Dotcom shows Key and Banks how to play

Written By: - Date published: 7:15 am, September 20th, 2012 - 52 comments
Categories: corruption, john banks, john key - Tags:

I think that Kim Dotcom is actually a very savvy operator. Turning up to Parliament on the second day of questions (not today, when Key won’t be in the House) was inspired. It ensured another day of coverage. Then, his words:

“It’s a very fragile majority, the balance of power is threatened by this whole John Banks affair so I think the Prime Minister has had to make a choice: am I going to uphold high ethical standards or do I want to remain in power?” Dotcom told reporters outside Parliament.

Dotcom said he was also surprised Banks had refused to acknowledge the pair were friends.

“I was hurt because that was not the right thing to do, I would not let a friend down.”

And

If my leadership would not uphold high ethical standards, I would worry what else is lingering in the dark that I don’t know about. And, as a voter, I would certainly consider who to give my vote at the next election.

Ouch. Both Key and Banks elegantly skewered.

I don’t think this is just about revenge, either – although Dotcom seems to be enjoying that as much as the rest of us enjoyed watching it.

The more Dotcom appears to be a needle in the side of the Government, the more he can argue at New Zealand and international courts that any attempt to extradite him is a politically-motivated move. Ironically, Dotcom’s odds of staying in New Zealand improve the more the Government wants him gone.

52 comments on “Dotcom shows Key and Banks how to play ”

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  1. shorts 1
    20 September 2012 at 7:27 am

    I think this sums up Mr Dotcom’s cunning

    “Mr Dotcom said John Banks had not been honest but that he’d been through enough, and the matter should now be left to rest.”

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10835123

    Has had his say, claimed the moral high ground and suggests we move on, the damage to Key & Banks has been done… there’s nothing left but cheap jokes as we know Key won’t sack Banks as banks has no honour he won’t step down

    Opposition parties should follow suit… move onto the important issues – there’s nothing left here but politicing, which will turn kiwis off this episode, we’ve had our laughs, confirmed once again the horrid relationship between Key & Banks and their respective parties

    now how about them poor people

    • Carol 1.1
      20 September 2012 at 7:49 am

      Well, as you say, Dotcom is a clever guy. But while he is saying it’s time for he and Banks to move on from their personal conflict, he’s saying the opposite with respect to politicians.

      Dotcom’s comments quoted above, indicate there may still be things the politicians are hiding that the public should know about. And in the quotes he’s saying voters shouldn’t forget about Key and Banks behaviour over the issue when they cast their votes.

      • shorts 1.1.1
        20 September 2012 at 8:00 am

        completley agree with you there Carol

        Dotcom is verbalising what anyone who shows any interest in politicans and politics instinctively know – never trust the bastards and in relation to this govt in particular they hide more than they are ever willing to show

        perhaspt eh Herald should give him a column, I assume he’s currently out of work (joke), thanks largely to this govt – it would seem

      • Glg 1.1.2
        20 September 2012 at 9:14 am

        Am wondering what else Mr Dotcom knows/has tucked away. Smart if he has more dirt to wait till close to the election.

      • Fortran 1.1.3
        20 September 2012 at 2:06 pm

        Carol

        The only difference between Banks and Dotcom is that Dotcom has criminal convictions.
        Banks has not yet.

        • Mal 1.1.3.1
          20 September 2012 at 2:38 pm

          Banks is a criminal.

        • mike e 1.1.3.2
          20 September 2012 at 2:56 pm

          Fartrain you are implying that we breed smarter criminals in NZ and they get away with more!
          including being a former Minister of Police who is supposed to uphold the highest standards !

    • CnrJoe 1.2
      20 September 2012 at 9:05 am

      this is about the people. Remove key and banks and dunne – you get a better result for the people.

  2. the sprout 2
    20 September 2012 at 7:58 am

    Kim Dotcom is has now become a legend of NZ political history.

    And yeah, I get the feeling he won’t really be leaving things to rest at all. Just part of the strategy.
    I’d be worried about him if I were Key.

