An excellent question

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1. bobo 1

   7 May 2011 at 2:18 pm

   “We see you on TV a lot. What else do you do?” one asked.

   Key insisted he put in “a lot of hours” each day.

   “I pretty much get up about quarter to six in the morning and I get to bed about midnight or 1am,” he said.

   He told pupils his favourite part of the royal wedding was the Queen showering confetti on Prince William and his bride as they left Buckingham Palace.

   ——-

   So Key avoids the school kids question by stating all the hours he works then changes subject to the royal wedding, crosby textor patronizing tactics to children.
   • Eddie 1.1

     7 May 2011 at 2:34 pm

     You have to get up pretty early in the morning when you’re a on a ten day trip to Europe that consists of four meetings that achieve nothing and going to a wedding.

     I wonder if the DPS went with him on this holiday, I’m sorry, important diplomatic visit.
     • bobo 1.1.1

       7 May 2011 at 2:45 pm

       Most working kiwis get up earlier than quarter to six just to try and beat rush hour traffic.. and if his cocktail evenings go till 1am poor guy. Key is no “details kinda PM” like Helen Clark was reading every ministerial report. Would have been funny if a kid had asked him if he could prove that he had an urgent security meeting the night he flew back by chopper..
       • ianmac 1.1.1.1

         7 May 2011 at 3:38 pm

         Maybe he wanted to get home for tea at 6pm. Oops. Still working till 1 am.
       • Colonial Viper 1.1.1.2

         7 May 2011 at 3:42 pm

         Most working kiwis get up earlier than quarter to six just to try and beat rush hour traffic..

         Yeah, if you are insane enough to live in Auckland AND live more than a km or two from work 🙂

         The rest of us enjoy a cosy sub 20 minute commute when demanded 😀
         • bobo 1.1.1.2.1

           7 May 2011 at 4:15 pm

           Or work in a sweatshop with no commuting time 🙂
           • Colonial Viper 1.1.1.2.1.1

             7 May 2011 at 4:20 pm

             Haha maybe you’d like a job at Foxconn making shiny nice iPads then?

             http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2385024,00.asp
         • Deadly_NZ 1.1.1.2.2

           7 May 2011 at 10:57 pm

           Yeah but Key’s got that nifty khaki green helicopter to get him there on time, he’s too important to sit in a traffic Jam. Well in his mind he is.
   • Carol 1.2

     7 May 2011 at 5:49 pm

     Ah, such is the life of an entertainer/actor! Up early to go to make-up & wardrobe, and maybe an extra trip to the photo op location. Then waiting around for the camera set-ups & meeting the press…. so the day goes, until, finally at night learning the latest lines & rewrites from CT…. ermmm the script-writers, to be ready for the next day’s performance.
2. Phaedrus 2

   7 May 2011 at 2:42 pm

   Key was lying when interviewed on 3 News last night about the use of DPS. Watch his eyes carefully and you will see that twice they flick away – half way through the interview and right at the end. This is an unconscious reaction and a real give away when he lies. The first time I noticed this was when he was asked a question about his visit to see the Queen some weeks ago. He made an obvious throw away answer to a question during his weekly press conference, and there was a rapid unconscious eye movement up to the right, as well as some discomfort in his body language. Watch carefully next time he’s interviewed on a challenging topic and you’ll see what I mean. When I’ve asked others, including a pyscho-therapist friend, to watch last night’s interview very carefully, they all picked up this eye movement, which could almost be described as ‘shifty’. Unlike some other politicians, lying doesn’t seem to come naturally to him. That is shown by his body language and eye movements, which reveal his discomfort.

   The other trend to watch for is a rapid switch of topic to attack a Labour MP (usually Phil Goff). This doesn’t come naturally and I suspect is part of the media management training he’s been given. Often this approach follows a refusal or unwillingness to answer questions, and I suspect, when he is trying to lie his way out of a tricky spot. This sudden attack also was used during the 3 News interview, and sadly, he is always allowed to get away with this. He uses this tactic in Parliament during question time, and also generally gets away with it, by bringing that line of questioning to an end.
   • bobo 2.1

     7 May 2011 at 2:48 pm

     He lies so often is hard to see the difference now, was outright lying the night before on tv when he said he had a security meeting to urgently fly back for, then he made a stage exit left as quick as possible.
   • ianmac 2.2

     7 May 2011 at 3:50 pm

     He must have been lying over the question of the renowned journalist Jon Stephenson. See no 2 on Open Mike today from Carol:
     “So did our PM lie about what happened when journalist Jon Stephenson rang him? And was this “lie” an attempt to divert from the SAS in Afghanistan issue?
     Her article based on Stuff identifies 3 points of witnessed disagreement with the PM’s position.
     • Carol 2.2.1

       7 May 2011 at 5:33 pm

       Thanks for the credit, inmac. Actually, it’s mainly an extract from an article on scoop by Selwyn Manning.
       • ianmac 2.2.1.1

