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Key in for the long term?

Written By: - Date published: 10:33 pm, November 22nd, 2014 - 38 comments

John Key’s election as chair of the International Democratic Union is significant. Key succeeds John Howard who has led the IDU for the past 12 years. Key’s acceptance signals that like  four-time winner Howard, Key plans a long career as Prime Minister of New Zealand. This news should be a wake-up call for the Labour Party’s review of its election organisation and party structure.

Polity: Income mobility

Written By: - Date published: 12:43 pm, November 21st, 2014 - 17 comments

David Farrar seldom seems to actually read the reports fully before he starts inventing meaningless canards. A theoretical equality of opportunity is irrelevant when your parent’s lack of disposable income is the major determinant of your own education and opportunities. We waste the opportunities from peoples abilities because of income inequalities.

Moving away from the politics of fear

Written By: - Date published: 8:30 pm, November 2nd, 2014 - 53 comments

Politics from a position of fear is never going to be successful. Politics based on conviction and the ability to put forward a sound argument is a much better strategy. Yes, anyone selected is going to be subject to attack. But there’s no point in allowing that to cloud our judgement.

The bad blogger

Written By: - Date published: 5:27 pm, November 2nd, 2014 - 183 comments

It looks like Cameron Slater has finally woken up to the costs of walking over legal boundaries. Rather than dealing with the numbers of people who don’t like him or his actions. He instead has concocted a paranoid conspiracy theory. Oh, and he wants others to pay for his mistakes. Typical.

Should Right-wing newspapers just shut up?

Written By: - Date published: 1:12 pm, November 2nd, 2014 - 75 comments

In the spirit of Philip Matthews…

Bat Bean Beam: Dirty journalism

Written By: - Date published: 7:07 am, October 29th, 2014 - 32 comments

Giovanni Tiso on Bat Bean Beam is pulling at the threads of the connections between National’s dirty politics and journalism.

Hager vs police – suppressing debate

Written By: - Date published: 6:46 am, October 24th, 2014 - 71 comments

The police and Hager are in the process of initiating legal proceedings against each other. The police action against Hager was and is designed to intimidate, to suppress debate. Rod Oram calls shame on dirty politics and the people who perpetrate it.

Dirty politics aftermath: Slater

Written By: - Date published: 10:07 am, October 21st, 2014 - 30 comments

Pete George has an interesting summary of recent discussion on Slater’s blog in the aftermath of dirty politics. Is Slater about to turn on Key?

New Blog: On The Left

Written By: - Date published: 12:42 pm, October 20th, 2014 - 44 comments

“OTL was born when a couple of lefty comms people got together for coffee and decided that the NZ blogosphere was lacking an accessible, well-written, interesting and above all fun group blog which provided a space for discussing and propagating left-wing ideas.”

Let them go to war

Written By: - Date published: 12:06 am, October 19th, 2014 - 35 comments

Back when I was a teenager, a mate of mine decided that he was going to give up on school and would get in some combat. So he worked his way into the Rhodesian Light Infantry. A few years later I heard that he’d been killed in action. Other young men going overseas with similar excitement issues have came back a lot less interested in excitement. Sounds safer to me than letting them have a car.

How Slater manufactures smears

Written By: - Date published: 9:45 pm, October 14th, 2014 - 55 comments

Unusually the IPCA chair Judge Sir David Carruthers has written a letter to Matthew Blomfield clarifying that “perjury” is a illusion of the rogue “journalist” and fantasy blogger Cameron Slater. Plus news on the theft of Blomfield’s hard disk. Another judge destroys Slater’s carefully inflated memes with facts.

Progressive social media

Written By: - Date published: 9:27 am, October 10th, 2014 - 70 comments

Now that the dust is settling on the 2014 general election it is a good time for progressives to review our and our opponents’ use of social media and what can be done better.  And how do we respond effectively to the approach of the right which is now thanks to Nicky Hager painstakingly clear.

David Farrar gets it wrong on abortion law in NZ

Written By: - Date published: 2:00 pm, October 3rd, 2014 - 43 comments

David Farrar is wrong. We don’t have abortion on request in New Zealand. Not literally, and not “effectively.”

Cosgrove, the whining MP

Written By: - Date published: 8:56 am, October 2nd, 2014 - 123 comments

Clayton Cosgrove has been acting like a real old fossil this morning about Karen Price’s tweeting. It sounds like his wife must live in purdah. But many modern men live with women who actually have their own mind and use it. Apparently he also thinks bloggers are all like the sockpuppet Cameron Slater as well.. Whining fool. I have news for him. We’re independent too…

Jackal: The truth will out

Written By: - Date published: 8:39 pm, September 28th, 2014 - 114 comments

Cameron Slater is a complete arsehole. He gets paid to exercise these talents as was exposed in Dirty Politics. So the question is who is paying him to attack researchers in public health? Do we have a National Minister of Health yet? Or is it the junk food industry or the tobacco lobby? And does he declare his earnings to the IRD?

