Written By:
mickysavage - Date published:
7:52 am, December 19th, 2019 - 18 comments
Categories: internet, making shit up, Media, Simon Bridges, the praiseworthy and the pitiful, twitter, uncategorized, you couldn't make this shit up -
Tags: Nigel Latta
Simon Bridges twitter account (is that you Hamish?) and Nigel Latta have engaged in an interesting battle on Twitter recently. And it is straight out of the Trump play book.
The tactic appears to be to pick a fight with someone who could be smeared as an intellectual and trust he does not fight back. But it looks like Bridges may have miscalculated.
It all when Nigel Latta publicly expressed concern at National’s attack mode and likened it to Trump’s America.
It’s hugely concerning that Simon Bridges & National seem to be wholeheartedly embracing Trump’s approach to the truth. Just because this stuff works for Trump doesn’t mean you should do it too. Our political conversation should be better than this. We are better than this. https://t.co/LKV1GQBNCC
— Nigel Latta (@NigelLatta) December 14, 2019
Bridges asked what was wrong.
What’s untrue in our tweet @NigelLatta? https://t.co/LMWUmM3Tlc
— Simon Bridges (@simonjbridges) December 14, 2019
To which Latta replied:
I think it’s disingenuous in the extreme. “… massive surpluses as far as the eye can see?” Also a housing crisis, crumbling health infrastructure etc etc. If you run the ship down I’m not sure you get to complain that the next lot have to spend money to fix it up again.
— Nigel Latta (@NigelLatta) December 14, 2019
He also said this:
The problem is after 9 years you delivered a health system in disrepair, a housing crisis, a shameful record on mental health etc etc. You can't just keep pretending all the problems started in the last 2 years. They're just getting started cleaning it all up. Also, I'm a kiwi. https://t.co/w0WciN9raL
— Nigel Latta (@NigelLatta) December 16, 2019
Simon replied:
Treasury forecast surpluses on Labour becoming government until 2032 after which they don’t do them. In two years we’re now in deficit
— Simon Bridges (@simonjbridges) December 14, 2019
So can we agree there was nothing incorrect about the tweet @NigelLatta?
You’re entitled to your opinions but don’t try pretend you’re objective https://t.co/34l1Hr2dcn
Clearly Simon does not know what “disingenuous” means.
Latta tried to point this out:
Can we at least agree it was disingenuous? If the tweet had acknowledged the extended role national played in creating the various holes which now require filling that would have been more honest.
— Nigel Latta (@NigelLatta) December 15, 2019
Latta was asked if he was thinking of a political career.
I'll say it again for anyone who missed it: I'm not going into politics. Not now. Not ever. I have no desire to become an MP. I just don't want to live in the NZ that Simon Bridges & National want to create. Instead I believe in a NZ where all of us matter, not just some of us.
— Nigel Latta (@NigelLatta) December 15, 2019
Bridges then chose to call him a celebrity, obviously not in the better sense of the word.
We can create a NZ that means more money in Kiwis’ pockets, fewer trapped on welfare, gang crime taken seriously & a strong economy supporting edu & health. We’ll be a Govt that listens to Kiwis, not celebrities and overseas commentators. We won’t just promise, we’ll deliver. https://t.co/ld5uNpyDUI
— Simon Bridges (@simonjbridges) December 15, 2019
Latta had the perfect reply:
Bridges tried to end it with the most passive aggressive of responses. I mean “woke christmas”? WTF is that?
But Latta had the best and final burn.
Now that's a great idea! See? If people just keep talking we can always find something we agree on. You have a good sleep and a Merry Christmas as well. See you in 2020
— Nigel Latta (@NigelLatta) December 17, 2019
Bridges was asked about the feud. From the Herald:
[Latta’s] a guy who trades as an independent boffin who’s kind of nice and straight down the middle – the reality is he is clearly deep on the left; he doesn’t like National” he told reporters.Bridges said that Latta was entitled to his opinion, but he should not “dress it up with some sort of pseudo-science objectivity”.
So only those deep on the left do not like National?
Engaging in twitter spats with independent commentators with a strong media presence, I wonder how that will end up?
Update: Latta has reflected on what has happened and thinks that politics should occur differently. His conclusion is a strong endorsement of Jacinda Ardern’s approach to politics.
