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The fish rots from the head

Written By: - Date published: 8:12 pm, October 16th, 2013 - 91 comments

Today’s decision that John Banks will stand trial for signing a false donations return signals the beginning of the end of the Key government. Increasingly it resembles the last days of the Shipley government only worse, as corruption replaces shambles. The decision also puts the famous tea party conversation between Key and Banks, where they stitched up the deal to provide the present Government’s majority, into new perspective.

Will DunnoKeyo Lead National into Next Year’s Defeat?

Written By: - Date published: 4:02 pm, October 1st, 2013 - 80 comments

Te Reo Putake starts speculating on when, how, and by whom John Key will be knifed in the back by. The question of if it is before or after the losing the next election. So far only Keith Holyoake has managed to retire as a leader of National, so after Labour’s tidy leadership changes we’re all looking forward to the political splatterfest that only National can provide.

Return of the Hollow Men

Written By: - Date published: 10:16 am, September 26th, 2013 - 48 comments

With Cunliffe’s Labour in the ascendance, NAct and/supporters pull out their bag of dirty and deceptively manipulative, Hollow Men, tricks. Adviser to John Key & Boris Johnson, Mark Textor, will most likely be used again: ruthless attack politics, playing on fears & prejudices.

“Dark, dirty and heartless” – Nats & Nick Smith

Written By: - Date published: 10:56 pm, September 25th, 2013 - 52 comments

Two very good speeches in the General Debate in the House  from opposition leaders.  They highlight Nick Smith’s dodgy record, & why he should be stood down as a Minister in Key’s “Dark, dirty & heartless” government. [Update: Key – on (dis)honesty]

National goes dirty

Written By: - Date published: 10:37 pm, September 24th, 2013 - 131 comments

It’s not been surprising to see National’s dirty tricks machine groan back to life over the last week to attack Cunliffe.

And you’ll not be surprised to know more is due over the next few days.

What is surprising is just how hamfistedly they’re doing it.

This is/is not democracy

Written By: - Date published: 1:05 pm, August 12th, 2013 - 106 comments

The Nats’ PR-managed conference stifled democratic debate & bright ideas, and diverted from significant issues.  Armstrong attempts to talk it up, while exposing Key’s win-at-all-costs ruthlessness. Meanwhile: speakers announced for democratic meeting to Kill the GCSB Bill [Updated – Hagar also speaking]. [Update: Gordon Campbell – ‘Nanny National‘]

Schadenfreude

Written By: - Date published: 3:36 pm, August 5th, 2013 - 59 comments

Schadenfreude.

First they came for……………….

Key throws Thorn to the wolves

Written By: - Date published: 7:12 pm, August 1st, 2013 - 146 comments

In a desperate move to stop the spygate political scandal from reaching into National’s machine, Key has thrown Parliamentary Services head, Geoff Thorn, to the wolves (if you think he jumped I’ve got a bridge you may be interested in buying).

Key’s no-shows – protecting Brand Key

Written By: - Date published: 10:45 am, May 13th, 2013 - 15 comments

Who was missing from the Mighty River and SkyCity launches? Being seen at the front of positive government stories is a big part of the PM’s job, unless concerns over protecting Brand Key override that. The fact Key has been a no-show at these two announcements of central planks of National’s agenda tells you a lot about what the Nats’ polling says about them.

Pot and Kettle

Written By: - Date published: 11:36 am, May 10th, 2013 - 60 comments

Key on Gilmore on front page of today’s DomPost: “In the end, to make a contribution, you have to have integrity, and to have integrity there has to be a directness and fullness in your answers.” That’s why Key has no integrity about GCSB – there was no directness and fulness in his answers about it, either in Parliament or to the “knucklehead” media.

‘That politician got amnesia again’

Written By: - Date published: 9:30 am, April 26th, 2013 - 21 comments

Today’s anonymous Dominion Post editorial points to the beginning of John Key’s fall from grace.  It centres on Key’s personal qualities, continues to support the MSM’s support of personality politics, glosses over the serious issues masked by Key’s (alleged) amnesia, and uses a false equivalence with Helen Clark.

Two videos & a documentary

Written By: - Date published: 12:09 pm, April 25th, 2013 - 6 comments

A Jackson PR video promoting NZ scenery as a beautiful backdrop for the Hobbit & tourism; a Campbell Live video on a Dannevirke protest against Big Oil exploiting their area; an anti-fracking Canadian team filming in NZ.

Weapons of mass distraction

Written By: - Date published: 6:32 pm, April 15th, 2013 - 111 comments

I knew John Key was getting desperate, but really?

Weapons of Mass Destruction?

How stupid does he think we are?

Key’s Nixon moment

Written By: - Date published: 6:15 am, April 11th, 2013 - 55 comments

Nixon famously said: “When the president does it, that means that it is not illegal”. John Key would have you believe the same thing, that when his agency, the GCSB, has been breaking the law, the problem lies with the law. No – the problem lies with the GCSB and its oversight. Watergate here we come…

The Hobbit episode II… continues…

Written By: - Date published: 11:59 am, November 27th, 2012 - 103 comments

Today The Hobbit  employment dispute is revived, exposing gaps between principle and practice.  Jackson defends his role; some of Labour’s ABC club will attend the premier; John Key-speak weaves a contradictory path of  populist nonsense, linking the movie, 100%Pure, 100% Middle-earth and Macdonald’s.

