ouch! but a fair call Pat.
i’m a pretty vacuous vegetable at the best of times and for the past few weeks i’ve been a little distracted by the arrival of a new sproutling.
will try harder just as soon as i’m able.
It will be interesting to see if JK and BO have a similar slide in popularity over time as the one that Bush went through ….. 90% after the WTC attacks to 25% when he left office.
Edit
GS
I thought one had a holiday home in Hawaii and only one was born in the USA ?
One of them could turn out to be the greatest and most honest president the USA has ever had.
One of them always said what he thought and stuck by it, even though it was plainly a bad idea.
One of them is the Prime Minister of New Zealand who made a lot of money before becoming prime minister and small minded jealous people hate him for it, instead of applauding him for it.
Brett – Honest like saying you’ll hire no former Washington lobbyists than turning around and granting yourself an exemption to hire former Washington lobbyists. Honest like campaigning on withdrawing troops from Iraq within 16 months and when in office extending that by months and saying the countdown starts now no I mean now (months later) and even then around 50,000 troops will be left – some withdrawl.
Great like setting a terrible precedent and not prosecuting the bushites for torture. Great like actually increaseing the military budget in the midst of a recession. Great like enacting the greatest transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich in the form of the bank bailouts. Oh yeah he’s made a few token gestures like closing Gitmo, but that doesn’t close all those other prisons around the world or saying the CIA won’t torture, but not actually stopping them from outsourcing that torture. From a man who’s campaign slogan came from a children’s television show (Bob the Builder) and who renamed the war on terror to the overseas contingency operation could we really ever expect real change?
Brett I’m sure you’d be one of the first to criticise Labour’s spending, but what about Obama’s profligate spending? Or is it just that the handsome man gives you a tingly feeling?
And making a lot of money in banking, praiseworthy? You’ll have a hard time convincing many people of that at this time except all those former bankers in Obama’s team (one of the reasons why Obama got more money from Wall st than McCain). I’d rather praise productive people not simply rich people.
is it you? me? brett dale? ; who applauds dickfaces who make money out of other peoples money, always clipping the ticket as it goes past.
I would suggest as per the debacle’ we now reside in – the smartest guy in the room IS NOT That Nice Smiling Man.
most delightful captcha: pagoda served. how apt.
They are all scientifically similar in that they are all male bipedal mammals with an identical number of arms, legs and internal organs. The difference, of course, is that Mr Obama stands for change you can believe in.
Ah yes I think you’ve hit the nail on the head there micky. Obama is definitely the odd one out in that he actually wants to make the world a better place, not just for his cronies but for everyone.
For Obama’s critics, it takes a long time to turn an oil tanker around…..
hehe I was thinking the same myself, was going to say.
I’m not that fussed about what Obama does domestically. Selfish like that, just don’t see it as any of my business. On the torture and the wars, I’m paying attention. Yesterday, in a press conference he took another step, said waterboarding was torture in his opinion. Well fuck-a-doodle-doo. But methods don’t only apply to madness,
There is a story about Pres Johnson and the civil rights movement. He was meeting with activists, and they were making their case. At the end of it he said words to the effect of, yes, I agree with you, now go make me do it.
The release of those memo’s was a big deal. There is enormous establishment pressure not to do anything, and it’s good to see a lot of push back from Obama supporters in the states against that.
Obama himself may be playing it very smart. The absolute last thing I want to see is an investigation get tarred as political payback. That is pretty much the only hope the torturers have. By being visibly reluctant, and yet putting as much info out there as people demand, Obama is countering that narrative. Obama himself cannot prosecute, but by not shutting the debate down, he is allowing the system to work. He called it torture. His justice dept has a legal duty to investigate crimes, and that signal was possibly that he would not stand in the way if Justice, or congress was to take steps. In spite of his rhetoric about moving forward and not looking back. By calling it torture (in his opinion) he has put himself one step more into a box.
Obama needs to keep well out of it politically. It’s up to Congress to reveal more, putting pressure on Justice to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate.