    • Anne 2.1
      20 September 2012 at 10:35 am

      Key is worried about him the sprout. The way he hot footed it out of the debating chamber after question time with the look of a frightened rabbit on his face was a real joy to behold. In fact he’s been looking a bit like a frightened rabbit all week. Interesting.

      “I was hurt because that was not the right thing to do, I would not let a friend down.”

      A telling remark by Kim Dotcom. Anyone who has been betrayed by someone they thought was a good friend will know just how hurtful that can be.

      Dotcom has risen in my estimation for that comment alone.

      • the sprout 2.1.1
        20 September 2012 at 11:08 am

        Key and Banks should have stuck to bullying those who are poorer and less powerful than themselves.
        Key may find that when it comes to picking on people with vastly greater economic power than himself, that things don’t turn out quite so well.

      • Anne 2.1.2
        20 September 2012 at 5:00 pm

        Ha ha
        Dotcom case: PM ‘never runs’

        http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10835319

        I could have sworn I saw him on telly ‘walking’ away from the debating chamber as fast as his legs would allow without breaking into a fast gallop.

        • seeker 2.1.2.1
          21 September 2012 at 12:49 am

          Glad you commented on this Anne. I too laughed (derisively) at key’s line that he never runs, when in fact he spends most of his time either running away from issues he wishes to avoid or spinning his way out of them. He is the most lilylivered leader I have ever known, but not above scoffing at others that he perceives he can safely (for himself) belittle and scorn from his ‘lofty’ top Nat(sy) perch.Am hoping he runs and spins so hard that he takes off permanently for his very own Planet Key.

      • Rodel 2.1.3
        20 September 2012 at 6:55 pm

        Anne
        Yes but the motivation of anyone who gives $50,000 to re-elect john Banks has to be queried.
        I have a grudging admiration for the guy but what was he thinking?

        • blue leopard 2.1.3.1
          20 September 2012 at 7:35 pm

          Rodel

          I wonder about this too. Why give $$ to Banks??
          …Unless he gave more to his competitors?

          • Anne 2.1.3.1.1
            20 September 2012 at 8:01 pm

            @ Rodel and blue leopard:

            Kim Dotcom is a relative newcomer to this country. His knowledge of the history of our political past, and how that history fits in to the current political climate would be extremely limited. It takes several years (at the least) of study and experience to even begin to understand the minutia of a country’s politics. Add to that, Kim Dotcom was being wooed by Banks for financial gain and it’s easy to see how he fell for it. But as EDDIE says, he’s savvy… and he’s also intelligent. He won’t fall for that one again.

            Claire Trevett on politics is worth a read: Key the ostrich has head firmly buried in sand.

            http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10835223

            Read the comments. The tide is definitely turning!

            • blue leopard 2.1.3.1.1.1
              20 September 2012 at 11:19 pm

              Anne

              It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to investigate what a public figure’s reputation or ideology is. It would be the intelligent thing to do prior to investing $$ in someone.

              If Kim Dotcom (or his lawyers) are as clever as he (/they) appear, this course of action would have been pursued. I think it highly likely that it was.

              I suggested that perhaps the same or more $$ was given to the other mayoral candidates after having puzzled over a large company or two doing the same in the general elections and concluding perhaps they simply are supporting democracy by giving both sides money; for a well funded campaign(?). This would explain the apparent discrepancy in ideologies between Banks and Dotcom.

              I certainly appreciate Dotcom’s comments in this thread’s article (better opposition than our Opposition parties) yet I can’t help questioning what his agenda is.

              • Anne …
                21 September 2012 at 9:52 am

                I can’t help questioning what his agenda is.

                Oh I agree, Dotcom isn’t as pure as the driven snow. He will have agendas alright and they will be to enhance his own position. But so far he’s used his excessive amount of $$s to out-manoeuvre the big boys and he’s put Banks and Key in their place.

                You gotta admire him for that. 🙂

                • blue leopard …
                  21 September 2012 at 2:21 pm

                  Yes it really IS a delight to see them being played at their own game! 😀

                • Carol …
                  21 September 2012 at 2:57 pm

                  Hmmm… well Jane Clifton reckons some “opposition” MPs had a hand in Dotcoms visit to parliament – rumour-mongering, or does she know something about that?

                  http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/7703956/Merry-millionaire-fails-to-fluster-Planet-Key

                  • blue leopard …
                    21 September 2012 at 10:58 pm

                    Thanks for the link. Good on them if the opposition was involved.

