Doofus of the week June 24, 2018

Written By: - Date published: 12:44 pm, June 24th, 2018 - 37 comments
Categories: David Farrar, dpf, International, Media, Simon Bridges, the praiseworthy and the pitiful, twitter, us politics, you couldn't make this shit up - Tags:

There was a stunning array of competition this week for that most coveted of titles.

There was DPF for this outstanding piece of hyperbole.  Apparently trying to get National to acknowledge that climate change is a thing is the same as trying to get Labour to accept responsibility for what I am not quite sure.  Talk about false equivalence.

There was Lindsay Perigo for this particularly nauseating tweet about Jacinda Ardern’s baby and for using “fry-quacker”, whatever that is, in a tweet twice.

There was perennial finalist Simon Bridges for his idiotic comments during a blokey interview on Radio Hauraki. Note to Simon being sexist, crass and unfunny in an interview only makes you look like a doofus. No wonder National MPs’ social media about this weekend’s Auckland Regional Conference of the National Party is so quiet.  And when erstwhile cheerleaders in the media like Tova O’Brien are utterly scathing about what he said you know National has a problem.

And over in the States there was Mike Huckabee for letting a 13 year old redneck look after his twitter account.  At least this is the only logical explanation I have for how this tweet occurred.

https://twitter.com/GovMikeHuckabee/status/1010497564435730434

His daughter also made the list for gross hypocrisy in getting upset when a restaurant refused to serve her but defending a cake making business that refused to serve a gay couple.

https://twitter.com/aravosis/status/1010558037810188289

There was the Immigration system in the States for removing kids from their parents and not even keeping track of where the kids were going.

But the winner this week is US Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen who on Monday was claiming that the mass taking of kids from their parents was just business as usual and there was nothing they could do short of a law change, and a couple of days later stood behind Trump as he reversed the policy she said they had no power over.  She even had the gall this week to go to a Mexican restaurant.  And was chased out by Socialists.

I wonder if DPF would have asked them if they also acknowledged the millions who had died or were in poverty because of socialism …

37 comments on “Doofus of the week June 24, 2018 ”

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  1. Incognito 1
    24 June 2018 at 1:38 pm

    DPF’s insightful tweet reminded me of a recent exchange here on TS between a RWNJ and a regular commenter:

    Unless you want to add the deaths from every aberration of socialism to the hundreds of millions actually killed by socialist and communist governments.

    …

    As a general rule Socialism and Communism are responsible for 100 million deaths.

    https://thestandard.org.nz/is-capitalism-obsolete/#comments

    A true believer with a genuinely-held opinion or cynically and deliberately spreading misleading information? Or both …

  2. adam 2
    24 June 2018 at 1:42 pm

    So the national party has to acknowledge the millions of deaths and poverty caused by capitalism ah Farrar. How about the nazi’s I mean the real ones, the ones your national party founder would not work with labour to beat in WW2? Do national need to apologise for that Farra?

    • WILD KATIPO 2.1
      24 June 2018 at 1:54 pm

      Go easy on Farrar ,… it is clear his marbles have finally spilled all over the floor.

      Key and his pony tailing departure has finally got to him.

      And all he sees now is the Bridges to nowhere.

      • dukeofurl 2.1.1
        24 June 2018 at 3:29 pm

        A bridge to nowhere is called a pier

        • Draco T Bastard 2.1.1.1
          24 June 2018 at 5:11 pm

          A pier usually has a purpose or three – it even has a destination if you include getting on a boat.

          On the other hand a bridge to nowhere has no purpose or destination.

          • marty mars 2.1.1.1.1
            24 June 2018 at 5:17 pm

            I think you’ll find a bridge to nowhere has a destination nowhere.

            • alwyn 2.1.1.1.1.1
              24 June 2018 at 5:50 pm

              “Bridge to Nowhere”.
              That certainly brings back memories. New Zealand’s most famous “Bridge to Nowhere” was of course the concrete edifice opened during the term of the First Labour Government in 1936. They stopped maintaining it in 1944 and the people who lived in the area and farmed there were forced off their land penniless.
              https://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/places-to-go/manawatu-whanganui/places/whanganui-national-park/bridge-to-nowhere/
              Can’t really blame that one on National can you?