There are other pressure points as well. Bybee ( a memo writer) is possibly up for impeachment from his current gig on a california court, That would be a media shit storm, with much more revelations.
Cheney is demanding the release of supposed documents showing the supposed benefits of the program, but that won’t save him if things turn legal. It’s a purely political play, and in any case, CIA FBI and Military sources have already said his claims are for shit. Arse covering cuts all ways apparently. Also, and too, if Cheney starts to request things be declassified, he is no longer in a position to be doing the cherry picking.
According to the ACLU, there is plenty of video and transcript evidence of the interrogations. Just saying, Dick.
The Spanish courts, (despite ignorant reporting to the contrary) are heading towards prosecutions. That will mean requests for the alleged war criminals to be sent to Spain. The American public won’t like that, but may think having criminal investigations themselves to be the best face saving reason for refusal.
UN officials have already pointed out that by treaty, ratified into US law, there is a duty to investigate allegations of torture.
drip. drip. drip.
Coincidently I’m sure, I read somewhere unreliable that Bush snr, last year, bought a large amount of land, complete with spacious housing, in a South American country without an extradition treaty with the US. Probably an urban myth. But the thing with myths is, even though the words is false, they are all about what’s true.
Jarbury – Why don’t you engage some of the points from “Obama’s critics” instead of just coming up with metaphors. If we’re talking about the direction of this ship he’s done so many things facing the same direction as his predecesors one would have to think he hasn’t even touched the wheel.
Pascal – I get the politics behind leaving it to the Attorney General but really the politics are no real excuse for Obama. He initially wanted to give them immunity and we should remember that. That is absolutely disgusting and it speaks to a deplorable human being. If his equivocating is all down to politics that to me points to cowardly man without principles.
Cheney is demanding the release of supposed documents showing the supposed benefits of the program, but that won’t save him if things turn legal. It’s a purely political play, and in any case, CIA FBI and Military sources have already said his claims are for shit.
That’s not what Obama’s Director of National Intelligence, Dennis Blair thinks:
“High-value information came from interrogations in which those methods were used and provided a deeper understanding of the al-Qaeda organization that was attacking this country,”
Let’s not forget that the Obama Justice Department has thrown out a case against the NSA brought on behalf of the Americans who had illegal surveilance conducted on them and that they tried to get a case against John Yoo thrown out.
The absolute last thing I want to see is an investigation get tarred as political payback.
The absolute last thing I want to see is these people getting away with it.
I agree entirely. The cynical manipulation of war crimes for political ends is abominable, but even torturers deserve due process. Also, the longer Obama lets this play, the more of its filth will be exposed and pressure on the actual enablers and perpetrators intensified. They will be babbling wrecks by the time they face the dock.
The absolute last thing I want to see is these people getting away with it.
Quite. I totally hear what you are saying believe me. On all your points.
Where I disagree I think, is that I think Obama might be playing it a smarter way than an all out assault would be. The politics of what we see as the high road may be disastrous. Does that suck? Oh yes. But that’s the reality.
If his equivocating is all down to politics that to me points to cowardly man without principles.
At the end of the day it is going to be politics that gets it done though. If sticking by some principle leads to a higher risk of defeat, then what is the principled thing to do? Especially when the stakes are so high.
And are you sure that his equivocating is genuine, and not tactical? I’m not yet, and that is my point.
I’m not really interested in arguing about whether or not so and so is a bad man or what have you. I just want the process to go ahead with the best chance of success. That being defined by the rule of law being upheld, and future presidents being made aware that they are not above the law.
I think it’s worthwhile to give him some time…. that’s the point. It’s not like this is an easy point of time to fix a country that has had 8 years of suffering under possibly their worst president since….. well for a very long time anyway!
Regarding his foreign policy, clearly nothing is ever particularly easy but I think Obama has taken some good steps forward while at the same time possibly not yet being the ‘saviour’ some hoped him to be. But this is politics, and he has really tried to get cross-party consensus on issues so that the USA can move away from the extremely partisan politics that it has suffered under since the 1970s. Having to shift policies radically away from what Bush did, but at the same time at least try to get some of the republicans on side is no mean feat.
