spin

Categories under spin

Both sides reporting in the time of Trump

Written By: - Date published: 10:08 am, January 24th, 2021 - 85 comments

You would think that after the Trump years the media would be turning away from the reporting of “both sides” of an issue and in many cases they are.  But there is a recent example of a hold out urging that extremist views should be given media attention.

Brash Bassett and Hide take up blogging

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, January 19th, 2021 - 100 comments

A new political blog has appeared.  But rather than involving a fresh presentation of new ideas in an attempt to engender debate this blog has three tired old has beens who are well past their use by date engage in some climate change denial and race baiting.

Anatomy of a failed coup

Written By: - Date published: 8:58 am, January 8th, 2021 - 175 comments

America’s descent into chaos was almost completed yesterday.  An amazingly inept display by local police saw a takeover of Congress and a temporary disruption of the confirmation of the clearly expressed view of the majority of Americans.

Trump’s next 48 hours

Written By: - Date published: 11:18 am, January 6th, 2021 - 66 comments

With crucial Senate run off races in Georgia and Congress meeting to receive the declared results of the US election and with Republicans determined to oppose the results at every turn the next couple of days will be very significant for America’s future. Update (lprent): The democratic senators from Georgia are called as victors. A riot pushed by an irresponsible President Trump happened at the Capitol building with people dead. Congress subsequently made a determined proclamation that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are confirmed a the newly elected president and vice-president. As for Donald Trump – goodbye to unstable rubbish..

How low will Bridges go?

Written By: - Date published: 11:00 am, January 2nd, 2021 - 24 comments

Simon Bridges has spent the last week casting aspersions on people who have tragically died at Music Festivals in an attempt to score culture war inspired political points and undermine the Government’s new pill testing law.

Trump pardons buddies

Written By: - Date published: 10:24 am, December 27th, 2020 - 13 comments

Donald trump has in the past couple of days issued a number of pardons to people including former members of his campaign team, Jared Kushner’s father, a group of contractors involved in the massacre of 14 Iraqi civilians including a 14 year old boy and Ben Carson’s best friend.

Plan B activists still think NZ should be like Sweden

Written By: - Date published: 11:50 am, December 26th, 2020 - 171 comments

In a letter published in the Royal New Zealand College of Medical Practitioners journal Plan B academics have criticised the Government’s Covid elimination strategy because of the economic effects at the same time that recently announced growth figures show the economy grew in the past 12 months despite Covid.

What does Steinlager and the Pacific anti nuclear movement have in common?

Written By: - Date published: 10:07 am, December 16th, 2020 - 25 comments

In as blatant a case of cultural and historical misappropriation as you can imagine the makers of Steinlager has produced a dumbed down video that distorts the history of decades of opposition to French Nuclear testing in the Pacific in an effort to sell beer.

Brexit revisited

Written By: - Date published: 7:19 am, December 13th, 2020 - 19 comments

With Brexit looming there is talk of unfinished customs software and the possibility of chaos around ports, the UK’s food supply being compromised, and potential skirmishes with France at fishing spots.  And Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron are refusing to talk to Boris Johnson.  Hang on England, this is going to get wild.

The million MAGA muppet march

Written By: - Date published: 9:33 am, November 16th, 2020 - 37 comments

America is in some trouble.  Covid19 is surging.  The third wave is hitting hard.  Suddenly 100,000 daily new infections is not a scary possibility, 200,000 is.  And a group of Americans have been persuaded that Trump has had the election stolen off him.

Blood sucking leeches blame young for blood supply crisis

Written By: - Date published: 8:48 am, November 3rd, 2020 - 118 comments

The Property Investor Federation’s executive officer has expressed the opinion that every time a first home buyer buys a house it makes the housing crisis worse.

UK Labour suspends Corbyn for stating the obvious about anti-semitism in the Party

Written By: - Date published: 7:36 pm, October 30th, 2020 - 35 comments

Following a report into anti-semitism in the UK Labour party, Corbyn said it exists in the Party but it is over-stated and the campaign against it is politically-motivated by opponents inside and outside the Party. He was instantly suspended from the party and had the whip removed by leader Sir Keir Starmer, which seems excessive and will cause further discord. Corbyn is not an anti-Semite.

Aotearoa New Zealand is a hell hole paradise dystopian democracy

Written By: - Date published: 8:09 am, October 29th, 2020 - 55 comments

Fox News has seized upon a four month old video of Jacinda Ardern to suggest that New Zealand has a terrifying new response to the disease and are throwing people into quarantine camps.

The Trump Covid game

Written By: - Date published: 2:17 pm, October 6th, 2020 - 10 comments

Let’s imagine a scenario where you are the President of the United States and it is in the middle of a pandemic.  You then contract the virus yourself.  How would you rate compared to Donald Trump?

