Bryce Edwards had one of his regular political roundups in The Herald yesterday:
Increasing hatred for John Key?
…
Last week Patrick Gower argued “There is no doubt the Prime Minister is experiencing a more visceral hatred than ever before this year” – see: Danger signs but never underestimate John Key. Gower points out that what Key has been through already this year – booed at the Auckland nines and the Big Gay Out and “targeted by a dangerous internal leak” – was “previously unthinkable”. He argues it’s a sign of a “new found disrespect” as Key’s detractors have been emboldened by vibrant opposition to the TPP. …
Edwards goes on to cover many other pieces with similar observations of Key’s fading star, and so on. But here’s how the piece begins:
There appears to be a growing hatred of John Key, especially from the political left. Some label this phenomenon “Key Derangement Syndrome”. But is this anger toward the prime minister simply an understandable by-product of personality-driven politics and a polarised society?
Matthew Hooton has a theory that the New Zealand political left suffers from “Key Derangement Syndrome” (KDS). By this he means that political activists – especially those aligned with Labour and the Greens – tend to have an irrational hatred of John Key that is out of line with reality and with the wider public. According to Hooton, sufferers of KDS are hamstrung by their hatred of Key as their lack of perspective undermines their effectiveness as an opposition.
I’m a little bit surprised that Edwards takes Key Derangement Syndrome seriously. People have always hated politicians, there’s nothing special about Key. “KDS” is just standard political framing from the usual dirty operatives, Farrar / Slater / Hooton. There is no such thing as KDS, it’s a made-up term designed to mock and belittle any criticism of their primary asset. Dislike that Nice Mr Key? Why you must be mad!
Expect to see plenty more accusations of KDS as Key cops more and more criticism. Pretty brazen really, from the crew who ran an active and very personal hate campaign against Helen Clark.
Just a suggestion of course, but perhaps KDS really stands for “Key Defensive Sycophancy”.
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