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5:30 pm, July 10th, 2019 - 39 comments
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Like a fish out of water.
There he is…. was wondering where you were simon… on a wharf in a suit with a fake fish and some other fella.
The odious Joe strikes again…
As odious as someone who once authored rape porn, or opposed measures to crack down on pedophiles who travel overseas to prey on kids, or voted against outlawing some internet child porn?.
Your partisan distortion of facts about Bernie Sanders is almost as sad as your desperate loyalty to tail-grabber Joe.
Thanks for the laugh maui @ 2.
Here's some new satire:
20% of the criminals sent back here from Australia have committed crimes in the first two years. Whereas our own two year recidivism rate is nearly 70%. We totally win.
Some of these imports claim they've been treated unfairly. My thinking is, mate, at least you got a plane ticket. If you're a refugee they just take you to a beach in Northern territories. (gun cocks) "Alright, now fuck off home."
Watch out some zealot may cut off the marlin penis.
LMFAO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And here's The Hillbilly Moon Explosion. Reminds me of Nick Cave a bit.
Curious to see National's Conservation person Sandra Cowie supporting new national parks for both the Catlins and for the larger one proposed by the Federated Mountain Clubs in the Remarkables Range area.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1907/S00072/calls-for-national-park-growing.htm
I'm all for it of course, so long as they are talking about an actual National Park not some watered down version.
And I would like to see this government generate a new National Park. Long overdue.
Dammit! Missed him with my spike, but I'll get him with my tail!
Kamala Harris? No thanks. The world doesn't need another Obama.
Imagine a debate where the moderators asked the likes of Kamala Harris:
“What percentage of your money came from Wall Street?”
“How much is your average donation?”
“Have you ever taken oil, insurance, charter school money?”
“What do you think about unions?”
“What should the minimum wage be today?”
Welcome to America morpissey.
She looks pretty presidential to me. As soon as she declared I thought she would be the nominee. She has an impressive background, and has the natural authority required for the office.
And if the Hard Left are against her, all the better. She is therefore likely to appeal to middle America.
Meanwhile CNN & FOX has been trying to put Bernie outside the top 5 since 2016.
You underestimate how war fatigued middle America is. Not gun shy, I'm talking about logistically. The Pentagon went from 8000 tanks to about 2000 today. They're about 20 years behind on maintenance, they lost a significant number of F22s to hurricane damage, hyper sonic missiles have rendered the US navy impotent.
It's quite sad actually watching the talking heads try and talk it all up.
Interesting Sam. So Trump is talking tough without getting sufficient govt funding to defense contractors to make America great again?? He's playing the perception game, assuming the media can't be bothered reporting the reality?
Well Trump did get an extra 200 billion for the Pentagon but Y'know, money doesn't make people happy. Trump actually campaigned on ending Obamas stupid foreign policy and wars only for Trump to start his own proxy battles with North Korea, Iran, Venezuela.Its not just Trump though. There are many Hawks in Washington rattling the sabre. Afghanistan and Iraq was unique in that they folded very easily. North Korea, Iran and Venezuela won't fold.
Beneath the Trump bluster there's often an establishment solidarity position, so we can't dismiss it as mere posturing. Establishment strategy is pressure application, with the expectation that those countries eventually yield or compromise, right? I expect Venezuela to eventually yield due to supposed/real assistance from Russia & China being insufficient. Trump has done well in playing the rebel while simultaneously representing the establishment. People see the side that suits their prejudice…
No I think the Russia foreign policy tool the S-300/400 intergrated air defence system is an equal to US foreign policy. I just think that we are dealing with the institution when decisions that are made carry over from president to president. War isn't just state vs state in nice easy to see uniforms anymore. There's trade wars, financial wars, social media wars. We've got billion dollar CIA trolls, GCSB troll, Australian ASIO trolls, Russian trolls. This hybrid warfare blends state and society to get around the rules of war. It's empire building with out the standing armies. Our own Pacific reset uses foreign aid, infrastructure loans and military support to expand our own governments influence. So anyone who is ignorant of the obvious is a no chance of becoming prez really.
Yes, good point. Play the old geopolitical game using nationalism to manipulate mass perceptions, while simultaneously using realpolitik as you describe – on the basis of the deep context. Trump gets that. Will there be a similarly competent Democrat opponent? Someone who can demonstrate leadership while resonating with the political centre and grasping the deep context.
I'm a Tulsi Gabbard fan. She's a serving memeber of the Army, got 80% of the vote in her constituent. Although she's in the smaller Hawaia district but 80% is still 80%. I think she can beat Trump. I don't think the DNC will give her a nomination.