              • McFlock …
                24 June 2018 at 6:14 pm

                They stopped maintaining it because three farmers remained in a failed bush conversion project.

                When it no longer warranted expenditure, expenditure was stopped. Would that the Nat’s followed that philosophy.

              • Marcus Morris …
                24 June 2018 at 9:27 pm

                Thanks for the link Alwyn – a most interesting account – linking this story to the current thread is, to put it mildly, stretching the long bow to the absolute limit. In fact there is no link.

              • Draco T Bastard …
                24 June 2018 at 10:07 pm

                Planning for the new bridge started when the timber bridge began to rot. In 1936 the new steel-reinforced concrete bridge was finally opened. It was an impressive sight at nearly 40 metres above the river within the steep ravine walls.

                Impressive. The 1st Labour government managed to design and build a massive bridge in the middle of nowhere in less than a year.

                The party in power that made it all happen was, as a matter of fact, one of the predecessors of the National Party – the conservative Reform Party.

                So, yes, we can blame National for that one.

                • alwyn …
                  25 June 2018 at 6:11 pm

                  “The 1st Labour government managed to design and build a massive bridge in the middle of nowhere in less than a year”.
                  You appear to think that such a feat is impossible. It isn’t really massive. It is only about 35 metres long. It was also, at that time on a road.
                  Why would construction be Impossible?
                  Prior to such things as the RMA, which would have involved spending a couple of years counting the number of each species of snail in the area it should have been quite easy.

                  After all, only about 5 years later the Pentagon was built from scratch in only 16 months. With about 620,000 square metes of floor space it is still by far the largest office building in the world.

                  The “impossibility” of building such a thing is only because of the delays that have been built into our construction timetables by the Greener members of Society.

                  • Draco T Bastard …
                    25 June 2018 at 7:03 pm

                    Why would construction be Impossible?

                    Technically, I suppose it wasn’t:

                    The completion of the bridge was delayed considerably due to floods, slips, and the consequent delay in the supply of materials.

                    Best laid plans of mice and men and all that.

                    And no matter which way you look at it – it was the fore-runner to National that caused the whole damn mess. Conservatives are like that.

                    Interesting to note that the price of materials wasn’t recorded.

                    The “impossibility” of building such a thing is only because of the delays that have been built into our construction timetables by the Greener members of Society.

                    And that would be you lying yet again.

                  • Tricledrown …
                    25 June 2018 at 8:25 pm

                    Alwynger your bridge to no where.
                    Construction began on January the 20th 1935.
                    Labour elected December 1935.
                    Alwynger you should read your own links before commenting.
                    Alwynger you lied about the construction.
                    Alwynger you lied about the reason funding for the bridge stopped.
                    Then you have made up another lot of lies to try and cover your unoriginal lies.
                    Go back to Toilet roll school

              • Tricledrown …
                24 June 2018 at 10:57 pm

                Alwynger the bridge was under construction before Labour won the election.
                A bridge to far Alwynger.
                You don’t even read your own posts.
                The reason they stopped maintaining the bridge because people abandoned the 1919 settlement.
                Alwynger you can’t even tell a good lie!

              • Tricledrown …
                25 June 2018 at 7:50 pm

                Alwynger your bridge to no where.
                Reform and United party is to blame effectively the National party formed because they got routed in the December 1935 election 10 months after construction began.
                Must of been a road of National significance alwynger.
                The govt stopped funding it after floods and slips made it uneconomic for just 3
                Farmers.

    • Incognito 2.2
      24 June 2018 at 3:04 pm

      Such outrageous comments are often aimed to get a visceral and/or emotional reaction and to distract from the issue at hand. More often than not they ‘admirably’ achieve this aim as long ‘discussion threads’ show and little progress is made with the real issue.

      Those comments can be packaged as false equivalences, whataboutisms, dead cats, personal accusation or attacks (ad hominems), finger pointing blame games, etc.

  3. Ankerrawshark 3
    24 June 2018 at 1:57 pm

    So many to chose from Mickey. Maybe we could have a National and international doofus

    • dukeofurl 4.1
      24 June 2018 at 3:31 pm

      What about Imperialism and Colonialism, along with WW1 when is national accepting responsibility for THAT

  5. marty mars 5
    24 June 2018 at 3:41 pm

    Most of those choices are repulsive – maybe doofus needs to be a bit stronger – dogshit of the week maybe.

