spin

Categories under spin

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.

Some Random impertinent questions about Michelle Boag’s access to confidential medical information

Written By: - Date published: 8:24 am, July 9th, 2020 - 81 comments

Westpac Helicopter Trust’s claim that it had not breached privacy rights of Covid sufferers raises some serious questions about why Michelle Boag was provided with sensitive information.  And who she has provided it to.

The many and varied Covid reckons of Mike Hosking

Written By: - Date published: 7:56 am, June 30th, 2020 - 49 comments

A review of recent opinion pieces by Mike Hosking shows that he has adopted a series of contradictory positions with the one common feature that they are critical of the Government’s actions.

Paora Goldsmith in fake news scandal

Written By: - Date published: 8:41 am, June 29th, 2020 - 33 comments

Paora Goldsmith has shown either that he is lacking in basic numeracy and literacy skills or that he is prepared to tell porkies for political advantage.

Protesters, Anarchists, Agitators and Lowlifes

Written By: - Date published: 8:13 am, June 21st, 2020 - 96 comments

Donald Trump has planned to hold a political rally on the day used to celebrate the abolition of slavery at a place where one of the worst examples of white brutality on black people using advertising material containing nazi symbols.  All in the middle of a global pandemic.

Todd Muller and the strange tale of the Leader’s Safe

Written By: - Date published: 8:45 am, June 19th, 2020 - 22 comments

The Herald has reported that Todd Muller’s staff used a safe cracker to open up a safe previously used by Simon Bridges, even though they had the access codes.

Todd’s Odd Distress Signal

Written By: - Date published: 5:39 pm, June 14th, 2020 - 64 comments

How odd of Todd! A condescending gesture turns into a cry for help.

More Skripal bullshit

Written By: - Date published: 10:03 pm, June 9th, 2020 - 37 comments

Skripal’s relatives don’t believe it, Jacinda Ardern doesn’t believe it, Paul Buchanan doesn’t believe it, and I never believed it. But a story planted in the UK Sunday Times that the Skripals are here lets our media rerun the assassination attempt that failed, even though the most deadliest poison in the world was involved. Stuff website has a British Minister from Theresa May’s time rerunning the old lies,as does the NZ Herald. Fits in nicely with the SIS anti-Russian history.

Bunker boy Trump finally builds that wall

Written By: - Date published: 1:23 pm, June 5th, 2020 - 23 comments

This week Donald Trump has hid in a bunker, used tear gas to move protestors away from a church so that he could have a photo opportunity with a bible, and has started to build his much vaunted wall.  Although it is around the White House and not on the Mexican border.

New leadership same old tactics

Written By: - Date published: 8:32 am, May 27th, 2020 - 24 comments

National has released a social media ad suggesting that New Zealand’s per head of population Government debt figure will be worse than Greece’s by 2014.  But the data used presumes the effects of Covid 19 in New Zealand’s figure but no effects of Covid 19 in Greece’s figure.

Ko Paora Goldsmith tenei

Written By: - Date published: 9:11 pm, May 26th, 2020 - 33 comments

National’s new brains trust has not had a great day today.  They responded to claims that their front bench looked awfully white and had no Tangata Whenua by claiming that Paora Goldsmith was from Ngāti Porou.  The only trouble was that he wasn’t.  

Two Tier. Bull. Shit.

Written By: - Date published: 2:58 pm, May 25th, 2020 - 217 comments

I thought we were “in this together” or some such?

Todd’s MAGA hat

Written By: - Date published: 7:59 am, May 25th, 2020 - 119 comments

Todd Muller has spent the weekend not introducing himself to the country and talking about his ideas for our future but by defending the displaying of a MAGA hat in his office.

Nat Vote: And the Loser Is ….

Written By: - Date published: 11:50 am, May 22nd, 2020 - 197 comments

The Nation holds its breath as the dullest political leadership race in a generation snores to a close. Who will win by losing? Who will lose by winning? Who cares?

UPDATE: It’s Mullertime!

