Judith Collins – dirty politics hypocrite.

Written By: - Date published: 1:31 pm, June 28th, 2020 - 19 comments
Categories: Dirty Politics, john key, Judith Collins, Media, politicans, Politics, The Standard - Tags: , , , , ,

I’ve just been reading Andrea Vance’s “The brutal business of politics: Judith Collins discusses memoir, John Key, David Bain, and being a survivor“, a review of Judith Collin’s released biography.

One thing that usually infuriates me is whining arseholes. Judith Collins has always been one of them as far as I have ever been able to see. She states others have her own lack of morality whilst trying to hold herself up as a paragon of virtue by comparison. That is as she impunes individuals and groups wholesale. I haven’t seen anyone whine and whinge about others quite so much since Cameron Slater dismally failed in his defense against the defamation suit brought by Blomfield.

In my case, that obvious hypocritical lack of morality and willingness to lie about people particularly comes with this statement (my bold)..

Dirty Politics alleged Key’s office was seeding information on opponents with Slater, to be published on his attack-blog. Jason Ede, a spin doctor, took the blame and resigned and Key successfully distanced himself from the fall-out.

But Collins firmly implicates her former boss. “I know, because he [Key] would often discuss it. I would like people to understand that prime minister’s offices and Opposition offices, of course they talk to bloggers who are friendly to them.

“Clearly, [the relationship] was very close. Jason Ede was collateral. He was not well looked after. Jason Ede was employed to do a job and he did his job.”

This is one of a number of behind-the-scenes revelations she makes in the book. It’s the first insider account of the Key-led government, a nine-year period that was notorious for a stranglehold over political narrative.

Well we know that happens in National. But elsewhere, I know it does not.

I’ve been operating this site for the last 12 years. Throughout almost all of that time, it has been the largest site on the left of our local politics by a good margin. We don’t do any of that crap. It simply isn’t good for the politics in this country. There were a couple of instances that our sewer trolls keep mentioning from 2007 and 2008 after more than a decade. They got stomped severely by me and the other authors. It was a learning experience in the first year of operation for a few authors.

We aren’t a gossip and backstabbing site like Whaleoil was, its successor site still is, and as Kiwiblog often is. David Farrar often appears to test-market negative memes amongst the residents of the sewer of local politics.

Judith Collins is clearly referencing her opinion of bloggers from Whaleoil and Cameron Slater. Probably because that was who she clearly had a close association with. That is the universe of ‘blogging’ that she herself is familiar and comfortable with. Obviously she is too stupid, bigoted, or close-minded to look beyond her own illusions to see what really happens in the vast worlds of blogs and social media.

While her social media universe has been foreign to this site throughout its history, it also appears to be foreign to the Labour or Green politicians, and even NZ First. We get some of the advance copies of speeches and the odd press release, the same that go to media. Most of the time I think that is only because individual authors ask for them. It is that sporadic.

But we don’t get the kind of back-biting and synchronised campaigns that were so evident in Whaleoil or Kiwiblog over the last decade. Here, we offer our opinions as authors – not parroting those of others. The bickering and disagreement of the backend of the site that continually goes on between authors spills out between posts and in comments pages are just a reflection of how often we make up our own minds.

The nearest I can remember was the argument that broke out between authors and comments within the Standard about the virtues of keeping David Shearer as Labour leader in the caucus. Mike Smith (who operates the site trust with me) and others thought that Labour should. Myself and other did not. We wrote posts and comments to argue it out. But it was our opinions, not a synchronised campaign.

After all who would want to be a narcissistic sockpuppet like Cameron Slater was (and probably still is). Taking money and political influence in exchange for lying and defaming people both in politics and in private life is just kind of disgusting at every possible level. It is also ultimately counter-productive. Well, in the grand tradition in the opposite, I guess that is why National has Matthew Hooton in the National leaders office these days – in my experience he does the garbage detail of dirty politics frequently.

For me, most of the political gossip has been when I’ve been at social occasions or talking to politicians and staffers at political conferences. Most of that has been opinion, and I treat it as both confidential and as grist for my thinking rather than something I’d parrot. From talking to other authors, they do the same thing – being able to think for themselves is part of the criteria that we select them for.

