The moral low ground

45 comments on “The moral low ground ”

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1. Once Was Tim 1

   18 August 2014 at 3:22 pm

   Unfortunately this election may be more about whether they’re able to kick the can down the road a bit further or not.
   The more they’re successful at it of course, the uglier it gets. THe harder they rise, the harder they fall and all that.
   Kicking the can down the road though does seem to be their strategy (or rather tactic).
   No doubt the paper shredders are busy, and as individuals they’re each busy working out who best to blame.
   Personally, I don’t think its going to work. Fessing up and minimising the long term effects for their respective families is a far better option. But then, not only are they Masters of the Universe – they’re also muppets with a shitload to lose
2. yeshe 2

   18 August 2014 at 3:24 pm

   Including Hooton among the ones who are revulsed and
   shocked ? Surely not ?
   • Anne 2.1

     18 August 2014 at 3:41 pm

     Hooton might earn his living being a right wing spinner but he has standards. I can’t see him being associated with such abhorrent behaviour.
     • Hami Shearlie 2.1.1

       18 August 2014 at 4:10 pm

       But isn’t he reported as having given the street name of Nicky Hagar’s house to Cathy Odgers?
       • Tracey 2.1.1.1

         18 August 2014 at 4:17 pm

         exactly. Anything short of hoots now using his contacts to campaign hard against national is not contrition he is, imo, soilednot just by his connections but his own actions
         • CnrJoe 2.1.1.1.1

           18 August 2014 at 5:25 pm

           But he said on nine to noon today he’ll be doing all he can to help his candidate – Goldsmith – lose.
           http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/20146062
           • Tracey 2.1.1.1.1.1

             18 August 2014 at 6:05 pm

             he is an ACT man now
       • rhinocrates 2.1.1.2

         18 August 2014 at 4:19 pm

         Exactly. Spin it as he likes, he was there and a part of it and has been neck deep in the filth with them for years. Now he has standards? He’s just scrambling to find a long enough barge pole to push them away now.
       • TheRealist 2.1.1.3

         18 August 2014 at 7:20 pm

         I was confused as well, but I think it’s someone else, spelled Hooton.
     • tricledrown 2.1.2

       18 August 2014 at 4:20 pm

       So Matthew Hooton broadcasting Hagers st address on National Radio was very nasty bullying Anne
     • tricledrown 2.1.3

       18 August 2014 at 5:24 pm

       Yeah right Anne Hooton is deeply embedded as with the exclusive brethren they were in cohorts with Key then and are now !
       Is this the best you can do you are rather naive or just the water tester for a conback that will never happen!
       Mathew Hooton is a Machevelian Henchman of the highest order and to say he is otherwise you would be a fool!
       • Anne 2.1.3.1

         18 August 2014 at 5:47 pm

         You’re all acting as if I’m a supporter of Hooton. Pull your horns in! Can’t stand the beggar. He’s a super-spinner for the right and can’t be trusted. However is there any proof he supplied the address
         knowing what Odger’/Slater’s intentions were when he did so? Haven’t read the book yet so I don’t know.

         I don’t think he would have been so stupid to have aligned himself too closely with those rotten examples of humanity. Call it ‘standards’ or if you like ‘being astute’. Take your pick.
         • Tracey 2.1.3.1.1

           18 August 2014 at 6:07 pm

           hager says there is proof. I have read the boom book.

           [lprent: 🙂 ]
         • tricledrown 2.1.3.1.2

           18 August 2014 at 6:31 pm

           Anne I am talking about last Monday on 9 till noon Matthew Hooton’s intimidatory behaviour telling every body where Nicky Hager lived !
           • Anne 2.1.3.1.2.1

             18 August 2014 at 7:08 pm

             It would appear we were at cross purposes. I didn’t know he revealed the address yesterday. I do know Hagar used to be in the Welly phone book because I wanted to get in touch with him some years ago.
             • tricledrown …

               18 August 2014 at 9:39 pm

               anne your out of touch with reality and just winding up and taking the piss
               • Anne …

                 18 August 2014 at 10:13 pm

                 What are you on about? Looks like you’re misinterpreting my words big time. Good grief. Have a cuppa and a Kit Kat!
                 • tricledrown …

                   18 August 2014 at 10:56 pm

                   Was that when the elusive bretheren were outed.
                   snickers
       • lurgee 2.1.3.2

         18 August 2014 at 8:06 pm

         Mathew Hooton is a Machevelian Henchman of the highest order and to say he is otherwise you would be a fool!

