I read it so you don’t have to), when Anne Tolley thought out loud of birth control and dysfunctional families in the same sentence, I came to the realisation that eugenicists and anti-contraceptive theo-cons have one thing in common: they both regard contraception as a loser’s option, but for different reasons.
-
Speaker: 11 ways the Opposition has…, in reply to Sacha,
Quite. As I’ve said, they need to do the job we collectively pay them for, or get out of the way
It needs to do more than just follow the mantra of "oppositions don't win, governments lose." Once it loses a large number of people to the Cynicism & Disillusionment Party, it's not easy to get them back.
-
What if there was a 'full, fair and final' policy, but instead of a deadline imposed on Treaty claimants to settle claims, it's a deadline imposed on Big Insurance to settle claims?
-
Access: Safe schools for everyone, in reply to Hilary Stace,
Kirsty Johnston from the Herald has done some great journalism on this issue. Here is her latest contribution
I hope she's not in for the chopping block.
-
Here's a thought: what if Press Council/BSA/OMSA rulings had the equivalent punishment of a successful damages lawsuit?
-
Polity: Political strategy and Canada’s NDP, in reply to Cecelia,
I’ve been mulling over this. I didn’t like it when Shearer, then Cunliffe and now Little started mouthing “hard-working New Zealanders”. This post has finally made me realise why that ghastly expression is used.
It's somehow related to 'Aussie battler' rhetoric. John Howard milked it for all it was worth.
-
Polity: Political strategy and Canada’s NDP, in reply to Cecelia,
I’m with Corbyn, Sanders and the Pope. We need systemic change and bugger the centre.
A lot of us would agree. But some incredibly strong forces would be needed to pull it off – and a lot of these forces are too big to be done through the political system. Like an act of Murphy’s Law such as a housing bubble burst.
Then again, someone might be able to invent a device that will cause every fish tank in the country to overflow.
-
Polity: Political strategy and Canada’s NDP, in reply to B Jones,
I’m curious as to whether this theory applies as well to the right. Don Brash was no centrist, yet he was at least partially successful in kicking the early 2000s National Party out of electoral doldrums, and while he didn’t quite get over the line, he did enough damage to Act to reduce their political clout, and solidify National’s overwhelming dominance of the right. Then the mistakes Labour made in responding to that resurgence lost them Maori support, and once Brash had left the scene, that lost support in the Maori Party could safely ally with National . It was almost a five year game of bad cop, good cop, assuming it was deliberate.
I sometimes wonder if NZ Labour attempted the same wedge politics thing with 'Chinese house buyers'.
-
Polity: Political strategy and Canada’s NDP, in reply to Rich of Observationz,
The choice of Other doesn't matter, it's about giving people someone to hate, fear and require the government to protect them from.
On the other side of the fence, Shock Doctrinists are an obvious target. But they tend to have the sort of fat chequebooks at their disposal - and hence a much louder megaphone - that the 'Other' don't.