Hard News: A week being a long time in politics
333 Responses
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Richard Aston, in reply to
Me too JLM - I am really worried about the level of unbridled power about to wash over us like a tsunami .
Tim Watkins blog on this has not had much pick up yet. He's looking out over the teapots to a very scary future. -
Euan Mason, in reply to
"What gets me is how any government in NZ, 2011 can get any support at all for the prospect of selling assets."
The answer lies in that which regularly destroys economic prosperity in the west; people want reduced taxes but enhanced services, and they don't see the oxymoronic connection. Selling state assets provides a short period during which a government can bask in the glow of fairyGodMotherhood.
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Bart Janssen, in reply to
in the west
????
Western Europe is a high tax high service structure as is Scandinavia.
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Craig Ranapia, in reply to
Me too JLM – I am really worried about the level of unbridled power about to wash over us like a tsunami .
First, I guess we should wait a while until the only poll that really matters (tm) is signed, sealed and delivered. :) Otherwise, I don't know how seriously to take all the hand-wringing about "unbridled power". If National ends up enjoying an absolute majority of seats in the next Parliament (which, FWIW, I don't believe will happen) I say that's one for the "democrazy's a bitch, but she's our bitch" file.
I'd also note that even if National is in a position to govern along, we're exceedingly unlikely to see Jar-Jar Binks (Nat - Naboo) move a motion to vest powers in John Key to bring about the creation of the Galactic Empire.
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Neil Graham, in reply to
For all the sound and fury, for all the photo opportunities, the polls seem to show that people made up their minds 6 months ago or more.
People may not change to a different party but if they have a sour taste in their mouth about their pick on election day then they might think it's not worth heading down to the voting booth.
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linger, in reply to
democrazy’s a bitch, but she’s our bitch
But as Neil's comment suggests, that's no longer true if a sizeable proportion of voters are disengaged.
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In regards to the trade me forum, in my experience it is simply a mindless outlet for mass manipulation and is wall to wall with rightwing ‘operatives’, (a loyal and longstanding crew) making every effort to influence what could potentially be a very large audience comparative to other ‘blogs’ To suggest tm is a valid representation of public opinion is a set up waiting for a punch line ...
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linger, in reply to
we’re exceedingly unlikely to see Jar-Jar Binks (Nat – Naboo) move a motion to vest powers in John Key to bring about the creation of the Galactic Empire
Yeah, but somehow I still don't find the argument "they may be muppets, but they're our muppets" very satisfying...
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Richard Aston, in reply to
I’d also note that even if National is in a position to govern along, we’re exceedingly unlikely to see Jar-Jar Binks (Nat – Naboo) move a motion to vest powers in John Key to bring about the creation of the Galactic Empire.
What you mean we haven't created a Galactic Empire already - shit I thought we had that sussed - what are our leaders doing twiddling their thumbs?
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Here comes NBR on a "Get Winston" white charger:
http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/nz-first-crosses-mmp-threshold-ck-104662
I wonder if that story has been waiting in the wings "just in case".
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Sacha, in reply to
we're exceedingly unlikely to see Jar-Jar Binks (Nat - Naboo) move a motion to vest powers in John Key to bring about the creation of the Galactic Empire.
Isn't that pretty much what this government has already done to Christchurch/Canterbury - and got away with? Do we really want to see what Joyce looks like with no checks and balances other than internal party tensions?
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Yeah, but somehow I still don’t find the argument “they may be muppets, but they’re our muppets” very satisfying…
Oh, I don’t so why should you? :) But I also don’t find particularly satisfying cursing the outcome of a free, fair and credible election when the outcome isn’t to your liking. Chris Trotter had a typically nasty projectile spew in the Sunday Star Times the day after the last election, and Brash didn’t exactly distinguish himself as a graceful (narrow) loser after the last one.
I wonder if that story has been waiting in the wings “just in case”.
I believe Matt Nippert has been working on this story for a long time (and it’s exactly the kind of financial investigative piece the NBR has done well in the past), but I’m sure the last week has been a welcome hook.
I’m hoping the cock-struck press will decide that now’s an opportune moment to take a look at who might ride into Parliament on Winnie’s coattails. IIRC, 5% will bring in five or six other MPs with Peters. If Andrew Williams is the cream of that crop, we should all be very very nauseated.
