Posts by simon g
Last ←Newer Page 1 2 3 4 5 Older→ First
-
Hard News: Dirty Politics, in reply to simon g,
Thank goodness nobody reads my comments ...
-
Hard News: Dirty Politics, in reply to Neil,
A handful of people ranting on the Standard or Twitter late at night is hardly a fair sample. Nobody has elected them to anything.
I'm not aware of any Labour or Green MPs giving us their amateur diagnosis over the past week. But words like "psychotic" and "delusional" have been thrown around by National MPs who should know better.
-
That interview on 'The Nation' was really poor. A series of assertions, barely challenged by the interviewer. Simon Shepherd even let Collings bring in his stupid sign to hold up for the cameras. Failed Professional Journalism 101.
And I don't give a damn what any party insider said privately to another insider. If you didn't tell the voters, you and your suddenly convenient "concerns" can fuck right off.
-
Hard News: Dirty Politics, in reply to simon g,
Unfortunately there's a TVNZ poll out this weekend.
Just for fun, I'll predict in advance (rather than spin afterwards):
Bridges will go UP in the preferred PM question. Pundits will then pontificate, and get it wrong.
For any opposition leader, between election campaigns, "preferred PM" is about name recognition. (Remember when Helen Clark stayed in the rankings, long after she had moved to New York?). Politics junkies think the public are following every detail, every day: they aren't. People have lives. So, until recently a large swathe of the population did not know (or much care) who the leader of the National party was.
They do now.
(yes, I could be totally wrong. Humble pie sitting in the fridge, ready for my 6 pm dinner ...)
-
Legal Beagle: Last call on the Electoral…, in reply to Dennis Frank,
Farrar is already suggesting on Kiwiblog that a deal could be done with Ross.
It's been a year since Farrar last suggested a "deal". Let's check in with our alternative historians, reporting live from Planet DPF, in October 2018 :
"The National-Green coalition collapsed today, following revelations about the behaviour of Cabinet Minister Jami-Lee Ross. A group of female Green MPs stood ashen-faced behind co-leader Marama Davidson as she announced that the party had finally had enough. "This isn't worth the proposed ban on plastic bags", she declared. "We are deeply shocked that National knew so much for so long, and covered it up. This is the last straw, after all the previous last straws".
Opposition leader Jacinda Ardern called for an early election, and PM Bill English said "Why not? I was sick of it all anyway. I'm outta here. All yours, Simon".
The ensuing Labour landslide in November 2018 was welcomed by everybody, including most of the National party".
-
Danyl Mclauchlan nails it.
"Empowering a faction of ruthless, amoral assholes whose only goal was to destroy everyone around them has been a predictable disaster for National."
It's a quality piece of commentary, perhaps the best I've seen in the past week.
-
Well, this may be getting tested a lot earlier than anybody anticipated!
Mark Mitchell on RNZ Checkpoint says that National should NOT use the "waka jumping" law to get rid of Jami-Lee Ross.
It's a nightmare if he stays in Parliament (and not just for National actually - the gov't parties would be mortified if he becomes their new BFF!). But as of now, that's his plan. Subject to change, as Ross' stories tend to be.
-
The whole thing is just nauseating now. Popcorn for the first 24 hours or so, but it's hard to find much fun in some of these toxic stories. Misogyny - yay! Racism - woo hoo! Total unanimity - sorry, total treachery. One turns into the other at a moment's notice.
Unfortunately there's a TVNZ poll out this weekend. I say "unfortunately" because the last thing I want to hear is horse race commentary on issues of right and wrong: "National only down 1 point, so it's all good!". I doubt that Colmar-Brunton will be offering respondents the option of "I oppose government policies but I'd like them to be opposed by non-shitty people".
-
Simon Lusk's name came up again today: he's been assisting Jami-Lee Ross.
Funny how Hager's two related books ( Dirty Politics & Hollow Men) are vindicated time and again. Sad that so many "commentators" chose to dismiss his work, when it has proven such a reliable guide to the National party.
-
(assorted Nat-hacks and "commentators" delete all their previous tweets ...)