Boots Theory: Creepy behaviour from David Farrar

Written By: - Date published: 9:49 am, September 27th, 2014 - 78 comments

David Farrar continues the Dirty Politics strategy of trying to intimidate critics of the government into silence.

Dirty Kiwiblog

Written By: - Date published: 6:40 am, September 26th, 2014 - 148 comments

Dr Jarrod Gilbert was the victim of a typical dirty politics smear campaign via Kiwiblog. In the last couple of days he has done some interesting posts on the subject. Expect dirty politics, and personal attacks on critics of the government, to escalate even further over the next three years.

Clean it up

Written By: - Date published: 10:00 am, September 23rd, 2014 - 70 comments

Action Station has a full page ad in today’s NZ Herald, asking to clean up dirty politics. Dirty Politics is not any isolated attack politics or criticism of those in power.  It is a relentless two track strategy, an orchestrated smear machine, aimed at moving politics rightwards & disengaging (left wing) voters. Update: Hager comments on the election.

Another victim of dirty politics speaks out

Written By: - Date published: 10:02 am, September 17th, 2014 - 117 comments

Herald columnist Wendyl Nissen on being the victim of the dirty politics attack machine. She has resigned from a slot on NewstalkZB rather than share a platform with Slater.

VRWC rises from the grave

Written By: - Date published: 8:35 pm, September 14th, 2014 - 29 comments

They’re at it again. David Farrar has a guest post from fellow VRWC member Charles Finny about FiveEyes, arguing that it’s kept us safe in foreign wars and Labour did it too. Which of course is not the point of the current debate about massive government surveillance of innocent citizens. Farrar then gets himself tangled in knots – if Dotcom is right Labour did it too – but he’s not of course says Farrar.

Nat two track strategy – March to Sept

Written By: - Date published: 9:58 am, September 13th, 2014 - 26 comments

Nicky Hager has exposed the two track strategy of the Whale Oil, Kiwiblog, Nat smear machine.  Why is it allowed to continue?

Donghua Liu Letter: More Dirty Politics

Written By: - Date published: 7:06 am, September 12th, 2014 - 55 comments

Frank Macskasy at the Daily Blog has produced a timeline on the 11 year old David Cunliffe – Donghua Liu letter that shows some more seriously dodgy Dirty Politics

Giovanni Tiso on Dirty Politics

Written By: - Date published: 3:53 pm, September 11th, 2014 - 48 comments

In a series of tweets Giovanni Tiso has highlighted important issues concerning the relationship between the media and National as disclosed by Dirty Politics.

Dirty Politics Watch I

Written By: - Date published: 6:10 pm, September 9th, 2014 - 72 comments

A new series on happy mischief and paying back double.

Vid of Nicky Hager talk tonight, Waikato

Written By: - Date published: 9:11 pm, September 8th, 2014 - 32 comments

Nicky Hager’s talk at the University of Waikato was very well attended. It was livestreamed.  A video of it is now available online,

Is National’s sleaze unit feeding the Slater again?

Written By: - Date published: 11:10 am, September 8th, 2014 - 138 comments

Cameron Slater, National’s attack blogger has written a sleaze post on Martyn Bradbury. This shows far too much intelligence for the ever lazy Cameron to have researched it. Has National’s research unit (into dirt) resumed using that sock puppet again? We should be able to look and find out which blackmailed journalists they touch up as this story progresses. Time to follow the dots.

Where is Jason Ede?

Written By: - Date published: 10:54 am, September 8th, 2014 - 19 comments

Jason Ede’s disappearance from public view suggests a cover up in response to Hager’s Dirty Politics.  The book implicates Ede (past PM staffer) in a coordinated black ops smear machine working with blogs like Whale Oil. Key may need to come clean soon about some of Ede’s activities.

“Democracy Under Attack”.

Written By: - Date published: 10:10 am, September 7th, 2014 - 89 comments

How long before “they” use control of the internet and media to bury adverse information, subvert democracy and vilify and silence those who disagree. “They” are doing it, NOW! A Government no longer has legitimacy, when they regard their own citizens as the enemy.

Airbrushing the VRWC

Written By: - Date published: 10:10 am, September 7th, 2014 - 111 comments

In today’s Sunday Star Times, is an article on a Matthew Hooton & the VRWC (Vast Right Wing Conspiracy). Hooton criticises John Key, does a couple of mea culpas, but ultimately, airbrushes the whole disgusting mess of dirty politics. [Updated: comment from Bill]

Slater deleting posts

Written By: - Date published: 7:56 am, September 6th, 2014 - 66 comments

Cameron Slater is deleting posts from his Whaleoil blog. Down the memory hole. Anything he deletes is, of course, of interest in the current dirty climate. Most of it relates to Cathy Odgers / Cactus Kate, but there are exceptions (written by or paid for by others?).

Slater’s bid- fail!

Written By: - Date published: 5:40 pm, September 5th, 2014 - 121 comments

TV3 News reports Slater’s bid to gag the media has failed. High Court decision is that media can report on previously published material, & material they already have. doesn’t apply to previously published material. Rawshark had already given remaining material to the media and departed. [Updated]