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My point about TM is that it could give a wider view of the populations views on politics compared with here (liberal/left) Kiwiblog (right/raving ) or the Standard (hard left/raving )
I can't say I have followed it enough to say which way it swings or is swung except it seems to mirror the polls which show about 50% National and quite a few Winston followers who I don't come across in the flesh at all -
Rich of Observationz, in reply to
a rantette about how it was so much more difficult these days
You know, and forgive me for being callous, but the absolute locus of this stuff would be the West Coast, and especially people like miners.
Then of course, it comes out that unsafe behaviour became routine, possibly because the workers and management considered such things to be lesbian-imposed political correctness.
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The saga has reached the Guardian's Media site although without much comment, yet
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/greenslade/2011/nov/14/newzealand-phone-hacking
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RB:
I fondly recall reading there once a warning that I was "an extreme Marxist", which would certainly surprise the folk at The Standard.
lol ;)
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Rich of Observationz, in reply to
I guess you're pretty happy with Phil Goff then, and his trappist vow of silence for the first 18 months of the Key government.
Me, I think the job of the opposition is to oppose, and that starts the day after the election.
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Russell Brown, in reply to
I can’t say I have followed it enough to say which way it swings or is swung except it seems to mirror the polls which show about 50% National and quite a few Winston followers who I don’t come across in the flesh at al
I recall there being plenty of perfectly nice and mutually supportive people there -- but also a much higher percentage of angry nutbars than you would find in actual real life.
Mind you, it's got nothing on the Yahoo NZ forums, which tend to make Kiwiblog comments look like Public Address. After all these years, I'm still sometimes amazed at how horrible people feel they can be online.
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Sacha, in reply to
and their job is to present a viable alternative - another activity that takes a few years, not a few weeks.
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Kumara Republic, in reply to
I recall there being plenty of perfectly nice and mutually supportive people there – but also a much higher percentage of angry nutbars than you would find in actual real life.
It’s the whole cloak of anonymity thing – trolls can get away with saying nasty stuff on the Web that they wouldn’t use in real life. As the #mencallmethings movement goes to show, blowing their cover is the thing they most dread.
And if we ever get our own Anders Breivik, would it force them to pause and think, or just invoke the No True Scotsman clause or worse?
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Sofie Bribiesca, in reply to
The saga has reached the Guardian’s Media site
Now we have The International Federation of Journalists condemning the Police.
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In defence of David Farrar...I asked him about Curia's clients, given that Family First's Value Your Vote leadership poll gave Winston and Colin Craig top marks for social conservative ideological purity, compared to Key. He stated that there is a seperation of expertise and owner political orientation at Curia, and I have no reason to disbelieve him.
Craig Y
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NB: Namesake, surely you meant Jar Jar Banks in that mangled Star Wars citation earlier? The resemblance is certainly striking. They're both vacuous, not very smart creatures fond of gobbledegook with pasts in questionable media products...?
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I was just phoned by Reid Research Services who wouldn't disclose their client, but said that the results would be broadcast on TV3.
Their question with regard to meeting at the cafe was:
'Do you agree or disagree that the cameraman should have left his digital recorder on the table?'
When I suggested that from what I had read he didn't have a choice in the matter, the response was of course that this did not fit with their question. So I said that I agreed he should have left his recorder on the table: it's what any journalist would do at a publicly held press event. Frankly the whole thing is farcical: how can anyone pretend to go 'off the record' or into private session in the middle of a press event they've arranged? It's risible, and that alone shows what arrogant clowns Key and Banks are. I get angrier every time I think about it.
Lots of other questions about whether I thought Key or Goff had good leadership/sound judgement/understood the needs of Maori/would be good in a crisis etc, plus a daft question about who, out of anyone, I would vote for as prime minister, which is not what the electoral system enables you to do.
They were clearly also looking for shifts in voting behaviour, by asking me what I had voted at the last election, as well as what I intended to vote at this one. They weren't interested in whether I would be splitting my vote, and were only interested in my party vote.
Also a very general question about did I trust anything Winston said. I asked if this referred to any particular statement by Winston (such as 'the sun will rise in the east tomorrow') or in general, and was told it was a general question about trusting anything coming out of his mouth.
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Russell Brown, in reply to
I get angrier every time I think about it.
I'm learning to manage it.
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