         In his dreams …

         He’s a self important fool who wishes everyone THOUGHT he was a Machevelian Henchman of the highest order. He’s a bitof a goon, really. Unlike Slater et al, I would give him the benefit of the doubt in most instances – I think he’s just a bit of a feckless idiot who’s having a bit of a laugh and can’t believe that everyone else takes this stuff so seriously and that he’s managed to make a living out of blustering and pretending to be more important than he really is.

         Which makes him a right dick, for laughing and pissing about with things that are actually really serious, but not actively consciously evil.

         IMHO.
3. Weepus beard 3

   18 August 2014 at 4:33 pm

   Lol.

   http://t.co/riwBIU3rGJ
4. Jeeves Ponzi 4

   18 August 2014 at 4:56 pm

   I don’t really care about dirty politics on the Left. Or the right.
   I don’t really care about our abysmal media.
   I don’t care about that insufferable blog or the ferals who post their peurile bile there.
   I don’t really care if the emails were stolen, leaked ,hacked, created from ectoplasmic hatred or not.
   I don’t care if every dot in Hager’s book is exactly accurate or not.
   Or if Judith moved a prisoner, or John knew about the raid,or Jason actually hacked, or Cameron actually said, or anyone actually did anything.

   I don’t care if they are joined dots or squiggly lines, facts, fantasy or foolishness

   Just look at our Government.

   They stink- badly- in their entirety.
   And I know this for a fact- because I can smell it.
   • tricledrown 4.1

     18 August 2014 at 6:11 pm

     if you can get Tremains cartoon Saturday ODT it sums up the situation!
5. Sable 5

   18 August 2014 at 5:05 pm

   Its sad what this country has come to when this twerp is preferred choice of PM. Really scraping the paint off the bottom of the barrel….
   • Colonial Viper 5.1

     18 August 2014 at 5:12 pm

     We need smart, strong, vibrant alternatives. People are waiting. Internet Mana is on 4% now – on a poll which is predominantly landline and right wing. Not saying that they deserve support, but saying that people want something clearly different to support – lots of people know by now that Key and his crew are bad news.
   • Dumbrse 5.2

     18 August 2014 at 7:39 pm

     What’s really sad is you having no understanding of democracy. Give me a Labour Party name that is polling bette than Key……..there you go, didn’t think so.
     • The Al1en 5.2.1

       18 August 2014 at 7:48 pm

       Give me a Labour party name that uses a slime ball attack blogger to do the dirty work, allowing them to cultivate an honest john personna to the populus… There you go, didn’t think so.
     • unsol 5.2.2

       18 August 2014 at 8:04 pm

       Nah you can’t use the recent polls as they are all before this book came out. Secondly, democracy is grossly undermined when 1) most people do not get polled, 2) most who are polled live in Waikanae or Tauranga – our retired capitals so they only reflect the views of one demographic & 3) voter turnout has been decreasing for years with the last election the lowest turnout ever.

       Yes non voters could vote either way, but most are left wing as we all know that those least likely to vote are the young ones (18-24) & that if they do vote they are usually idealist students who tend to vote left…and the low income……who very rarely vote right if they ever vote at all.

       So I wouldnt be pushing the democracy argument if I were you as you are bound to lose. Sure we have a democracy in terms of numbers with most who are eligible turning out to vote, but we don’t have a democracy in terms of fair representation of ALL demographics, ethnicities & races. Absolutely not.

       But you are right in that Labour et al have yet to offer a viable alternative government & I am not sure that expecting to ride in on the curtails of the Hager vs the Nats/Slater scandal will be enough to secure a win.
6. unsol 6

   18 August 2014 at 5:47 pm

   “Slater, Farrar, Ede, Collins, Lusk, Odgers, Jordan Williams – all are repulsive…..this is a cancer that has to be cut out. As always, it’s the cover-up that finally does that damage. Key’s attempts to cover up are pathetic, and doomed to be futile. But what they show is that he chosen to be in the moral low ground with the rest of them”

   Couldn’t agree more. I am incredulous at Key’s inability to come out strong, distance himself from Slater et al & kick Collins out. His easy-going personality makes him out to be a spineless fool like Bolger & we all know how that turned out – Slash & Burn Shipley pushed him out. I’m guessing if the Nats get re-elected Collins would do the same…if she had the numbers…..I can’t imagine she is super popular amongst the party though…or at least amongst the women as women like her don’t tend to have many girlfriends!