Where authors in their personal or professional life have moved into positions that could compromise the perception of their independence – they have stopped writing here. We don’t get fed dirt from those who have moved onwards into political or political staffer positions. There has never been a position in either Labour or the Greens analogous to that held by Jason Ede in John Key’s office for feeding us dirt or photos of media cigarettes.

Mostly what we do is to provide opinion on what is already in the public arena. We’re not a news site because we all have other things that demand our time and attention.

In my case, I have get more private factual information sent under anonymised emails from those I strongly suspect to be National politicians or activists than I have ever get from politicians or staffers on the left. Sometimes I even publish the right’s infighting if I think it is relevant for speculative debate – making sure that everyone knows how I got it and how little I trust it.

Our authors take their experience from their personal lives and the things that they observe in their private and professional interests. They offer opinion and back it with linked facts for commenters to peruse.

Facts were mostly clearly absent from Cameron Slater’s garbage writing. That is why he was successfully sued for defamation and probably still it. For that matter we see much the same from many of the mainstream media opinion writers – Mike Hosking in particular appears to operate in a fact free universe that dithers from day-to-day.

To be smeared by Judith Collins by comparing me or any of the authors here to low-life arsehole like Cameron Slater is simply appalling. To me it just demonstrates why her shallow and somewhat pitiful pretensions delusions to lead the National party or this country are the thing of nightmares.

We currently have example of similar personalities in Donald Trump, Boris Johnson and Jair Bolsonaro of a narcissistic idiots trying to deal with a crisis – and failing catastrophically. Personally I can’t see any reason to allow Judith Collins the opportunity to follow in their footsteps.

To me, Judith Collins is someone who doesn’t appear to be someone capable of ever acting in good faith. I have always gotten the impression of someone who vindictively stores up petty grievances, considers that other are always acting in bad faith, and envies those who hold the positions that she is not capable of doing successfully because of her toxic personality.

This comes through clearly (and unintentionally?) in Andrea Vance’s review. If you read that review with the above points in mind, it just sounds like a dimmer echo of Donald Trump. Grievances, unsupported suppositions, stupidity, narcissism – just like someone who is currently directly responsible for the disaster that is still unfolding in a covid-19 ridden USA.

While Judith Collin’s views are a perfect representation of a loud-mouthed ignorant minority of the National and Act party supporters. Fortunately it is not the bulk of them. It is the difference between those distasteful with few ethics and those who are worth arguing with.

19 comments on “Judith Collins – dirty politics hypocrite. ”

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  1. Matiri 1
    28 June 2020 at 1:51 pm

    That photo in Vance’s story of a very young JC and Nick Smith outside Night Moves Strip Club and Bar in Nelson, is a classic! Are they going in or coming out?

  2. Ad 2
    28 June 2020 at 2:02 pm

    Thanks for taking the time to read her book so that I never have to.

    It's a weakness for the left, not a moral strength, that we are not brought into coordinated campaigns with the Prime Minister's office. It would make us much harder to defeat if we were coordinated.

    But I agree we would not need the illegal acts and sick morality of Jason Ede and Whaleoil and the rest of them to act on this coordination.

    • lprent 2.1
      28 June 2020 at 2:18 pm

      I didn't read it. Andrea Vance did.

      I thought that her review was pretty balanced and in more depth than anything else.

      Obviously I disagree about the coordinated campaigns for many reasons. Not the least of which is that in a MMP environment it means that the site will be seen by other parties as a sockpuppet. Besides a robust debate means having a diversity of opinion that far exceeds the range of staffers and politicians obsessed by the 3 year electoral cycle. Too bloody short-term to be useful.

      If the Labour party wants to have their own blog, then they can run one – Red Alert or Frog Blog were examples – both either dead or migrated now.

      I keep any RSS feeds in the Parties or government tab. I prefer to not have them in the posts.

      Besides, you spend your writing time mostly criticising Labour, the Greens, NZF, and – well actually almost everyone. You’re a great advertisement for coordination 😈

      • Ad 2.1.1
        28 June 2020 at 2:50 pm

        🙂

        Gotta have ideals in there somewhere.

        • lprent 2.1.1.1
          28 June 2020 at 2:57 pm

          Indeed. Otherwise we would become politicians and really have to deal with the limits of what we’d like to do compared to what it is possible to do.

          Personally I prefer writing code when I get the time.

  3. Byd0nz 3
    28 June 2020 at 3:51 pm

    Her book is too expensive to use to light the kindling, probably toxic when burnt anyway. I'll give it a miss.