I don’t think Obama is after short-term fixes – he wants to change US politics and the US economy in a long-term way like FDR did. I am reading “The Conscience of a Liberal” by Paul Krugman at the moment (bloody good book by the way) and it would seem that Obama wants to operate in a way that shifts the average US political view back towards the far greater moderation that we saw in the 1940s-1970s. That would mean you can’t fix everything straight away.
You make very valid points. It is not Obama’s fault – but it is his problem to deal with – that the American public have been dumbed down to such an extent that they have no stomach for anything other than discrete, processed Change McNuggets rather than the real and substantive change necessary for America as it is today to survive.
And change is absolutely necessary. Some time ago I read a wingnut article somewhere comparing Obama to Gorbachev. Oddly enough, the comparison was valid, although the talking points and conclusions made weren’t. Obama’s problem is that, just like Gorbachev, he has become the leader of a country that is bankrupt, both metaphorically and literally.
Personally, having a soft spot for capitalism, I’m hoping that Obama succeeds with the USA where Gorbachev very narrowly failed with the USSR. But then, even Gorbachev had some success: that so many countries in Eastern Europe and the former USSR are at least comparatively free today is testament to his hard work.
While I disagree with some of the points you’ve made here PB, it is a tremendously well-thought out response to what I suspect was a rather flippant and trivial original post.
it’s in the eyes – the French have an expression “Il rit jaune – it’s a forced smile and the eyes tell a different story. Obama does not look as though he is holding onto a scalpel at the same time, and is genuinely happy to be photographed.
More than half of people who attend services at least once a week — 54 percent — said the use of torture against suspected terrorists is “often” or “sometimes” justified. Only 42 percent of people who “seldom or never” go to services agreed, according the analysis released Wednesday by the <a href=http://pewforum.org/docs/?DocID=156.Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.
Jarbury – The point is I don’t see much change, a couple positive moves, but that doesn’t distinguish him from the likes of Bill Clinton. Better than Bush yes, much better? not really. His bailouts of the banks transferring all that wealth from the poor to the rich is not change from the Bush years it’s just the same old bullshit from the oligarchs. Since he’s been in power he’s ramped up the attacks on Pakistan and he’s going to massively enlarge the operation in Afghanistan. He’s not really even drawing down in Iraq. Leaving 50,000 colonial troops is not much of draw down if you ask me and how much different is that from Bush given that he was going to draw down troop levels as well? To me not much has changed Bush’s war on terror has become Obama’s war on terror. And don’t forget that’s he’s actually increasing the military budget after years and years of ludicrous growth under Bush. When teachers are being laid off because the state’s can’t afford to keep them, when many American’s can’t afford healthcare, when the number of homeless has shot up, Obama is spending more on the military. I’m sorry but this guy doesn’t fill me with hope like he seems to be with some you guys. Comparing Obama to FDR makes me a little quesy. FDR was a fascist corporatist.
I think debate has shifted so far to the right that what should be reasonable left wingers are supporting Obama along with the conservatives here. It’s sickening to me.
Pascal – I think it is plainly obvious that Obama didn’t want to prosecute. he said as much himself repeatedly. So we can say the equivocating is not tactical it is genuine. He was pressured into his current position. See this newsweek article linked to from the Obama fan club Huffington post. So once again it disgusts me that he wanted to let these people get away with it.
Two are puppets with their strings pulled by their self interested moneyed backers. Two are men whose careers were made of the backs of rumour and manipulation.
One is a South Pacific Islander with a holiday home in Hawaii who speaks with English but has difficulty speaking it.
One has a real vision that he has articulated and put into practice on both a local and world stage.
“There is a story about Pres Johnson and the civil rights movement. He was meeting with activists, and they were making their case. At the end of it he said words to the effect of, yes, I agree with you, now go make me do it.”
From your link:
“One transition source, who asked not to be identified discussing sensitive matters, said that Attorney General-designate Eric Holder may be more inclined than other Obama aides to press the matter.”