   In times like this I miss Helen. She at least had spine…..even if I thought she went so far left she forgot what centre looked liked when she reduced the drinking age (that turned out well….not!) & started handing out all the freebies. 😉

   So this debacle puts us centre right voters in a real bind as despite claims to the contrary, we know there is no one as morally vapid as Slater et al on the left – the likes of Mallard & Bradbury are all bark & little bite. And Hager’s book shows the Nat’s attempts to tame the rabid dog is proof trying to do so just means you are likely to end up with rabies.

   Obviously policies are much bigger than all this garbage, but one has to wonder if Slater continues to get his claws into the Nats will this impact policy too? E.g. will they start to liberalise tobacco, censorship (porn) & gun laws (mind you they are pretty liberal anyone when one considers he still has a license – WTF is up with that!)? I wouldn’t be surprised as while the world is in agreement that Slater is a vile excuse of a man, the Nats don’t seem to have a problem with keeping him in the loop. Nor do the corporates…if the claims against him re tobacco & Fonterra are anything to go by.

   So the question is if Key isn’t going to man up & ditch this lot what will you all do? How does one get rid of a bunch of parasitic wasps? It seems they are immune to all kinds of extermination. Slater especially has received heaps of backlash & yet keeps going despite threats against his wife (who seems just as nuts as he is) & his kids (and no I don’t condone those threats in any shape or form, just trying to demonstrate that he is a jack in the box as it seems he can never be pushed down for long). If anything all this stuff just fuels his narcissism!

   I don’t have the answers, but one thing for sure is that the longer Slater, Lusk, Collins, Ede etc are associated with NZ politics the worse off our democracy is. Everything they stand for undermines the basic principles upon which this country was established & prevents voters from finding a reason to engage.
   • emergency mike 6.1

     18 August 2014 at 6:43 pm

     Sorry unsol, a fish rots from the head down. This isn’t a gang of nasty sociopaths that have latched themselves on to Key, Key is the leader of the gang.

     Bennett? Bridges? Brownlee? Collins? Perata? Joyce? Findlayson? Ross? I think you left a few nasties off your list. Everyone of them is cold, vindictive, and arrogant. Smack bang in the middle of it all is poor innocent smiley wavey John Key. How did this happen to such a nice man?

     As Mike Smith points out unsol, Key has made it clear who he is sticking with and defending. His sociopathic mates.
     • unsol 6.1.1

       18 August 2014 at 7:23 pm

       “Sorry unsol, a fish rots from the head down”

       emerg mike I agree. I’ve always considered Johnboy to be a wolf in sheep’s clothing & thought he was an iron fist in a velvet glove kind of guy after he managed to reign English in without a coup. I also liked who he surrounded himself with..that is until I realised how dodge Collins is (first alarm was her meddling in the Bain case.

       The fact that he chooses to side with morally questionable people like Collins, despite the fact that it is actually politically expedient to save face & ditch her, means he is incredibly stupid or she has something over him. I’m guessing the latter.

       And sorry, but nah, I rate Bennett as the best MSD we have ever had as she was the first minister to talk about child abuse the second she got appointed. Being a leftie you won’t agree with her policies, but you have to see that her heart is 100% in the right place. She’s a good lady. For a westie 😉

       Perata & Joyce – I like them but yep, agree with bumbling Brownleee & Findlayson. Not sure about Ross as he is not ‘important’. Don’t like the fact that Slater rates him though. That can’t be a good omen!
       • emergency mike 6.1.1.1

         18 August 2014 at 8:30 pm

         Fair enough unsol, however:

         “but you have to see that her heart is 100% in the right place”

         Ms “There is no measure for child poverty hahaha”? The one who released benefit details of someone who criticized her policies and maintained she’d done nothing wrong? The minister who seems to think her job finding new ways to kick people off benefits?

