Another stage, another clown act, as Key keeps distracting

Written By: - Date published: 8:06 am, July 17th, 2010 - 12 comments
Categories: john key, national - Tags:

Fran O’Sullivan calls John Key ‘Cheerleader-in-Chief’ today. I still prefer rodeo clown. But she’s on the money, for the most part, in her description of National as a party afraid of the public and afraid of its base, and most afraid of what would happen if the public ever found out about its base’s ideological plans for our country. National has become completely stage-managed and has chosen a clown for a leader precisely because a clown is distracting.

O’Sullvan writes: ‘Even the bland and rather homogeneous jamborees the Chinese leaders orchestrate to affirm their in-house succession choices and the next five years don’t look that far removed from what is promised by the agenda for this weekend’s conference.

National is rapidly morphing into a party that has lost its appetite for full-blooded policy debate. Instead it defers to the inclination by its Politburo (led by the singularly unimpressive party president Peter Goodfellow) for mere stage-management.’

O’Sullivan goes on:’This does not bode well for a party that was founded more than seven decades ago on the principles of personal freedom, individual responsibility, a competitive economy and support for families and communities.’

Well, the fact is that National was founded by the rump of the failing farmers’ party and the failing small business party along with the fascist New Zealand Legion with the express purpose of keeping Labour out of power. The name National comes from a claim to represent the interests of the (white, protestant) Nation rather than any particular class, like Labour expressly did (and, in my day dreams still does). Choosing the name ‘National’ in the 1930s, of course, expressly referenced the global rise of nationalist movements.

In short, we should not be surprised this party is not into grassroots democracy. It never has been. It has always been about hierarchy and class (let’s not forget David Bennett’s rant to that effect)

But it is getting worse and for a very good reason, a reason that O’Sullivan as a hard-right winger doesn’t get: If National is open about its intentions it loses elections and National needs a second term more than anything.

12 comments on “Another stage, another clown act, as Key keeps distracting ”

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  1. tsmithfield 1
    17 July 2010 at 9:31 am

    You’re not a member of the John Key fan club then Marty?

  2. Jenny 2
    17 July 2010 at 10:48 am

    As the Maori Party express their opposition to the 90 day bill the possibilty of an anti-National coalition grows.

    It seems that National’s wealthy backers are growing too impatient to even wait the necessary few months for a second term of a National administration to implement their extreme right wing wish list.

    In this they run the risk of National peaking to early.

    If they are not careful, this greedy impatience by National’s big business backers could prematurely upset the whole strategic apple cart, creating a wide coalition of opposition opposed to these policies, so much so, that it risks costing National their majority in the house.

    capcha – joins

    • loota 2.1
      17 July 2010 at 11:06 am

      Jenny, here’s hoping. National is showing every sign of an internal power and ideological struggle at the moment.

  3. Nick C 3
    17 July 2010 at 11:38 am

    Authors here have been predicting the role out of some crazy right wing agenda since day one. Im not holding my breath.

    • IrishBill 3.1
      17 July 2010 at 11:51 am

      You mean “roll” not “role”. And it’s not a crazy right-wing agenda. It is perfectly rational for the government’s backers to push for policy that maximises their returns.

    • Santi 3.2
      17 July 2010 at 11:53 am

      Right on the money nick. The same doomsayers who shout “the sky is falling” all the time. For some of them is very hard not to have political power since Laboiur’s fall from grace. Tough, eh?

  4. Jum 4
    17 July 2010 at 12:33 pm

    Saw the blubber that is whaleoil this morning on The Nation. I’m not surprised they want him out. Not only is even he, a rabid NAct, complaining about National which is a no-no but he’s not even pretty enough for them.

    He said more about the NAct attitude towards Kiwis losing their right to some security in a job in his laughter about the protest tomorrow morning happening when most of the NActors have gone. There is absolutely no care about the stress and insecurity their 90 day policy is causing. Small businesses have loyalty only to themselves when times are hard and you can understand that, but the easier this government makes it for businesses to treat workers badly the less fairness will be evident.

  5. RobertM 5
    17 July 2010 at 2:46 pm

    Yes but why is banks appearing at this Nat do. It is obvious Banks can’t win. Is it some strange tribal loyalty to Banks that keeps Brash, Hide and the actors supporting him. Why dosen’t somebody tell Banks to withdraw and leave the field to Andrew Williams who has done an effective job on the North Shore while Banks has done little to improve the CBD- the spillover problem from half a dozen bars that should lose their liquor license of the backpacker and Alan Duff one night out steeling type, is a serious problem. Williams has helped sanitise, polish and upmarket the shore so why the hell are the backing Banks who will never defeat Len Brown

  6. randal 6
    20 July 2010 at 11:25 am

    this gocvernment is all about personal privilege and looting anything they can get their hands on.
    in the language of psychotherapy its called external referencing.
    i.e. if I have a big car then I have a got a big you know what and furthermore if it is expensive then I am a wonderful person.
    yeah right.

  7. Don 7
    21 July 2010 at 11:28 am

    National will sleeze it way to the next election trying to do what their financial backers decree under cover of the usuall front of centre right politics when in actual fact they desire nothing more than looking after the petty upper class that has nothing better to do than find fault with those who have little or no political power but the number in voters who must be swayed to their way to avoid the annoying fact that they can vote.The national party by nature are masters at holding to the bent arrogant notion that will always be able to govern better because the fact that they have the employers fed, the round table, a large proportion of the farming population and the international finance sector backing them .Of course none of this is ever fully disclosed as it would be treasonist to the democratic rights of the voters .Quite frankly unless NZ can have 100% free information published at anytime the voters will remain manipulated by a political system like the financial system which brought about the recent financial crash, funny money and worthless policies

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