Get rid of the fool.

Written By: - Date published: 5:02 pm, November 30th, 2009 - 36 comments
Categories: scoundrels - Tags: ,

I haven’t bothered looking too far for reaction to Paul Henry jerking off in public to attract attention to his personaility defect – inflated ego. Against the current had a post that captured my opinion the best – Meet Mr Stupid.

This time the victim of Henry’s ‘witty banter’ was British singing Susan Boyle.

Henry thought it would be really entertaining if he referred to Boyle as a ‘retard.’

He described her as being ‘starved of oxygen at birth’. Gosh, that’s so incredibly funny and insightful. Who knew that Paul Henry was Oscar Wilde in disguise?

Of course this is yet another dismal example of Henry and his best friend – his ego – showing off for the cameras. Henry thinks he’s ‘entertaining’ – everyone else just thinks he’s a right wing prat. Except for fellow right wing loony Lindsay Perigo. He adores him.

Yeah, so you can tell the quality of a person by that of their ‘friends’. I have no doubt that the mob down at the sewer thinks it is funny and will probably start immediately telling me that I should get a “sense of humour”. All I can say is that if you don’t understand why this bozo is going beyond the pale in the pursuit of ‘news’ ratings, then you have a serious problem in your personality.

If he was doing it in a stand-up comedy it might be humorous. On a moderately serious ‘news’ program the f*ckwit just makes TVNZ look like they operate out of a sleazy 1950’s comedy club.

AtC sums up with

Paul Henry. What a man. What a hero. What a wanker.

Brian Edwards says pretty much the same, but with more restraint than I can be bothered with.

I’m about to criticise Paul Henry whom I defended in the very first blog which I published on this site. My thesis was that, despite his occasional gratuitous, offensive and personally hurtful comments about other people, his exceptional talents as a broadcaster justified his continued employment by Television New Zealand. That is no longer my view. Henry is a bully who is abusing his position as a public broadcaster. He should be sacked.

Hosting a television programme endows the presenter with considerable power. And with that power goes the responsibility not to abuse your position by disparaging those with less power and less opportunity to respond.

Henry seems unaware of that responsibility. He responds to criticism with the crass bluster, so typical of the bully:

‘To be honest, this is water off a duck’s back to me There’s a question of free speech here I’m just saying what’s on my mind, what I think, I’m trying to be entertaining.’

And there you have the real issue: not freedom of speech which can never be unlimited in a civilised society, but the freedom to increase your ratings and advance your career by tapping into the deep-seated prejudices of your audience.

Personally I prefer to think that it is the fault of TVNZ for thinking that a pinhead with a attention seeking personality defect is suitable for presenting any news. Watching his slow progression into thrall-like addiction to his bloated ego must, for viewers, be like obsessively watching a show about nothing. Sort of a reality show with a showoff scrabbling for prizes.

TVNZ – just get rid of the fool out of your ‘news’. He is just going to get worse and eventually will drop you into a court case that you will lose. Sure you signed a contract. But I bet that there is dropout clause for f*ckwit behavior by a retarded ego damaging the show. He has given you a lot of ammunition for court if he is stupid enough to go there for any type of unjustified dismissal.

But thats just me being light hearted and ‘funny’ – ha ha…… yeah right.

36 comments on “Get rid of the fool. ”

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  1. Noko 1
    30 November 2009 at 5:07 pm

    Indeed, an incredible tool. But I feel, like Michael Lhaws, it’s better if we ignore it. When we keep giving those tossers attention, it inflates their ego even more, in a world where they are otherwise irrelevant.

    • QoT 1.1
      30 November 2009 at 10:55 pm

      I can only link to Richie at Crimitism’s excellent post on this subject.

      And I hardly think we can dismiss Paul Henry as “irrelevant” when he’s the host of both TVNZ’s breakfast and pseudo-current-affairs shows.

    • Ms X 1.2
      1 December 2009 at 7:32 am

      Amen to that. In the first days of TV, they broadcast for fewer hours of the day because there was nothing to air. Nowadays we have 24 hour tv – with no need for many who have alternative forms of ‘entertainment’. Why dont they reduce the hours and increase the quality? Or have we been dumbed down too far to hope for any quality programmes now?
      If a protest is to be made, surely it should be to the advertisers?