    • Incognito 3.1
      28 June 2020 at 4:03 pm

      I’m surprised she didn’t go for the hardcover print version with a black leather cover.

    • Patricia Bremner 3.2
      28 June 2020 at 4:06 pm

      I thought it would be full of excuses for her past associations, so gave it a miss.
      Besides, she clearly thinks kindness is a weakness.

  4. Dean Reynolds 4
    28 June 2020 at 5:19 pm

    Collins has claimed that her political hero is Margaret Thatcher. Thatcher was the UK's worst 20th century Prime Minister. Her political characteristics were like Collin's – incompetence, corruption, vindictiveness.

    • Chris 4.1
      28 June 2020 at 10:32 pm

      There's no way that Collins has ‘pulled no punches'. Collins is a narcissist. Everything she says and does is calculated to achieve her end objective, which is to be admired and worshipped, probably as a leader. Even from the article it feels like she's been pretty careful about what she's said, and that she's in fact pulled a lot punches. I think her book will be disappointing for this reason alone.

  5. OnceWasTim 5
    28 June 2020 at 5:26 pm

    This week, it wouldn't be the first time I've heard gNats advocate putting rival gang members on an island and letting them fight it out.

    Same could be said of the rival factions in the gNat gang. I freely admit I don't have enough sympathy to go around and I can think of better causes than the NuZull National Party to spend it on – here and internationally. There's probably one or two relatively senior public servants I'd include in that as well (not AB by the way)

    Sure as shit history seems to be rhyming and I'm not sure people have woken up to the potential seriousness of it all.

    Que sera sera

  6. new view 6
    28 June 2020 at 7:33 pm

    So how can anybody here make a sensible comment if they haven’t read the book. A review is a review no matter how much we like the the person doing the reviewing. Being from the right and not having read the book was wondering if this forum would give me an idea whether it would be a good read. Instead I see nothing but a take on somebody else’s review.

    • Incognito 6.1
      28 June 2020 at 7:37 pm

      It is not out yet. Why don’t you buy it when it is in the shops, read it, and review it for us? You’re most welcome to do a Guest Post on it.

      • new view 6.1.1
        28 June 2020 at 8:25 pm

        Maybe you should ask lprent to do that instead of going to a lot of trouble to parrot someone else’s point of view. It’s like getting the news before the news bulletin.

        • Incognito 6.1.1.1
          28 June 2020 at 8:33 pm

          Maybe I asked you since you brought it up, yes?

          And since you brought this up too, which parts in/of the OP were “parrot[ing] someone else’s point of view”?

          • new view 6.1.1.1.1
            28 June 2020 at 9:12 pm

            Incognito. You don’t like what I have to say, fair enough. My comment was an observation. An article or blog written to give an opinion on someone else’s review just seemed strange. You obviously think that’s fine. Stick with what you believe. I must be wrong. I most likely will read the book and then will decide on whether I will comment on it.

            • Incognito 6.1.1.1.1.1
              28 June 2020 at 9:33 pm

              Good on you and I look forward to you commenting on it here.

              You and I must have been ‘observing’ different posts because I did not detect any parroting and you failed to point to it. We will never know why and will have to file it under Life’s Great Mysteries.

              This has nothing to do whatsoever with my likes or believes and is a nice strawman.

              Did you read this sentence and anything else that followed?

              I’ve been operating this site for the last 12 years.

              If not, you may have to scroll down a little further.

  7. Morrissey 7
    28 June 2020 at 8:15 pm

    As Nicky Hager showed so devastatingly in Dirty Politics (2014) Collins is a notorious liar, character assassin, conspirator against civilians and indeed against members of her own political party. The sad and angry supporters of the Nasty Party do not appreciate being reminded of that…

    https://morrisseybreen.blogspot.com/2018/10/discussion-on-kiwiblog-about-judith.html

  8. Tricledrown 8
    29 June 2020 at 11:31 am

    Looks like Paula Bennett has seen the writing on the wall .

    All these character assassinations in her book who is left in the National Party to support her.

    Is She trying to destroy all of her enemies in the hope of gaining the leadership.

    Luxton chances seem awfully slim now Key/English have been exposed so National may need a good clean out in September to resurrect some sort of Unity.Vendettas obviously continuing.

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