Noted. I'd pick Jerry Brown. Despite three prior tilts at the windmill, his track record of success as governor is too good to ignore. The DNC ought to send him a downloaded print copy of the Lord Kitchener poster from WWI, full-sized, and ask him to hang it on his bedroom wall and meditate on it. They should attach a note saying "Hint! Hint!" or, since advertising theory requires triplicate to be effective, "Hint! Hint! Hint!" But George Clooney would be a better bet to beat Trump…
Anyone with an I.Q. above room temperature will be aware that when an ex-National Party cabinet member and crony of John "Dirty Politics" Key throws around terms like "the Hard Left", he is not trying to engage in a rational exchange of ideas. The purpose of such prejudicial and partisan language is to muddy the waters and stymie any discussion.
The candidates that the likes of Wayne Mapp sneer at as "Hard Left" are advocating policies that the vast majority of Americans support: free and universal health care, free college tuition, effective and cheap public transport, housing for all Americans not just the rich, decent wages for the people who actually work, control of the financial sector, and a massive de-escalation of military engagements and provocations around the world.
I actually thought Wayne and Gerry Brownly were decent National Defence Minsters. It's a great shame though that Mark Mitchel learnt nothing from them.
?????
https://morrisseybreen.blogspot.com/2018/01/keith-locke-goes-after-min-of-defence.html
https://morrisseybreen.blogspot.com/2019/06/dr-wayne-mapp-has-go-at-julian-assange.html
Did you say something just then?
Wayne Map did a good job on the defence procurement process that's still pretty much in place.
And Gerry did a good job on replacing some navy ships.
Yknow? They did okay. Dafuq are you on about.
Read those links and tell us with a straight face that Mapp was a decent minister.
As for Brownlee, he's never been more than a buffoon.
https://morrisseybreen.blogspot.com/2017/12/national-party-emergency-caucus-meeting.html
https://morrisseybreen.blogspot.com/2018/10/possible-replacements-for-bumbling_22.html
https://morrisseybreen.blogspot.com/2019/01/ten-reasons-we-got-rid-of-national-no.html
You read your own stupid links.
These guys you call names win elections. You can't tell winners how to win.
Morrissey,
National actually improved its position in Christchurch in both 2011 and 2014. In large part due to Gerry's management of the earthquake issues. He was seen to get out there and make decisions. Most things went well. Most people got their houses properly repaired. A huge number of new houses were built.
Did everything go well? No, there were about 5% of homeowners who were pretty dissatisfied. That was about 15,000 homeowners, so was a lot of people and they got lots of news coverage. The Cathedral decisions have dragged on and on, which has really affected how the centre of the city feels.
The whole rebuild was on a much bigger scale than originally thought, pushing out towards $40 billion in total, which was 20% of New Zealand's GDP.
Christchurch has been pretty well in recent years. Industry all survived, people have jobs. The rebuild, though not perfect, has overall gone pretty well.
Morrissey,
I also appreciate that "Hard Left" does wind you up. But it is a useful descriptor of those who decry the neoliberalism, and for instance were against TPP (as a example off a specific policy position).
In contrast the moderate left (as represented by the PM) are much more accepting of the contemporary basic economic settings. Sure they spend more on social services, but within reasonable imits.
Those who are in the category of the hard left want much higher tax rates, much more government spending and are generally distrustful of free trade.
So, before the post-brexit UK takes control as global Britain, they're sending their man to grovel at the daughter wife's feet.
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/uk/uk-minister-to-apologise-to-ivanka-trump-for-diplomat-s-memos-1.3950085
They should be clamping the yankistani embassy's entire fleet of vehicles wherever they park outside the grounds.
The maga brexit nexus, again.
So the content matters less than the fact of the leak. Someone – maybe a civil servant, maybe a minister – seems to be after the ambassador, Kim Darroch. The contents were leaked to Isabel Oakeshott, the journalist who acts as the de-facto communications office of Aaron Banks, Nigel Farage's donor. The Brexit party leader quickly popped up to demand Darroch be sacked. And their Leave.EU outfit then stepped up to launch its campaign to make sure Farage replaced him. Incredible timing.
Darroch is facing the usual fate of the non-believers, those have not achieved full Brexit transcendance and therefore must be ejected from their position before they can keep asking critical questions.
But the story also shows something else: When you scratch at the surface of this movement for total British sovereignty, you quite often find servility to the US lying underneath.
https://www.politics.co.uk/blogs/2019/07/08/trump-ambassador-revelations-brexiters-reveal-the-trump-love
edit: and Farage has his job
https://twitter.com/PaulBrandITV/status/1148908556785205248
Darroch has resigned.
Well I hope the tories look after him. He's done nothing wrong. They could suggest he work towards a career in politics, where the art of diplomacy always helps! Someone honest enough to speak truth to power is a real asset.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2019/jul/10/tory-leadership-latest-news-john-major-threatens-to-take-boris-johnson-to-court-to-stop-him-proroguing-parliament-for-no-deal-brexit-live-news
A new Hero joins the Invincibles.
Skynet 2.0
https://twitter.com/AP/status/1148623110146592773
Far out, I like the imagery. War clouds gather over the USA, eh? Silicon valley doves morph into hawks as soon as the money talks…
Congratulations to the Black Caps!
What a nail-biter that was.