Good dictators

Written By: - Date published: 10:25 am, September 16th, 2010 - 41 comments
Categories: making shit up - Tags: ,

Over at the sewer David Farrar is busy desperately defending the new one-law-to-rule-them all that is the Canterbury quake legislation by trying to claim that dictatorships can be good things:

But a long time ago, a dictator was seen in positive lights – in fact some dictators are seen as democratic heroes. Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix changed the office from a noble one to a tyrannical one when he was made dictator for an indefinite period in 82 BC. Prior to that, it was well regarded.

I’ve always found Farrar’s pretensions to intellectualism amusing (in a cringing Ricky Gervais kind of way) but this really takes the cake.

I guess that means when he was comparing Helen Clark to dictators in 2008 he was being complimentary. It’s just his readers were too stupid to realise how good a dictatorship is. Good thing he’s setting the record straight now.

UPDATE: Couldn’t resist running this YouTube classic again. For some reason I can’t embed the code (Lynn?), so you’ll have to click through the link.

Lprent: Just put the URL in the post. It will embed itself using oEmbedd

41 comments on “Good dictators ”

  • Comments are now closed

  2. Bright Red 2
    16 September 2010 at 10:39 am

    can we see a bigger version of the pic in the post maybe?

  3. travellerev 3
    16 September 2010 at 10:42 am

    You know it’s bad if even D4J is spitting at John Key. Just go and have read of at Farrar’s piece of shit blog. LOL.

  4. felix 4
    16 September 2010 at 10:43 am

    He’s really jumped the shark now.

    Psycho Milt sums it up nicely at the sewer:

    DPF is right – we all know that democracy isn’t threatened by the govt giving itself unlimited power, it’s threatened by the govt attempting to limit how much people can spend on election advertising.

  5. Bright Red 5
    16 September 2010 at 11:56 am

    I’d forgotten how awful Farrar comes across on TV. like an overweight, secretive, slimey, elitist penguin with a lisp.

  6. Xeno 6
    16 September 2010 at 12:11 pm

    Bright Red: Penguin ? Nah , that is an insult to

    Sphenisciformes Spheniscidae

    Tux, Linux, and the creator of Batman villans.

    The rest you got pretty right.

    [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penguin ],

  7. ghostwhowalksnz 7
    16 September 2010 at 12:16 pm

    Remember how Farragoblog used to kick David Benson-Pope for some indiscretion.
    The boots on the other foot now but its merely ‘not good’;

  8. Daveski 8
    16 September 2010 at 1:03 pm

    Exactly. What National should have done is act unilaterally and then when pointed out that they were acting illegally, they could have introduced retrospective legislation to cover their asses. That would be far more principled.

    Seriously, the pollies can work out that making political gain out of the earthquake is a no go so surely even you lot could do the same.

    • ABC 8.1
      16 September 2010 at 2:04 pm

      It is National who have made political gain out this. The power Brownlee has now far exceeds anything to do with rebuilding. The rest were too dimwitted and cowed to resist. Of course democracy to many people is just siding with whoever has the biggest stick – otherwise known as cowardice.

  9. Rex Widerstrom 9
    16 September 2010 at 2:40 pm

    DPF posts a frankly fatuous defence of the worst piece of legislation ever, and some commenters decide their contribution should be comments on his appearance?

    Way to go, you intellectual, handsome devils you.

    • mcflock 9.1
      16 September 2010 at 4:03 pm

      Well, today I’m all outraged out.

      Between Farrar, Brownlee, Garrett, our valiant “opposition”, and the libertarianz cameo . . . fuck it.

      I’m going to go get drunk and make fat jokes (now seditious) until Chairman Brownlee figures out how to sign his name at the bottom of a “Canterbury Recovery Death Warrant” (the bottom, not the middle. Very important!). Or until I wake up tomorrow morning.

    • BLiP 9.2
      16 September 2010 at 4:29 pm

      Farrar, fat? Man, he’s so fat when he jumps in the air he gets stuck . . . he’s so fat he’s protected by Greenpeace . . . he’s so fat he’s got his own postal code . . . he’s so fat that when he broke his leg, gravy poured out . . . he’s so fat you gotta take a train to his good side . . . FATuous defence is right.

      • Rex Widerstrom 9.2.1
        16 September 2010 at 6:23 pm

        Well if they’re funny it’s different. I’m sure there’s no truth to what I was told, for instance, that you’re so ugly you have to Trick or Treat by phone 😀

        • BLiP 9.2.1.1
          16 September 2010 at 7:08 pm

          No, its worse . . . I’m so ugly that when I was born the doctor slapped my mother 🙂

          • mcflock 9.2.1.1.1
            16 September 2010 at 9:10 pm

            Bloodhound Gand: Why’s everybody always picking on me?