Paul Goldsmith should stop digging

Written By: - Date published: 3:05 pm, October 3rd, 2020 - 80 comments

Paul Goldsmith has shown yet again his complete inability to understand how Government finances work by claiming there is a $10 billion dollar hole in Labour’s fiscal plan where there is none.

National’s alternative budget doesn’t add up

Written By: - Date published: 9:36 am, September 26th, 2020 - 23 comments

If ever you needed a symbol of National’s current plight it is the handling of the release of its alternative budget. It has been a complete and utter shambles.  A clusterf&*k of epic proportions.  Because if there is one part of National’s reputation that needs to be defended at all costs it is the perception that they are competent financial managers and making multiple billion dollar mistakes in your alternative budget at election time is the one thing over all else that will hurt that part of your reputation.

Paora Goldsmith is National’s $4 billion dollar man

Written By: - Date published: 4:17 pm, September 20th, 2020 - 116 comments

Paul Goldsmith has blighted National’s campaign launch by making a $4 billion dollar mistake in National’s budget costings.

Taxpayer’s Union is wasting taxpayers’ money

Written By: - Date published: 9:24 am, September 15th, 2020 - 35 comments

The Taxpayer’s Union, which claims to be opposed to Government waste, is wasting taxpayer’s resources by lodging a spurious complaint with the Broadcasting Standards Authority against Labour’s free apprenticeship policy.

What did Brownlee know about Southern Response’s misleading and deceptive conduct?

Written By: - Date published: 4:37 pm, September 8th, 2020 - 27 comments

The Court of Appeal has ruled that Southern Response has engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct and has potentially short changed thousands of Cantabrians hundreds of millions of dollars.

National’s latest deception

Written By: - Date published: 8:45 am, August 26th, 2020 - 98 comments

National’s social media team has published an edited version of a response to a written question by Chris Hipkins to suggest that returning kiwis in quarantine were not subject to compulsory testing, when the reality is anyone refusing a test can be held for up to 26 days following the fortnight stay.  

What does Judith do about Gerry?

Written By: - Date published: 9:32 am, August 19th, 2020 - 113 comments

Gerry Brownlee has chosen to not only repeat his conspiracy theories involving Ashley Bloomfield but also claim that the media is against National.  Both claims have no factual foundation. 

The strange tale of the Auckland Central selection and Merv from Manurewa

Written By: - Date published: 8:01 am, August 11th, 2020 - 57 comments

News has emerged that a senior National Party figure rang talkback radio and made derogatory comments about National’s only Sri Lankan candidate in an apparent attempt to reduce her chance of being selected as National’s Auckland Central candidate.

IT doESN’t aDD up

Written By: - Date published: 7:49 am, August 10th, 2020 - 57 comments

For a few days now Gerry Brownlee has been peddling this dog whistle conspiracy campaign that the Government is hiding bad news about Covid and we should all be really concerned.

National’s Auckland Central problem

Written By: - Date published: 8:27 am, August 3rd, 2020 - 45 comments

National is facing another PR disaster with reports of an increasingly hostile Auckland Central candidate selection process and with allegations that National’s head office has misapplied the party’s constitution.

The Heron Report

Written By: - Date published: 8:38 am, July 31st, 2020 - 35 comments

The Heron Report has been released and reinforces the public perception that this was a cynical misuse of  confidential information by National for political purposes and a clusterfuck of epic proportions.

National’s Internal Polling Leaked

Written By: - Date published: 6:46 pm, July 28th, 2020 - 40 comments

Yet another leak from Judith Collins’ Strong Team™. This time it’s their own polling … and it’s grim news.

How do you tell when Judith is saying something that is not true?

Written By: - Date published: 12:59 pm, July 28th, 2020 - 56 comments

Judith Collins has backed away from telling a mistruth about escape statistics during her time as Minister of Corrections by claiming that her eyebrow was raised and this is evidence that what she was saying was a joke.

Winston Peters Names Alleged Super Leaker

Written By: - Date published: 4:44 pm, July 22nd, 2020 - 87 comments

Winston Peters has named the person he says leaked his super details. Has ACT joined National in doing Dirty Politics?

Strong team?

Written By: - Date published: 7:32 am, July 21st, 2020 - 267 comments

Earlier this year National boasted that it had a strong team.  But this was before two coups and the loss of seven MPs in the past few weeks, the latest for sending indecent material to a teenager which the leader initially described as a case involving mental health concerns.

Of course it’s dirty politics

Written By: - Date published: 10:01 am, July 13th, 2020 - 39 comments

National’s latest attempted spin is to try and suggest that last week’s clusterfuck of rolling events did not involve in any way the slightest trace of dirty politics.  How wrong they are.

Did any National MP not receive confidential information from Michelle Boag?

Written By: - Date published: 10:07 am, July 10th, 2020 - 128 comments

Michael Woodhouse has admitted that he received confidential information from Michelle Boag a couple of weeks before he said that it was “unconscionable and unacceptable” that the leaks were happening.

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