David Walker – Dick Of The Year

39 comments on “David Walker – Dick Of The Year ”

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1. NZJester 1

   12 March 2016 at 9:54 am

   I think they gave him the award named after the wrong part of the body. The one they should be awarded is located very close to it, but to the rear of a person.
2. weka 2

   12 March 2016 at 10:34 am

   Holy cow, I hadn’t seen that Plunkett shirt before.
   • TopHat 2.1

     12 March 2016 at 11:26 am

     Its’ were all good t towels should end up.
     • AB 2.1.1

       12 March 2016 at 11:57 am

       Really brings out the ugliness of it like nothing else I’ve seen.
       • weka 2.1.1.1

         12 March 2016 at 1:54 pm

         yes!
         • Grindlebottom 2.1.1.1.1

           12 March 2016 at 2:49 pm

           Might look better as a pair of undies.
           • Macro 2.1.1.1.1.1

             12 March 2016 at 4:20 pm

             Only when they have “Gone with the Wind”
3. Tautoko Mangō Mata 3

   12 March 2016 at 11:10 am

   The negotiators given their orders from above. I hope David Walker passes it up the line to the deserving recipient.

   And I’ve got highly confidential but very clear political guidelines from the Prime Minister about what I should be doing.
   Tim Groser

   He said it was clear there was a “massive push” to do the deal.
   “It’s got the smell of a situation we occasionally see which is that on the hardest core issues, there are some ugly compromises out there.

   “And when we say ugly, we mean ugly from each perspective – it doesn’t mean ‘I’ve got to swallow a dead rat and you’re swallowing foie gras.’ It means both of us are swallowing dead rats on three or four issues to get this deal across the line.”

   The outstanding issues are dairy, autos, and IP on pharmaceuticals, especially biologics – medicines made from organisms.
   On the issue of Helen Clark’s comments about the TPP – she said it was unthinkable New Zealand wouldn’t be part of the deal – he said she had added a crucial rider – “provided the deal was good”.

   http://m.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11522953

   Can we OIA the PM’s instructions to Groser?
   • tc 3.1

     12 March 2016 at 11:20 am

     I doubt shonkys instructions to grosser are available for review in any form.

     He would likely have had an intermediary direct grosser and they are probably toasting their success on the taxpayers dime in Washington now.

     An intermediary not bound by nz law as unlikely they even reside here.
   • Matthew Whitehead 3.2

     12 March 2016 at 3:53 pm

     As someone who personally knows David, I can say he definitely thought he was getting the best deal he could for New Zealand, despite its flaws which seem obvious to us. He would have done the best he could within his operating parameters, and doesn’t really deserve an ironic award. That should probably go to the people who wrote the US positions that ultimately took over the agreement and made it even more right-wing, and of course the “pro-trade” MPs who came up with the problems in the deal that were there before the US even entered negotiations.

     That said, David is probably a Nat, so he might not have seen some of the things that we do as problems.
     • Macro 3.2.1

       12 March 2016 at 4:28 pm

       https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KY2lQV3ADfc

       On the stone that remains
       Carved next to his name
       His epitaph plain:
       Only a pawn in their game
       • Matthew Whitehead 3.2.1.1

         12 March 2016 at 4:35 pm

         Haha, I don’t disagree that he’s responsible for negotiating the deal. Just that calling him a dick is a bit harsh, as he’s a True Believer™, not someone who’s out to deliberately sabotage the country.
         • Macro 3.2.1.1.1

           12 March 2016 at 5:04 pm

           Exactly. A pawn in the game.
           Obviously someone with some intelligence, but unable to perceive the consequences of his actions to the Nation that he purports to serve. And we are not talking just economic “benefits” which it seems is all that concerns the negotiators. And with the price of dairy disappearing out the back door, even those “hard fought” gains diminish to nothing.
           How can anyone with half a brain think that this is good for NZ? The loss of sovereignty for a start. And Maori know this more than anyone else. Giving away our ability to govern for the best interests of our people is little more than treason.
           In the end the Nuremberg trials were not only for the leaders – but also for those people who were responsible for implementing the orders. Their defence was “we were only a pawn in the game”
           • Matthew Whitehead 3.2.1.1.1.1

             13 March 2016 at 5:12 am

             It’s not a matter of intelligence or being observant for some people. Without talking about anyone in specific…

             Imagine you have a very demanding job when you’re not at home. When you are at home, you live on an isolated property. You don’t interact much with certain types of people, and when you do, you try to keep that interaction as shallow as possible. Your social circle almost exclusively has similar economic, political, or religious views to you. (perhaps with the occasional child that doesn’t quite fit in and marries someone they completely disagree with on politics. 😉 Oh wait, talking in generics, excuse me)