                    I very much enjoyed seeing the microphone switched off Mr Key after Mr Peters made his comment (occurred either later that day or the next). Mr Key is given far too much leeway as far as getting on his soapbox and saying extraneous things at the end of his questions and I hope they switch the microphone off earlier on him in future 🙂

                    • Colonial Viper …
                      21 September 2012 at 11:09 pm

                      A week or two reading The Standard and you’ll know everything you need to know about what National is up to!

                    • blue leopard …
                      21 September 2012 at 11:17 pm

                      Its pretty obvious what they are up to.

                      Destroying the country by following staid old policies reflecting the the staid old attitudes that this country is full of. And when the people with the fresh ideas start being supported and actually stop leaving the country in droves and/or start voting we might see a change.

                      Otherwise…welcome to your worst nightmare…(or mine at least!)…just will continue on in this sad ass way that it is….like watching a train wreck in slow motion…

                    • Colonial Viper …
                      21 September 2012 at 11:33 pm

                      *Some* of the “old staid attitudes” of this country are exactly what we need to return to IMO. Social security, an economy for the many and a place in society for all.

                      Fuck the neolibs and the Douglas Donkey they rode in on, in the 1980s.

                    • blue leopard …
                      22 September 2012 at 12:12 am

                      Yeah, of course you know that the staid old attitudes I am referring to predate the enlightened policies that you refer to…

                      Unsure how any party with decent policies will get into power while the dinosaur attitudes which are being cultivated by this current government with great success remain and burgeon in the numbers that they do.

                      Our opposition need to address this fact and I do not feel that they are.

      • seeker 2.1.4
        21 September 2012 at 12:33 am

        I liked him saying that too Anne.

  3. vto 3
    20 September 2012 at 8:04 am

    What I enjoy the most about this is how it exposes the limits of politicians and the government. Key, Banks and the government are wandering around like stunned mullets unable to do anything about him. And I think that is delicious and would love to do the same. I guess deep pockets help to buffer anything IRD, police, immigration etc may get forced by the politicians to throw at him. A poorer person may find all sorts of stuff thrown at them and be unable to handle it.

  4. BernyD 4
    20 September 2012 at 8:09 am

    It all comes down to those “Blank Bits” in the report.
    Bless Kim Dotcom, cause there were almost definitely the words “John Key” in there somewhere.
    And while the non disclosure could be considered “Old School Politics”, they usually come with some kind of threat.

  5. brybry 5
    20 September 2012 at 10:20 am

    More to come I reckon. This enigmatic tweet from Mr Dotcom.
    https://twitter.com/KimDotcom/status/241239891843878912

  6. Treetop 6
    20 September 2012 at 10:49 am

    I actually think that Dotcom has a diary/list of everything he had to do with Banks and this may have been shown to the police. When it comes to Bank’s relationship with Dotcom this is not an offence so the police cannot make a charge, BUT when it comes to Key having confidence in Banks, Key knows that Banks has misled parliament regarding his relationship with Dotcom.

    An offence does not have to occur for a member to mislead the house, resulting in a PM then having no confidence in that member.

    The police cannot make misleading statements either to parliament and the public to cover up for the person being investigated.

    There now needs to be an inquiry to establish the extent of Banks misleading parliament regarding his relationship with Dotcom and the evidence/proof is in Bank’s police file.

    • Anne 6.1
      20 September 2012 at 11:16 am

      There now needs to be an inquiry to establish the extent of Banks misleading parliament regarding his relationship with Dotcom and the evidence/proof is in Bank’s police file.

      Aha… is that why Key’s knickers are in a twist? He was telling the truth when he said he hadn’t read the police file, but he was only talking about the one that the police released to the public. He has read a police file – the one with no bits blanked out?

      • Treetop 6.1.1
        20 September 2012 at 12:09 pm

        “He has read a police file – the one with no bits blanked out?”

        There are so many avenues for Key to get info on the relationship between Banks and Dotcom to establish that Banks misled the house.