  2. fizzleplug 2
    30 November 2009 at 5:15 pm

    Yeah, so you can tell the quality of a person by that of their ‘friends’.

    Never a truer word spoken on this site.

  3. Zepher 3
    30 November 2009 at 5:27 pm

    Here’s the recording of Paul Henry knokcing people with disabilities:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pmpThn0su4

    If you want to complain to the human rights commission here’s their link:
    http://www.hrc.co.nz/home/hrc/enquiriescomplaints/onlinecomplaintsform.php

    If any of the sewer rats think I’m being too “over-reactive” or “PC”(whatever that’s meant to mean) how about they go thorough the hassle and discrimination people with disabilities have to go through.

  4. Craig Glen Eden 4
    30 November 2009 at 5:39 pm

    Well Boyle may not win any beauty contest granted, but I bet she does not care and neither do I, but she certainly can sing and no one can take that away from her.

    Oh and I have to say she is likable and she has a real down to earth nature which are all nice characteristics which is more than I can say for Henry.

  5. David G 5
    30 November 2009 at 7:59 pm

    How ironic that Susan Boyle ( regardless of whether you like her singing) is a worldwide sensation who has a history making album out and invites to the like of the Oprah Winfrey Show and Paul Henry is a relative nobody who tries to be a big fish in a small pool by insulting people. He has been outdone by a “retard” if we are to believe his description. I wonder what that makes him?

    TVNZ woud gain far more credibilty by removing the parvenu than they ever gained by employing him.

    Just using my right to free speech you understand.

  6. quenchino 6
    30 November 2009 at 8:00 pm

    Glad someone posted on this.

    The IH community will shrug this off; they’ve had far worse flung at them all their lives.

    Their parents and loved ones will be angry and guilty that they can’t do more to protect them from this heartbreaking abuse.

    TVNZ will hammer yet another nail into their ratings coffin.

    And the Broadcasting Standards Authority will prove once again that they serve no useful purpose.

  7. Pascal's bookie 7
    30 November 2009 at 8:21 pm

    One thing that fucks me right off is people claiming “it’s a freedom of speech issue” when it clearly aint. Broadcasters especially should know better.

    Freedom of speech only applies if it is the state declaring that somebody may not speak. I’m unaware of that happening in this case.

    If he wants to test his freedom of speech, as he understands it, he should try starting his morning piece with an expletive filled rant about his bosses. But he’s too chicken, and he stone cold knows they have every right to sack him for what he chooses to say on their damn TV station.

    Freedom of speech my arse.

  8. henry olongo 8
    30 November 2009 at 9:00 pm

    I’d like to punch this gutless fuck out. Isn’t he some class of pikey?

    • steven smith 8.1
      1 December 2009 at 11:46 pm

      isnt that a bit racist…. refering to him as a low class irishman. and a bit hypocritical ……..wouldnt want me calling you something like that now would you Mr Olongo. The Standard must really believe in free speech to allow this sort of racism by Mr Olongo

  9. Ron 9
    30 November 2009 at 9:12 pm

    He’s a BREAKFAST TELEVISION HOST. That’s all you need to know.
    He inhabits the world of infomercials, weather reports and “lighthearted banter” that used to the domain of brightly coloured spectacles and novelty braces and is now the home of coiffed, smiling, botoxed drones the world over.

    The funniest thing is that he THINKS he’s the best presenter in the country. This the guy who believes in psychics and seriously interviews the promoter of the “star child” skull. hahahahahahahahahah

  10. prism 10
    30 November 2009 at 9:39 pm

    This is Paul Henry’s idea of being upfront, forthright and telling it like it is I suppose. Paul Holmes and his ‘cheeky darky’ has gone, now there is this one. How many moronic bouncy-castlemen can NZ cope with before their inflated egos unite and drag us up into the stratosphere?