             When you never see the empirical evidence yourself, it’s much easier to convince yourself that certain numbers are (in)correct when they’re painting you the wrong (or right) picture, and self-adjust your worldview with convenient excuses. That last part is actually easier for intelligent people to do, because we’re great at rationalising things, and our brain can see patterns even when they don’t actually exist. Not everyone learns to change their mind to avoid being wrong, or to be curious about facts but cautious about conclusions, some people just change their rationalisations. (and some don’t, but don’t see the evidence as meaning the same thing- things are often complicated enough that there’s genuine room for debate, which lets them see things differently) Of course it’s more complicated than that and it’s actually a spectrum and all of us rationalise on the odd issue that we don’t catch, but still, that’s how someone might theoretically become a True Believer and not realise that their economic prescriptions are harmful to, not only most of the country, but ironically, to themselves, or maybe their family, or at least their extended community.
             • weka …

               13 March 2016 at 6:37 am

               That he is a true believer doesn’t make less eligible for the award though. And it’s him as a public person who’s getting the award for his actions. It’s not like he can be unaware of the opposition.
             • Molly …

               15 March 2016 at 10:00 am

               “…you try to keep that interaction as shallow as possible. Your social circle almost exclusively has similar economic, political, or religious views to you. “
               And that is a problem.

               A conscious cultivated lack of diversity and thinking about others.

               If you are lacking in this, then you deserve a callout for such an award because you accept a position of power that affects ALL people in NZ, not just those in your political, professional or social circles.
4. Colonial Viper 4

   12 March 2016 at 11:24 am

   “A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly. But the traitor moves amongst those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself. For the traitor appears not a traitor; he speaks in accents familiar to his victims, and he wears their face and their arguments, he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men. He rots the soul of a nation, he works secretly and unknown in the night to undermine the pillars of the city, he infects the body politic so that it can no longer resist. A murderer is less to fear.”
   • Olwyn 4.1

     12 March 2016 at 11:50 am

     Here’s a bit from Herodotus, which takes a different angle, but also rang a bell. The background is, Darius’s Persian army, having failed to subjugate the Scythians, is making its retreat, and is dependent on the bridge they constructed to get into Scythian territory in the first place. The bridge is being guarded by Ionians, another subjugated people. The Scythians urge the Ionians to tear the bridge down. One of them, Miltiades, thinks this is a good idea, but Histiaeus wins the day, arguing that “…every one of them owed their position as tyrant to Darius, and that if Darius were to fall…none of them would remain in power either, because there was not one of their communities which would not prefer democracy to tyranny.”
   • Paul 4.2

     12 March 2016 at 11:57 am

     Yes, there have many traitors amongst the political and liberal class since1984.
     Douglas, Prebble, Richardson, Moore, Shipley, Key, Collins and others more than happy to sell the assets and sovereignty of this country for their 30 pieces of silver.
     They are believers in the Rand cult of the self.
     Treason is a serious crime.
     • Grantoc 4.2.1

       13 March 2016 at 10:04 am

       Have the courage of your convictions Paul and go and carry out a citizens arrest on these ‘traitors’. Because, as you say, ‘treason is a serious crime’. And lord knows what other damage these ‘traitors’ are doing to NZ.

       Or are you just full of bluster and faux moral indignation?
       • Wayne 4.2.1.1

         13 March 2016 at 10:53 am

         Paul,

         You seem to have not noticed that National has won 3 elections in a row. National’s agenda has been pretty clear during that the 3 elections it has won. The main issue in the 2011 election was asset sales. TPP was certainly being advocated by National in 2014. No one can seriously complain that National has not been clear in what it proposes in govt.

         So really you have to call the voters who elect National the traitors. That is if you believe that a legitimate democratic choice is traitorous. But I would have thought that democracy is all about giving people choice. And people have chosen National, or at least sufficient of them to enable National to form the government. In fact the next most popular party was over 20 percentage points behind National.

         So your democratic option is to ensure that the parties who believe as you do actually win elections.
       • Stuart Munro 4.2.1.2

         13 March 2016 at 7:20 pm

         You don’t arrest traitors mate.
   • Steve Withers 4.3

     12 March 2016 at 12:55 pm

     Marcus Tullius Cicero – a great quote.
5. Tautoko Mangō Mata 5

   12 March 2016 at 11:57 am

   Just a reminder as to how much we owe Wikileaks.

   “Australian politicians have been told they can view the current confidential negotiating text for the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, but only if they agree not to divulge anything they see for four years, despite expectations the deal could be finalised within months.
   http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/jun/02/australian-mps-allowed-to-see-top-secret-trade-deal-text-on-condition-of-confidentiality

   Dr Russel Norman: Has he seen the statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s lead negotiator on the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, which said that all explanatory material from the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations, such as briefings to Ministers, would be kept secret for 4 years after the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement comes into force; and will not keeping that material secret make it very difficult for ordinary New Zealanders to get their heads around the detail of the treaty, which is the size of a book and is written in—

   Mr SPEAKER: Order! The Hon Todd McClay—either of those two supplementary questions.