        A police leak
        The right questions being asked in parliament
        Something through Tolley’s office.
        A phone call, letter or an email from a source to parliament or Key’s electorate office
        The Solicitor General is usually in the loop when police do an investigation on an MP

        • Anne 6.1.1.1
          20 September 2012 at 12:45 pm

          Yes, Treetop you’re right. I simplified my comment to show Key knows the content of the ‘blanked out’ bits.

          I don’t trust the police not to leak to him – probably through a source linked to Tolley’s office.

          There must be some way to force the blanked-out bits to be released. I’ve had a gutsful of the ongoing ‘protection’ afforded Key and his political associates by high ranking governmental personnel. It really is beginning to stink big time now.

  7. mike 7
    20 September 2012 at 11:06 am

    John Key: “If he [Banks] didn’t comply with the local electorate act, he’d be gone.”

    http://www.3news.co.nz/John-Key-discusses-Dotcom-saga/tabid/367/articleID/253053/Default.aspx

    At 15:30 in the video.

  8. BM 8
    20 September 2012 at 12:07 pm

    I would hand him over to the US.
    The guy’s a pain in the arse.

  9. AmaKiwi 9
    20 September 2012 at 12:15 pm

    Kim Dotcom is a breath of fresh air on the political scene. He has more public relations savvy than all the other parties put together. He never fails to entertain me. Getting public attention is not about facts, it is about presenting them as entertainment.

    Learn something Labour and Greens. David Lange had the knack.

    • gobsmacked 9.1
      20 September 2012 at 2:10 pm

      He has more public relations savvy than all the other parties put together.

      So true. He is also more articulate in a “foreign” language than Key and Shearer in their first language.

      Dotcom has the simple attribute of knowing what he wants to say, as well as how to say it. Whereas Shearer has half a dozen voices in his head telling him what he should be saying, so he sounds confused and unconvincing.

      Kim Dotcom is the real leader of the opposition. Just like Owen Glenn was in 2008.

  10. taxicab 10
    20 September 2012 at 1:22 pm

    What if those banks of computers has footage of Shonkey and Bronagh popping round for drinks and nibbles ???

  11. CeeHad 11
    20 September 2012 at 1:45 pm

    Keep Kim Dotcom. Extradite two-faced John Banks, sell-out John Key, puffed-up education minister Hekia Parata and the ever oppressive Paula Benefit.

  12. Fortran 12
    20 September 2012 at 2:08 pm

    Get Dotcom to stand at the next election – Labour need some bulk.

  13. Chris 13
    20 September 2012 at 4:36 pm

    I would absolutely love to see someone ask banks the questions again(did you ask Dotcom for money,did you ask him to split it into $25,000 donations etc.) in front of K Dotcom in person. He is a craven coward so it would be highly interesting to see his response.

  14. XTASY 14
    20 September 2012 at 5:45 pm

    I still have my issues with Dotcom, Kim Schmitz is the true name of this colourful entrepreneur, but he is simply speaking out what any sensible and intelligent person should say and state.

    Sadly with the brainwashing in NZ your get very, very few people seeing thing as they are.

    The media (MSM) is the worst of any “developed” (does NOT mean educated by the way) country, commercialism, ad focus and such crap are dominating the “information delivery”, so most grow up with MC Donald info style shit since being born and know nothing better.

    It speaks for itself, that Dotcom does not need, nor will he want to, expose himself to the “public” and “private’ brainwashing idiocy, so he has independence (due to wealth) and can acceess the type of info he wants to resource himself. That is NOT what common NZers can even afford to do.

    Hence his “insight” is more real and sensible than that of the dumbed down majority’s supposed understanding and insight, which is dependent on dumbing down NAZI fashion “media information”.

    Maybe switch off all that crap, do some resource research and find REAL information that is true, rather than focus on “bare breasted royal” news?

  16. AC 16
    22 September 2012 at 8:54 pm

    I am certainly a Dotcom supporter after his visit to Parliament. He is right. The whole issue of honesty and integrity that all NZers try to abide by are seriously put into question in relation to Key and Banks. Great role models for our children-not. Dotcom for PM!!