            The morn’ that I was born my old man beat up the doctor
            He clocked the doctor cause the doctor said I looked like Chewbacca
            The doctor said sir you’re misled sir which infers you mistook me
            I did not mean your lovely wife was shackin’ up with a wookie
            What I mean is Wolverine is less hairy than your son
            He’s looks like Chewie Baba Booey Baba Booey and Hong Kong Phooey all in one
            To put it mild your new-born child’s completely nutty fu-fu lookin’
            I’d shove him back into the oven until he is done cookin’

    • Gosman 9.3
      16 September 2010 at 6:55 pm

      I didn’t see David Farrar giving the legislation his 100 percent support. He made clear he prefers that there are restrictions placed on the powers. His point, which none of you bother to dispute in your intellectual arrogance, is that in the past dictatorial powers were used in times of crisis for a short perior of time to enable someone to do what they needed to do without having to go through the normal process of getting approval. Do you dispute this fact?

      • Pascal's bookie 9.3.1
        16 September 2010 at 7:01 pm

        By in the past you mean ancient fucking rome. That’s quite the past. Rome had it’s good points, also it’s bloody awful points. Pointing out that Rome allowed dictators doesn’t actually get you very far. They also strangled senators in a pit.

        I want my tribunes of the people, then we’ll talk.

        • BLiP 9.3.1.1
          16 September 2010 at 7:09 pm

          Rome also had slaves . . . is Farrar starting the softening up process for National Ltd™’s real intentions?

      • Draco T Bastard 9.3.2
        16 September 2010 at 7:50 pm

        Point me to any contemporary democratic society that dished out dictatorial powers in a crisis. See, I think you’re making the mistake of confusing extra-ordinary powers with the ability to bypass some laws but still be held to account with what our parliament has just given GB which are dictatorial powers due to the fact that he can bypass pretty much any law and not be held to account.

        There’s quite a difference really.

        • Gosman 9.3.2.1
          17 September 2010 at 8:55 am

          It is silly to state that Gerry Brownlee cannot be held to account. The ultimate accountability is of course by the electors at the ballot box.

          • Pascal's bookie 9.3.2.1.1
            17 September 2010 at 9:13 am

            #3 on National’s list, for starters.
            For seconders, legally accountable.
            For thirdsies, rule of law, I kinda like it.

            YMMV

          • El Mutante 9.3.2.1.2
            18 September 2010 at 1:11 pm

            He was elected to represent Ilam and therefore only has a mandate to represent that neighbourhood which is the only safe Tory seat in Christchurch you egg.

            I never got to vote for him because I live in Bromley, not that I would have in the first place. But he has the power to rule my shit now which I never asked for. If he shows up in my neck of the woods he’ll get eggs to the gob.

      • Bill 9.3.3
        16 September 2010 at 8:41 pm

        I really want that everybody realises that dictators start out by doing good things. Usually hi-jacking and exploiting sentiments such as unity and solidarity and backing it up with brick and mortar largesse in the shape of discretionary or one off donation/funding.

        In this way they generate a supportive base, a compliant populace that extends the benefit of the doubt given the perception of previous good deeds, while ‘the Mussolini’ finds it’s stride.

        Which is not to say that such passings are inevitable. Simply that the possibility has now been afforded in NZ.

        P.S. Well done all you fucking lower than scum shit sac representatives who just advertised your willingness to throw away the very last vestigial remnants of democracy that I or anyone else could nominally rely on to prevent unaccountable bad…very bad corporate orientated shit landing all over our heads.

  10. Tigger 10
    16 September 2010 at 2:53 pm

    Hippocrisy.

  11. Jeremy 11
    16 September 2010 at 8:47 pm

    Whoah, now I know what the guy behind the blog looks and sounds like, lol. Really.. I don’t think I can take this guy too seriously. Not that I have.

    • Gosman 11.1
      16 September 2010 at 10:00 pm

      Perhaps that is the reason why the main contributors to The Standard prefer to remain anonymous. Because they think it will mean people will more likely take them seriously

      • BLiP 11.1.1
        16 September 2010 at 10:03 pm

        Yep. Like newspaper editorials.

        • Gosman 11.1.1.1
          17 September 2010 at 8:58 am

          So newspaper editorials take the authors of The standard seriously do they? Any evidence for this rather bold statement (not just an editorial that shares the opinion expressed here mind, I’m meaning something that links the site directly).

  12. Pascal's bookie 12
    16 September 2010 at 10:09 pm

    First dictat: Big Trucks , stonking great big trucks.

    • Draco T Bastard 12.1
      16 September 2010 at 11:31 pm

      Actually, that should just be “Unsafe, stonking great big trucks.” He’s cut off all the safety requirements. and:

      To avoid doubt, a relevant authority may grant an authorisation that affects any road, bridge, or other transport infrastructure that is inside the district of another territorial authority.

      He’s made it so that it’s national. Bet the trucking forum’s over-joyed.

      • Armchair Critic 12.1.1
        17 September 2010 at 9:02 am

        Yeah, but he doesn’t have any powers to over-rule the laws of physics. Stonking great big trucks will overload bridges and make them unusable pretty quickly.

Links to post

The server will be getting hardware changes this evening starting at 10pm NZDT.
The site will be off line for some hours.