         7 May 2011 at 5:50 pm

         Carol. I wonder if this gets more traction? If not why not? In the audio interview with Mannering, the hostess noted the way in which the journalists laughed with the PM when he denigrated Mr Stephenson. Solidarity?
         • Carol 2.2.1.1.1

           7 May 2011 at 6:38 pm

           Yes, you make an interesting point. Maybe the compliant mainstream journos don’t want to be associated with one who is critical, and don’t want to be seen by Key to be critical. The scoop journos, Selwyn Manning, Gordon Campbell etc, are about the most critical ones we have. But it’s hard to know how widely they get read.
   • Samuel Hill 2.3

     7 May 2011 at 10:28 pm

     The biggest thing I’ve known that John Key does is that he takes big “SLURPS” when he has an adrenaline rush. That is whether is is excited, or scared, or nervous.. The snake indeed..
3. PeteG 3

   7 May 2011 at 3:16 pm

   Some more questions?

   Is DPS cover for the PM still optional – ie dependent on if the PM wants it or not?
   Does it depend on any requirements of destination countries?
   • ianmac 3.1

     7 May 2011 at 3:41 pm

     The host country has to supply protection on official visits. I cannot believe that a PM couldn’t refuse police protection. He could even loose them by running away?
     • Rich 3.1.1

       7 May 2011 at 4:00 pm

       Most sensible nations would object to having armed foreigners on their soil, anyway. Which would limit the utility of the DPS.
       • Colonial Viper 3.1.1.1

         7 May 2011 at 4:04 pm

         These details are usually sorted out by MFAT via various diplomatic agreements.

         You can be sure that when Hilary Clinton visited NZ, the US Federal security agents which came with her were all very well armed.
4. FromTheSidelines 4

   7 May 2011 at 3:49 pm

   Why aren’t people celebrating that a few “workers” (i.e. DPS) are getting a well deserved holiday in Hawaii which they normally wouldn’t be able to afford?
   • Colonial Viper 4.1

     7 May 2011 at 4:01 pm

     lolz

     Yeah that’s right, the best jobs in this society go to the wealthy, and those who wait on the wealthy hand and foot. That’s really a society to “celebrate” lol

     BTW the people I know who do close protection work would be seriously pissed off that you characterised their work assignment as a “holiday”, as if putting your life on the line every day is a ‘vacation’ 🙄
   • Eddie 4.2

     7 May 2011 at 4:23 pm

     they were working. you know, protecting key from all those terrists
5. William Joyce 5

   7 May 2011 at 4:10 pm

   ….some captions for the photo-op
    
   Questions from the kids:
   What’s with the hair?
   As an outsider, what do you think of New Zealand?
   How many years did it take you to learn how to breathe?
   I know you’re a self-made man. We think it’s great that you are taking the blame for that!
   My dad said that used to eat paint chips when you were a kid?
   Do you want us to accept you as you are or are we supposed to like you?
   Is it true that your job is about spreading ignorance?
   Do you love nature – despite what it did to you?
    
   Key:
   Sorry, I can’t hear you over the sound of how awesome I am.
   It might look like I’m doing nothing, but at the cellular level I’m really quite busy.
   I’m really easy to get along with once you people learn to worship me.
6. Fat Uncle 6

   7 May 2011 at 4:38 pm

   He needs the DPS to keep away journalists from Radio New Zealand who might actually ask him questions he should be answering. They’ve been doing their job there is seems.
7. ianmac 7

   8 May 2011 at 9:55 am

   One blogger described Key’s words on bin Laden as banal. “The World will be a safer place.” His words invoked no response and that is fairly typical. If your words are banal in giving answers you can’t be criticised for your ideas can you?
   Then we get those like Hone who have substance in their responses. Whether you like his answer or not, it does give the commentators meat to feed on. Often to the detriment of the speaker.

   There must be a mathematician around who can build a graph/formula along the lines of the greater the banal the less the risk. The more the substance the greater the risk. This graph could be applied to the words of the politician and be shorthand for the measure of credibility.
8. burt 8

   8 May 2011 at 11:04 am

   Eddie

   I think this strategy of attacking Key over all the things your team defended Helen for will be looked back on as a complete failure. Why not lift the bar and focus on more intelligent debate of issues that effect NZ rather than playing catch-up for all the times you had to sell your soul defending Clark for being such a self serving destroyer of all that Labour stood for.
   • lprent 8.1

     8 May 2011 at 1:51 pm

     I think that you are attempting a rewrite of history. If there is one thing that does not commonly get done here it is to defend people. People on the site tend to be more interested in attack.

     However I can understand your perplexed way of thinking. Like most good rghties you tend to regard not running along with the mindless mob and using our brains as being heretical. A side effect is that you regard not squealing in support of the porcine mobs current obsession and instead questioning the illogic instead, as being a ‘defense’.

     Perhaps you should examine your retrospective adjustment of history?

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