UPDATE: Bennett dumped!

This is exactly why the MSM should be scrutinised as much as the government

Written By: - Date published: 2:22 pm, May 20th, 2020 - 37 comments

The Herald’s misleading, clickbait sound-biting of Labour MP Tamati Coffey isn’t even close to what we need in reporting from the Epidemic Response Committee.

When Bridges’ social media goes wrong

Written By: - Date published: 8:09 am, April 21st, 2020 - 77 comments

Simon Bridges’s Facebook post criticising the extension of lockdown level 4 has been met with overwhelming opposition, including from people who are clearly National Party supporters.

We are all socialists now II

Written By: - Date published: 8:21 pm, April 10th, 2020 - 18 comments

The Taxpayer’s Union has applied for government support to pay wages during the lockdown.

Two Bubbles Bridges’ Big Day Out

Written By: - Date published: 6:05 pm, April 6th, 2020 - 67 comments

Simon ‘Two Bubbles’ Bridges feels he’s entitled to flaunt the rules because he’s, ahem, essential. 

M.I.A. Joe

Written By: - Date published: 12:48 pm, March 22nd, 2020 - 19 comments

America has a question.

The right become socialists as Covid-19 bites

Written By: - Date published: 7:52 am, March 17th, 2020 - 38 comments

The right, elements of which have thought the best thing to do to the state is weaken it that badly that they could then drown it in a bathtub, are rethinking and now realise that a well resourced, active and engaged State is actually a life saver.

Bridges thinks the solution to Covid 19 is tax cuts

Written By: - Date published: 8:14 am, March 5th, 2020 - 64 comments

Simon Bridges thinks that tax cuts are the best way to address financial stress caused by businesses by the Covid 19 epidemic.  Even though businesses under financial stress will be paying little if any tax and a tax cut would have little if any effect.

The Herald creates a panic and Trump says Coronavirus is a hoax

Written By: - Date published: 9:37 am, March 1st, 2020 - 65 comments

If a society ever wanted to set out how to handle a pandemic the Herald’s media response and Donald Trump’s handling of the situation provide perfect examples of what not to do.

National’s new conservation policy was previously announced in 2014

Written By: - Date published: 12:29 pm, February 29th, 2020 - 12 comments

National has announced a “new” policy that it previously announced in 2014.  And that has already been implemented.

BREAKING NEWS: Simon Bridges Calls on Simon Bridges to Stand Down

Written By: - Date published: 6:30 pm, February 18th, 2020 - 5 comments

BREAKING NEWS: Simon Bridges calls on the leader of the opposition to stand down while the SFO case is before the courts.

Bridges’ many and varied positions on coalition with NZ First

Written By: - Date published: 12:48 pm, February 12th, 2020 - 18 comments

In the past 10 days Simon Bridges has said that National will not go into coalition with NZ First after the next election, to it could consider coalition in the future, to there is no way it will ever go into coalition with NZ First.

How low will Bridges go?

Written By: - Date published: 11:55 am, January 28th, 2020 - 23 comments

Simon Bridges has wondered out loud if anti semitism stopped the Government from sending a senior representative to a Holocaust memorial in Israel.

Steve Mnuchin, not Greta Thunberg, needs to go back to school

Written By: - Date published: 10:52 am, January 27th, 2020 - 11 comments

US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin has attacked Greta Thunberg for not understanding the economics of climate change.  But he has then been roundly criticised by a number of people, including his wife.

Labour is signing up to Facebook transparency tool

Written By: - Date published: 2:58 pm, January 23rd, 2020 - 68 comments

Jacinda Ardern has announced that Labour will abide by Facebook Ad Library Report rules which allow voters to see where campaigning money is being spent on Facebook ads.   And that it will have its major policies independently costed.

The great political heist that wasn’t

Written By: - Date published: 10:47 am, January 21st, 2020 - 40 comments

National has hinted darkly that the theft of laptops from its headquarters was possibly motivated by political considerations even though it had been told of a similar burglary of a neighbouring office had also occurred recently.