How to sound completely insincere

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 pm, November 4th, 2012 - 53 comments

John Key is world-famous for speaking unintelligibly, no doubt.  But how do we spot the times when he’s not just being ineloquent, and is clearly parroting lines prepared by someone else?

When memes attack

Written By: - Date published: 2:52 pm, October 1st, 2012 - 22 comments

The speed with which Planet Key caught on is a measure of the public recognition that the Nats have lost the plot.

Implausible deniability

Written By: - Date published: 10:11 pm, September 26th, 2012 - 16 comments

There’s a lot of it about in right-wing parties at the moment. For John Key, John Banks and David Cameron it appears to be becoming the strategy of choice. It’s not working very well for any of them.

Planet Key, Planet Paula, and the War on the Poor

Written By: - Date published: 3:00 pm, September 19th, 2012 - 67 comments

Over the last week, the government’s off-world set of distorted realities has come to the foreground: those of “Planet John Key” and “Planet Paula”. These worlds highlight the way Bennett’s latest welfare reforms wage war on the poor and undermine fairness and democracy.

Another MMP rort?

Written By: - Date published: 11:50 am, May 4th, 2012 - 44 comments

The media are doing a good job investigating John Banks’ donation history.  The Police are presumably also doing theirs, and it seems clear that the matter must end up in Court and the issue of who is telling the truth will be decided by a judge. Some in the media have dismissed the question of any threat to National’s majority. Short-term maybe, long-term I’m not so sure.

Ask no questions?

Written By: - Date published: 9:02 pm, May 2nd, 2012 - 4 comments

There’s the facts, the questions and the legal opinions. Today in Parliament John Key stuck to his lack of interest in detailed questions, and adherence to Banks’ reliance on  legal opinions. He even alleged that the Labour Opposition agreed with these opinions. Not likely. The Police need to ask all the relevant questions that have so far not been answered by Banks or asked by Key, then their veracity and reliability should be established by a judge.

Twisting in the wind

Written By: - Date published: 10:03 am, May 1st, 2012 - 24 comments

According to 3 News, Kim Dotcom paid cheques into John Banks’ campaign account in Queenstown. Duncan Garner says this would show up on Banks’ bank records as “anonymous”. So how did Kim Dotcom get TeamBanksie’s account number? Two days after he had had a lunch meeting with Banks.

More questions for the Police to ask and Banks to answer.

Key’s vicious cycle

Written By: - Date published: 12:19 pm, April 21st, 2012 - 94 comments

If anything has marked John Key’s tenure as PM it’s his use of his personal brand to run his cabinet.

But what happens to his control as that brand runs out of steam?

Key people

Written By: - Date published: 10:02 pm, March 29th, 2012 - 50 comments

The people named as Bronwyn Pullar’s support team seem to be the same people that helped John Key into the National Party and then into the leadership.

Like they say – it’s not what you know…

What a jerk

Written By: - Date published: 7:41 am, March 27th, 2012 - 36 comments

After months of attacking the media and bringing the weight of the state against a freelance cameraman, John Key is “turning the other cheek”.

What a jerk

Don’t celebrate too soon

Written By: - Date published: 7:34 am, February 17th, 2012 - 63 comments

National’s in retreat on every front. Its had to break its economic promises, again. Asset sales are a disaster. Ministers are exposed over the Crafar Farms, NZ on Air, and DJ Key affairs. The media’s gone off Key ever since he declared war on them. The bad stories that were getting nowhere a year ago now keep rolling. Even Mallard’s boorishness can’t halt National’s slide. But don’t celebrate too soon.

Brand Key, a do nothing Government & the hidden agenda

Written By: - Date published: 9:37 am, February 14th, 2012 - 40 comments

A number of terms are bandied about to describe both John Key and the John Key Government. Using such terms and trying to reconcile their seeming contradictions can prove confusing. Indeed, from time to time we have seen such confusion manifest itself on this blog amongst the right wing who argue how Key can indeed have a ‘hidden agenda’ whilst simultaneously being ‘smile and wave’ or ‘clueless’ and ‘doing nothing’.

John Key’s emergency descent

Written By: - Date published: 11:22 am, February 12th, 2012 - 15 comments

A great graphic from the Sunday Star Times as John Key starts dropping towards a hard landing in the personal popularity stakes. And in the great tradition of  journalists everywhere, the rest of the article is about how he is still preferred by rubber fetishists.

PM’s office cuts Radio Dead

Written By: - Date published: 6:16 pm, February 9th, 2012 - 52 comments

An internal memo in the PM’s office after they received the Electoral Commission’s advice on the Radio Live’s PM Hour broadcast says: “So the Electoral Commission has replied, and basically said they can’t make a judgment on a radio show without seeing a transcript. But they have been pretty clear about putting the responsibility on the broadcaster, which is useful.” Key’s office knew they were skating close to the wind but were happy to cut Radio Live loose. Lesson here for media.

The John Key Party

Written By: - Date published: 8:24 am, December 1st, 2011 - 121 comments

Ubiquitous Tory blonde #5 (Jo Goodhew?) was on Backbenches last night. At the factory where Nat backbenchers are stamped out, they’re programmed to say ‘John Key’ whenever possible. It went wrong, though, when Goodhew said she was proud to be a reelected member of the John Key Party. It was a slip that told the truth: National, and the Right, is now completely dependent on one man.

Like shit warmed-up

Written By: - Date published: 7:20 am, November 23rd, 2011 - 81 comments

John Key is really showing the strain of campaigning, he’s not bearing up under the stress of it at all well. Clearly the National Show Pony was not built for endurance.

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