         No I don’t, and I won’t.
   • shona 6.2

     18 August 2014 at 7:54 pm

     Clark did not reduce the drinking age Shipley did. Cafe Society and all that shit.
     • unsol 6.2.1

       18 August 2014 at 8:09 pm

       Are you sure? Yes the Nats were in govt, but I thought it was lowered under the Dalziel Amendment Act – a PMB brought in by Dalziel & voted in on a conscience vote where the majority of the left voted yes & the majority of the right voted no?
       • lprent 6.2.1.1

         19 August 2014 at 2:09 am

         As I remember it, the 1999 bill was initiated by the Shipley government and pushed by Shipley as part of the deregulation campaign (the same stupid 90’s deregulation push that caused my leaky building and all of the pain that caused). The block voting was minimal. The major parties treated it as a conscience vote.

         I think that you are thinking about the amendment Dalziel brought in on a later reading. But that was just a technical matter.

         Umm….
         http://www.odt.co.nz/tags/reflecting-150-years/184502/1999-drinking-age-lowered-18-59-55-vote
   • adriank 6.3

     19 August 2014 at 12:17 am

     I think you’ll find that the Sale of Liquor Amendment Act of 1999 was passed 3 months before Helen Clark was elected PM: http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1999/0092/latest/DLM32605.html
     • tricledrown 6.3.1

       19 August 2014 at 12:24 am

       Shipley’s last stand she was hoping that lowering the drinking age would save her ass
   • Rosie 6.4

     19 August 2014 at 9:01 am

     Hi unsol.

     “In times like this I miss Helen. She at least had spine…..even if I thought she went so far left she forgot what centre looked liked when she reduced the drinking age (that turned out well….not!) & started handing out all the freebies. ;)”

     Just as an aside, it was the National Government under Jenny Shipley that reduced the minimum alcohol purchase age in 1999, not Hel’s Government.
7. philj 7

   18 August 2014 at 6:26 pm

   xox
   I’m not incredulous about Keys inability to distance himself from these repulsive people. Why? Cause he’s an integral part of it. Vote Key for a Brighter Future!.? He’s history. Can’t wait for the Ipredict odds.
8. Travis 8

   18 August 2014 at 6:31 pm

   Ah unsol. Much like myself you were a casual observer at whaleoil, I know I was for a few years, but got ground down by the abuse, but worse simply the posts that would magically dissappear if you questioned cameron or his two felching sycophants or confessed to an alternative view. I actually thank them, couple of years ago I was a blind nat voter who thought jk was ok by me, funnily enough over the last 12 months simply on the basis of what I read on WO it was enough to get me thinking, then actually be repulsed by them. And that was before the book….good thing is I would never have known the standard existed if it wasnt for Cam, and now I get to cometo a blog, comment whatever I like without being being blocked. I remember you unsol and agreed with most of what you said, but wasnt surprised when you were banished. I suspect you and I are one of many, went to WO for the news, got turned off by the nastiness, and have ended up here….free to say what we like. The thing that makes me laugh the most is the “WO Army” and Cam and the moderators constantly soliciting for donations from them “to run the site” by these followers…and the whole time he is being paid by the tobacco and alcohol industry. Haha! Even Cam is trying to fuck his devoted “army” …and they dont see it. He even has a donate button on his home page. They cant see he is just using them, like he uses everyone (Beven Chuang anyone, she came out smelling like roses didnt she Cam?)
   • emergency mike 8.1

     18 August 2014 at 6:52 pm

     I’d say about a third of the ‘army’ will be waking up about now to the fact that they are just useful idiots to ‘Cam’ – that he’s been laughing at his manipulation of them as hard as his manipulation of anyone else.

     Another third will still be in cognitive dissonant disbelief. “We’re with you Cam! Stay strong.” They will wake up later. Perhaps quite abruptly if Slater implodes as quickly as he might.