    • prism 10.1
      30 November 2009 at 9:55 pm

      Paul Henry’s ego is an example of someone with good self-esteem based on a poor appraisal of self. Educators have objected to the simple goal of children gaining self-esteem for this reason. Probably it is better to have self-respect and then work to maintain that.

      Another aspect affects political candidates and that is if you stand before others confidently and crack some jokes and say the sort of things that others don’t really dare to say, they’ll probably think you’re OK. Michael Lhaws is an example. He has been so rude to anyone who he doesn’t agree with, but probably the masses will take that for courage and strength of character.

  11. Jenny 11
    30 November 2009 at 9:56 pm

    A little over a fortnight ago, this hypocrite was railing, at length, at how personally offended he was, over Hone Harawira’s use of the term, “White MoFos”, A term that Henry took as a description of people like himself.

    Without batting an eyelid, Henry seems to be trying to confirm Harawira’s prejudices, in thinking, that he, Paul Henry as a middle class white male, can use insensitive terms on Nation wide TV to describe others and not be taken to task for it as his God given right.

    Will he be told to apologise?

    Will Phil Goff be making a public statement saying “he doesn’t belong in this house” if he doesn’t?

    Will TVNZ tiredly pull out their old wet bus ticket again, as they have done in the past with Henry?

    Or will TVNZ finally show they are tired of this offensive right wing boor’s “laddish behaviour” and slap him with something more meaningful?

    We wait and wait, knowing that if TVNZ managers don’t act, that the next time this is allowed to happen, Henry just may drag down some of them, with him.

    • Craig Glen Eden 11.1
      30 November 2009 at 11:01 pm

      Just a small point Jenny but with the salary Henry is on Im not sure middle class quite fits, although I know a few middle class blokes who would love the coin that Henry is on.

  12. Brett Dale 12
    30 November 2009 at 10:14 pm

    The word “retard” is used weekly by standard writers.

    I suggest you look in your own backyard.

    • Armchair Critic 12.1
      30 November 2009 at 10:22 pm

      I suggest you provide links to back this up.
      I also suggest that none of the writers on The Standard present the highest rating breakfast show on TV, nor do any of them regularly present the highest rating TV show at 7pm, so are not so open to the same level of scrutiny as this buffoon.

    • George D 12.2
      30 November 2009 at 10:26 pm

      I just put “retard” into the search box. It brought up four pages. One was this one. Another was one where the word did not appear at all (strange), one mentioned fire retardants, and another directly quoted David Farrar talking about his musical skills.

  13. Matt 13
    1 December 2009 at 2:02 am

    You just called someone “retarded” for calling someone “retarded.” Think before you write.

    • felix 13.1
      1 December 2009 at 8:43 am

      Wow, you got all the way to the last paragraph but not quite as far as the last sentence.

      It’s tempting to say “think before you read” (but I won’t).

  14. Rex Widerstrom 14
    1 December 2009 at 5:24 am

    Christ on a bike. I used to watch “Edwards on Saturday” (and “Dean on Saturday”) and other programs with which Brian was involved and it was these (along with Ian Fraser, David Beatson and others on “Nationwide”) that made me want to become a broadcaster.

    I didn’t catch that “exceptional talents as a broadcaster justified his continued employment” post when it first appeared.

    I can’t think of anyone on television today fit to make coffee for Brian in his hay day, but clearly that’s long since passed and he’s begun the slow slide into dementia if he thinks a bullying buffon has “exceptional talent”.

    Either that, or I want some of what he’s on.

    • Bored 14.1
      1 December 2009 at 8:14 am

      The scary thing is that Edwards was quite capable as a journalist and in presenting real news. Henry does not even go near real stories where his real credentials would come into question. Its a sad commentary on the media and as a corollary on us the public for accepting this ill nourished formula.

  15. Ron 15
    1 December 2009 at 8:57 am

    Again, I say – he’s a Breakfast TV host. It’s all you need to know. If he was on air in 1986 he would have been wearing bright red spectacles frames and patterned braces.

  16. Chris 16
    1 December 2009 at 9:15 am

    And the sorry saga merely points up the fact that we suffer a desperate lack of people with sophisticated wit and ability for marvellous word play in the broadcasting industry, and instead we merely put up with third rate clowns.