   Hon TODD McCLAY: The procedure that will be followed here is that the agreement will be available for the honourable member, others in this Parliament, and the public to see prior to signature. We will need to follow the same procedure that has been in place in this Parliament for all other agreements through the treaty examination procedures before ratification takes place. Our Minister of Trade is negotiating the very best deal possible for New Zealand. The Government has said that it will sign up to the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement only if it is in the best interests of New Zealand. I think the public will have plenty of time to go over the very detailed text of this agreement before that member gets to cast further doubt upon it.
   http://www.parliament.nz/en-nz/pb/business/qoa/51HansQ_20150826_00000007/7-trans-pacific-partnership%E2%80%94text-of-agreement-and-ratification
   So the question was not answered.
   Can the Minister show us documentary evidence that the procedure of keeping all explanatory material secret for four years after an agreement comes into force has been standard practice?
   • NZJester 5.1

     12 March 2016 at 2:54 pm

     Why is it that we the public did not get the sort of access that big business got to the internal negotiation of the TPP and the ability to write their own amendments to the trade deal?
     By keeping it all secret they have denied the general public the same rights they gave big businesses.
     • Jones 5.1.1

       12 March 2016 at 6:26 pm

       Indeed… especially considering the public are the single biggest “stakeholder” in the TPP.
   • saveNZ 5.2

     12 March 2016 at 9:37 pm

     +1 TMM
6. Tarquin 6

   12 March 2016 at 1:04 pm

   I suppose it would have been considered a conflict of interest if she gave it to herself like she should have done.
7. Chrys Berryman 7

   12 March 2016 at 4:47 pm

   “….racing this time,and the first horse to jump is Titipeay ridden by John Key….a jockey known for his strange riding style ….., he faces the rear of the horse and latches onto the tail,not sure why… but hey he always finishes with a big smile on his face,….he ‘s followed by the big grey, Sycophant ,ridden by Sean Plunket……he’s well known for his awful riding silks …god that getup he has on to day looks like it was designed by some guy coming down off a bad acid trip etcetcetc…………..”and bringing up the rear of the field are the two also rans,Titipeay and Sycophant who cross the finish line locked together…. in fact Sycophant’s jockey seems to have disappeared up the backside of Titipeay’s jockey………who despite the bad result,still seems to be grinning away……..
   • North 7.1

     12 March 2016 at 5:52 pm

     Nice…..
8. Ben 8

   12 March 2016 at 8:06 pm

   “The award was presented to David Walker on behalf of the vast majority of New Zealanders by activist Josie Butler. ”

   But given that the vast majority of New Zealanders don’t actually know the guy exists, how can she award it on their behalf? Strange that after all the TPP dramatisation by Labour, New Zealanders still think that National is far better equiped to run the country than the Left.
   • adam 8.1

     12 March 2016 at 9:45 pm

     That all you got.

     Desperate much…
   • alwyn 8.2

     12 March 2016 at 9:46 pm

     The poor thing is completely delusional.
     She has had her 15 minutes of fame and can’t stand fading back into her well deserved obscurity. Very sad. One can only hope that she gets treatment before she tries something more violent.
     • AB 8.2.1

       12 March 2016 at 10:41 pm

       Is it becoming a habit with you Alwyn – implying that those you disagree with are insane? You did the same to Weka on another thread.
       Josie is ‘delusional’ and ‘needs treatment’ you say.
       Well there is a long and disreputable record of this in the old Soviet Union, not a regime I’m guessing you wish to be seen emulating.
       You mix it with a smarmy condescension – her “well deserved obscurity”.

       On another reading, Josie might just be seen as ‘passionate’ and ‘fearless’. And that reading is no less impressionistic and no less valid than yours for that reason.
       • AB 8.2.1.1

         12 March 2016 at 10:54 pm

         Oh – and I should add, that in the dildo Josie has (intentionally or not) come up with the perfect motif for neoliberal ideology. Solitary self-gratification, with only a simulacrum of external humanity left remaining, is entirely what embracing neoliberalism leads to.
       • weka 8.2.1.2

         12 March 2016 at 11:11 pm

         Alwyn struggles sometimes to formulate an actual argument and resorts to smears and lies.
         • adam 8.2.1.2.1

           13 March 2016 at 9:58 am

           alwyn is desperate weka, that is why they resort to smears and lies. They know their arguments are shallow, and essentially vacuous.
9. James 9

   13 March 2016 at 12:44 pm

   I think this womans stupid idiot. The dildo thing is weak and she comes across as a moron.

   I think she should have been arrested the first time.

   Having said all that, she wasn’t.

   What Is worse however is that dpf and W O websites have post mentioning bringing her employer into disrepute. I really think that’s piss poor from both of those blogs. If her employer feels like that then that’s up to them. They don’t need political people gunning after her job.

   have views, argue, think whoever you do of the woman. But I think we as individuals have no right to actively try to get someone fired for their views should we disagree with them.
10. vto 10

    15 March 2016 at 10:05 am

    So did the NZ military guard the TPPA presentation in Christchurch?

    Anybody know?

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