     The other third are Slater sock puppets. I’m sure they will stay fiercely loyal.
   • unsol 8.2

     18 August 2014 at 7:51 pm

     Travis eh….interesting! I’m guessing you’re not the same Slater 2IC wannabe Travis….I can’t imagine he would step away from the party line! Hmmm I wasn’t just a casual observer, I heartily contributed until the bitter end! 😉 I saw the ‘light’ when Slater wrote a derogatory post about that 10 year old boy early last year. I had seen a lot of content on the site that I found extremely questionable, but like you I chose to ignore it for many years as for the most part I agreed with the politically based sentiments. But after that awful post I found very few posts I agreed with, particularly as the Bain stuff came up & it was soon obvious the parasitic wasps were circling..all good things must come to an end eh! 😉 They are a weird lot tho aren’t they! They don’t seem to realise that real life exists outside their little bubble where their views have more in common with hate speech & nonsensical ramblings than that of well-thought out substantiated arguments. I guess it makes sense as we all know bigots have an IQ barely above that of mental retardation as such views are just not logical.

     The marriage equality stuff (I got attacked by the commentators but not Slater as his posts were obviously ‘pro’…despite the fact he is clearly as bigoted as one can get) was a classic example of logic & rationale being completely foreign concepts to most people. I was simply gobsmacked by not just how many neanderthals still exist, but by their sheer stupidity. Up until that point I thought most commentators on there were reasonably intelligent. I soon found I had given them way to much credit as they couldn’t cope with anything bigger than a sound bite or one sentence max…..especially on issues they disagreed with.

     Most of the old regulars seem to have left now though so looks like there is a few of us that ‘woke up’!

     All bloggers & commentators can get really nasty, but no other blog takes to character assassinations with the same level of venom as them & they certainly don’t tend to denigrate ordinary NZers just because they happened to make the news. This is what I reckon will be Slater’s undoing if KDC & Hager don’t take him down first. Like all narcissists he will probably (&predictably) end up being the author of his own misfortune.

     Re the donations – funny that the WO army is only loyal until it comes time to part with their hard earn cash!!! I doubt those donations are keeping him in the lifestyle to which he is accustomed (i.e. leaning on the wife’s income and/or feeding off the taxpayer’s tit). Like his page views, I doubt the donations amount to much by way of something really tangible! It’s almost as funny as him thinking he was invited & partially put up by the Israeli govt because he is a real journalist “decent, trained & skilled”……he fails to realise that it was most probably because they are so desperate to get a sympathetic ear re their genocide of the Palestinians ( schools vs rockets against a big ole dome is hardly a fair match) that they would have invited anyone!

     Anyhoo it will be interesting to see how this saga ends & how much, if at all, it affects the election result.
9. dave 9

   18 August 2014 at 7:53 pm

   for anyone intrested protest at the pullman hotel 21 august at 6.45 pm these vile people deserved bit of there own back

   https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152214811687601&set=gm.714546255278068&type=1&relevant_count=1
10. Vaughan Little 10

    18 August 2014 at 8:09 pm

    when the dust settles, after the elections, we’re gonna have to talk about bullying. it’s not ok to be a bully, and it’s not ok for bullies to represent us in parliament.
11. Travis 11

    18 August 2014 at 9:51 pm

    Funny you mention the palestinians, that was my final straw. The reaction to a post I made made it clear for some reason if you werent ANTI palestine, you must be anti Israel? It just wasnt possible to be anti neither, or pro the israeli state, but by the same measure pro a palestinian homeland and more importantly being shocked by the innocent casualties -on both sides and pointing out it was neither the children in palestine, nor the israeli reservist who was to blame nor would be able to solve the arab-israeli problem, but they were the ones paying the price. And yes, constantly referring to any dissident on yr site as a “cocksmoker” had me wondering . Its all clear now though, obviously the pro equality lobby was willing to pay more than the anti..hence why they were obviously able to post under Camerons name…that seems to be how he picks his issues. Highest bidder. At least by accident he morally fell the right way.
    travis? Tongue firmly in cheek. He is more of a dick than his hero he wishes would like him more.
12. Rosie 12

    19 August 2014 at 9:14 am

    Revulsion is the perfect word. The Book is fascinating and disturbing in regard to the outrageous political manipulations but above all the sense of revulsion when reading this book is overwhelming, and I’m only three chapters into it!

    It’s necessary to read this book, it can’t be ignored. Normally we have the option of avoiding unpleasantness if we choose to, but reading Dirty Politics you can’t escape it. The characters communications are sickening and disgusting.

    It provokes such a reaction in me that I can’t read this book before bed time – it pollutes the mind and gives a sense of unease, which is not what you want as you drift into sleep.

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