  17. A Nonny Moose 17
    1 December 2009 at 1:00 pm

    “All I can say is that if you don’t understand why this bozo is going beyond the pale in the pursuit of ‘news’ ratings, then you have a serious problem in your personality.”

    No, it’s not a problem with personality, it’s a problem with Privilige. Of the white, hetero, mid-life, middle class male type, that holds the public discourse so tightly in their sweaty little fist.

    Paul Henry says he’s only saying what everyone thinks. Wrong, he’s only saying what those of his PRIVILIGE are thinking, which is very little, because of their complete lack of respect for anyone slightly different to him – women, minorities, gays, disabilities, race, religion…. You pick it, he’ll offend it for ratings.

    TVNZ, and the BSA, are cowards for letting this man and his type rule the public discourse. It may be good for ratings, but it’s terrible for letting our society move forward.

    • quenchino 17.1
      1 December 2009 at 1:12 pm

      Shorter version… Henry is a snob.

      • A Nonny Moose 17.1.1
        1 December 2009 at 3:08 pm

        No, Privilige does not equal “snob”, it’s who has the loudest voice.

        Not generally attempting to be crap at expressing myself – I know that there is a vast majority of normal, good citizens in a group. But the thing about Privilige is that you express anger/concern at being called out about it, because you don’t even realize you have it.

        The cornerstone of sexism, racism, etc is institutionalized language, just like Henry’s.

        It’s nice to take a lighthearted approach to fools like him, but if no one takes a serious approach, if no one points of the Privilige, how does that move the public discourse forward?

    • Geek 17.2
      1 December 2009 at 1:47 pm

      Always good to see someone who is not white middle class (if Henry is middle class I want to know where the hell all my perks went) being used to judge those of us white middle class men who show up to work every day and do our most to provide for our families.

      Of course due to the color of my skin and my ability to earn what I do I must be an ignorant sexist/racist/homophobe who is completely self involved.

      Using a broad generalization like that makes you no better than he is.

      • lprent 17.2.1
        1 December 2009 at 2:04 pm

        I think that ANN was saying that this was the demographic that the fool was targeting in his statement.

        Personally as I fall at least partially into that demographic as well, my reaction was sheer anger at the fools presumption – which is why you got the post. My partners reaction was even more stark. Normally she is urging me to caution. In this case she was arguing for more vitriol.

        Point your anger at Henry (aka the fool). I suspect that ANN is just crap at expressing what it means.

        However I intend to keep a ‘light-hearted’ focus on the fool and his show for a while. I think that getting mail addresses for the show and publishing them could be next. Or a wee advertising GIF with the words of foolish wisdom to distribute around the blogs.

  18. Brett Dale 18
    1 December 2009 at 3:47 pm

    Its breakfast TV what do you expect????

    TVNZ is playing to their audience.

    Take a look at the nightly news, its the same scripted spontaneous banter every night between Dallow and Saville about food, with a few giggles thrown in for Jimmy.

    TVNZ is not about class or integrity its about ratings.

    Watch Prime or TV3.

  19. peterlepaysan 19
    2 December 2009 at 10:13 pm

    Does anyone watch “breakfast”, or that other thingy that TVNZ1 puts on at 7.00pm?
    No wonder this arrogant halfwit behaves the way he does, he is just another busker seeking attention (and dosh).

    No one is paying (attention/advertising).

    Sigh!

    Need to attract attention.

    Even bigger sigh.

    Henry is boring. In the wrong time slot, and presenting crap.

    TVNZ has probs. Using halfwitted ploys used by this busker
    will not work in an internet age.

    Henry should be honest and go and strum a guitar on the footpath like other talentless wannabes.

  20. Izak Flash Man 20
    18 December 2009 at 6:28 pm

    While reading your post I realized you have no intentions of listening to other opinions, and you said I live in a sewer. I find that arrogant and offensive. Hypocrite.

    lol.

    [lprent: You should read my several other posts on the sewer (kiwiblogs comment section) and why I have chosen to name it this. Perhaps you’d learn something. ]

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