Hopefully many like Latta take up the cause as it leaves a clear path for JA whilst nats social media handlers get to deal with the BS they keep spreading.
Consider the possibility this is where influencers like Thiel is looking after the folk who granted him his bolthole and citizenship. So much experience and resources for the right.
The Nats have 30 social media staff just in Bridges' office, let alone the rest. How many do we think the govt parties have?
Bridges just got taken to the drycleaners by Nigel Latta and when national get beaten they quickly revert to 'he's from the left' rhetoric why because if we dig deep enough all nationals bullshit starts to rise like rubbish @ the rubbish tip
We need more of this. Multiple credible people assertively challenging national on their bullshit. Labour seems to miss doing this. That’s not a criticism of them. They seem to be trying to focus and take responsibility for what they are achieving. That’s admirable. But they are in danger of letting nationals lies and spin win the argument
NZ First namely uncle Winstone will challenge national at the next election he will remind them of the 9 years they had to implement policy and didn't do it instead they made the rich richer and the poorer even poorer.
I have doubts that Bridges even writes his own tweets.
They seem far too advanced for his intellect.
He has 30 social media staff. Most of them will be tending Facecloth rather than Twitter but damn straight he would have virtually no hands-on involvement in either platform. Bridges does what he's told like a good lad.
I saw a similar bit of hypocritical dribble from John someone or another (a great supporter of right and the right to gossip with false facts – some kind of useless journalist from memory) the other night.
He 'suddenly' realised that Jacinda was president of the international socialist youth during the first two years as an MP. He raised this as disturbing fact – in the usual parrot Farrar style.
He appeared to get upset and very unwilling to talk about the equivalent position that John Key had in being the chair of an equivalent international conservative organisation in his last couple of years of being our PM.
Of course it could have been my delivery where I made it clear that I thought his omission, presentation and raising of it was because he was a useless journo, frequently a purveyor of false facts, and was just being a arsehole snake in the grass in this case. It was about as stupid an act as Simon Bridges Twitter usually is.
Basically if people want to act like arseholes on the Net – then as far as I am concerned, I can't be bothered being as polite as Latta. If they then try to then play the "I'm a victim card" (as SBT did above) then I'll just treat them as I would for Cameron Slater – a gutless wonder who always went that route as well.
and the country was non plussed about all that storm in a tea pot ….or much ado about nothing.
Latta used to deal with recalcitrant children so him engaging with Bridges is good.
Bridges quoting Treasury…predictions…the irony!
Bridges isn't really debating the issue he's just using standard right wing tactics and, playing on ordinary people's fears about losing their jobs and livelihoods. Things like government spending and immigration play directly into these fears.
The left just have to take it slowly with their changes as people aren't ready. It would take a big global crisis to really wake people up and make them change. We just better hope it's not too late.
Simon Bridges is resorting to that stupid habit of trying to achieve some sense of 'upmanship' over someone who is more intelligent than Bridges can ever deem himself as being.
In other words Bridges is behaving like a stupid Village Idiot who thinks a 'tit for tat' response will result in a lowly NZ voter voting for him(Bridges)at election time.
I am so over Simon Bridges. He is a major turn off for me and perhaps many thousands of other voters at the next election.
His(Bridges) 'justifications' for behaving like a Village Idiot all because he thinks he looks(and awfully enough sounds)good just doesn't do anything to me. I have switched off listening to him or reading any of the NZ National Party articles, adverts(even those probably funded by the wealthy Asian donators to the NZ National Party bank account(s))in the Mouthpiece of the NZ National Party tabloid NZ Herald.
In fact every time a National Party MP appears on the telly I reach for the remote control and the Mute button. Thankgoodness someone invented the remote control because it now makes a National MP look like a bloated gold-fish puffing away and looking as stupid as their dearest leader that is the Village Idiot(aka Simon Bridges).
Prediction:-Simon Bridges leads the only Right Wing party in the world that will *not win* the NZ 2020 election despite using Topham Guerin (TG) for a social media campaign! As good as TG are I think they cant do much to save this one.
S-lie-mon Bridges
S-lie Bridges
There has never been a successful socialist government anywhere, ever. What makes the "left" think it is achieveble in New Zealand – ever?
Merry christmas.
I love Simon Bridges.