  6. McFlock 6
    24 June 2018 at 6:06 pm

    I thought the ICE guy who said ‘comparisons to Nazis were unfair because the people putting kids in cages away from their families were only following the law’ was a real contender. Can’t remember the exact words but he went full Nuremberg

    • One Anonymous Bloke 6.1
      24 June 2018 at 6:16 pm

      I think it’s an insult to the brave men and women of the border patrol and ICE to call law enforcement officers Nazis. They are simply enforcing laws enacted by Congress.

      Thomas Homan.

      So brave they are.

    • NZJester 6.3
      24 June 2018 at 8:28 pm

      The even more abhorrent thing to is what some of the so-called carers are doing with the kids. One company contracted by one of the states to look after them has been drugging the kids in their custody including antipsychotic drugs. They have been investigated in the past including for unexplained deaths in their care but are still allowed to bid for further contracts to house more kids.

      People are making money off these kids misery and that is disgusting.

      • One Anonymous Bloke 6.3.1
        24 June 2018 at 9:03 pm

        Wait until they start getting put up for adoption. Betsy Davos and the good folk at Bethany Christian Services can tell you all about it.

        • WILD KATIPO 6.3.1.1
          24 June 2018 at 9:18 pm

          Bethany ( Salvation Army ) was closed down several years ago because of Nationals funding cuts. I should know , – my sister was the manager there. Appeared on TV twice I think it was discussing it, traveled to Wellington a number of times for meetings over it with some politicians. National ones I presume.

          Enough said.

          • One Anonymous Bloke 6.3.1.1.1
            24 June 2018 at 9:26 pm

            Bethany Christian Services, Michigan USA, with financial ties to Betsy Davos, is holding dozens of kidnap victims, AKA Trump’s human shield.

        • Tricledrown 6.3.1.2
          25 June 2018 at 5:19 pm

          Devos’s husband spent years in jail for running a ponzi scheme

          • One Anonymous Bloke 6.3.1.2.1
            25 June 2018 at 5:34 pm

            His Wikipedia entry doesn’t mention it. Are you thinking of Amway?

  7. Chris 7
    24 June 2018 at 9:21 pm

    Surely Perigo wins this hands down. At least jointly with Farrar.

    • Wensleydale 7.1
      25 June 2018 at 2:54 pm

      I remember, as a child, watching Lindsay Perigo read the news, back before he became completely unhinged. Now he seems to just regurgitate what the voices in his head scream at him. Poor man.

      Incidentally, what’s a ‘fry-quacker’?

  8. soddenleaf 8
    25 June 2018 at 11:00 am

    Gay cake. Obviously when you ask an artist cake maker to make a specialized cake that contradicts their whole self. It’s not the same as going for a bulk Mexican restaurant where chef and customer are separated.

    • ropata 8.1
      25 June 2018 at 12:05 pm

      +1 yep freedom of speech and freedom of association. the cake maker and the restauranteur were borh perfectly within their rights to refuse anyone service for any reason. They are not slaves

      • soddenleaf 8.1.1
        25 June 2018 at 12:21 pm

        Jewish guy goes into a Palestinian eatery on the anniversary on the Israeli war, now obviously he’d have to been known or be obviously Jewish, so the owner rightly bars them for the day.

        A cake maker is asked to make a cake for two weddings, not told one is a gay, and other is a lesbian just switch the figureens around, no artist import so no problem.

        A govt official seeks out a photo op in a Mexican eatery,due to current customers getting angry, restaurant asked them to leave.

        not same,both correct, one is artist rights, others are nuisance.

  9. rhinocrates 9
    25 June 2018 at 6:23 pm

    “fry-quacker”

    Making a guess, based on “Don’t need more upward-inflected quack! quack! quack!” it’s a reference to vocal fry, which is an upturn in tone at the end of a phrase or sentence, as we do when we’re asking a question. Linguists have noticed it becoming increasingly common amongst younger people.

    This is apparently a personal idiom, reflecting an obsession. I’ve certainly never heard it previously. At this point, imagine me twirling a finger around an ear and whistling.

    As for the penguin, he’s demonstrating some ostrich-like behaviour. Hasn’t heard of the Belgian Congo or the Opium Wars has he? And that’s just a couple of corners of the 19th century.

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