Eric Holder is the only one that matters. Not Obama, and not the chief of staff, who also was on the record against prosecutions. I don’t really want to keep going over this. The reason Obama can’t be the one to start saying ‘prosecute prosecute’ is that he is the president. It’s not his job, just like it wasn’t Bush’s job to be declaring people terrorists without trials. For him to be doing that would be part of the problem.
It would also make the dynamic immediately politicised in an unhelpful way. The story would become Obama v Bush, Dem v GOP. Rather than The Law v Criminals. It makes the battlefield better for the criminals if that was what happened.
By saying words to the effect that “I have no personal interest in a fight about this, here is what happened” and letting the process go forward, it helps in making it a legal fight rather than a political one. If he really was against prosecutions, why didn’t he fight to avoid releasing the memo’s? He had a better chance in that case than the one he fought, (and lost, coincidence?) about other state secrets. Also bear in mind that the courts may have redacted much more of the memo’s than Obama did, even if they ruled to release them.
I’m well aware of what has been said by who. I’m also aware of what actions have been taken, and I’m just reserving judgment as the process plays out. I don’t think that is unreasonable.
In any case, I doubt we are convincing each other, but that’s my position at the moment. Essentially reserved, pending further actions.
Re your opening paragraph ââŹâ did Johnson borrow that saying (in effect) from FDR.?
To the blogger/standard ââŹâ can I respectfully request that at some point when you play a similar exercize please substitute former Senator Phil Gramm for G.W. Bush – I’d be interested to know whether folks make any comparative with the middle pic above.. loosely this would be about mentors.. in the wider sense of events and happenings that career paths are prone to take..
Pascal – I’ve already said I understand the politics behind it. You make good points. It’s not a matter of convincing each other. The point that you’re not getting is that Obama didn’t want to prosecute. That’s what I’m saying and that’s what is so concerning.
I hope now that Obama’s been forced to give up his original position that they will be prosecuted, but after the John Yoo case, Jewel v. NSA, Obama’s repeated praise of the CIA, I have doubts that any serious attempts will be made.
Eric Holder himself said: “It would be unfair to prosecute dedicated men and women working to protect America for conduct that was sanctioned in advance by the Justice Department,”
The obvious question is why? So you can see why I have little faith in him.
This article in the huffington post concludes thusly:
So, what should Obama do about all this? And what he will do? Bush, Cheney and the other leading officials who ordered torture or issued legal opinions supporting it ought to be investigated and if found legally liable, indicted, tried, and, if convicted, punished. But clearly, that’s not going to happen. Obama is not prepared to divide the country still further and take important time and energy away from the effort to end the Bush Depression and establish badly-needed health, energy and education policies, among others. (Maybe Obama should release or pardon the few small fry torturers now being punished since the big fish will get away)
Congress or somebody else may appoint a commission or two to investigate–but to no prosecutorial end. And, as I’ve written before, no way will Obama permit any Bush officials to be prosecuted abroad. Remember, even the lowliest U.S. private soldier serving abroad is protected by status of forces agreements from being punished by a host country for carrying out official duties. And, however illegal or immoral, torture was an official duty ordered by Bush.
The most likely outcome of this whole business will be that nobody will be punished (I don’t even think the Senate will try for, much less accomplish, the simplest punitive step, a two-thirds vote to remove Judge Bybee from office). And the failure to punish those responsible for torture will become, for those of us on the left, the equivalent of right-wing complaints against abortion, stem cell research and gay marriage. There will continue to be much fuss, but no satisfaction. I hope I’m wrong.
I think you are being a bit unrealistically harsh on Obama Quoth. He didn’t present himself as “the most liberal President the US will ever have”. He presented himself as someone probably to the left of Clinton, but definitely not left enough to scare the American public.
Remember, the USA has had a pretty damn conservative government since at least 1980. What may seem to be pretty extreme right-wing policies to us (no government funded healthcare) are seen as normal there. It sucks, but it’s the case. I believe that over time Obama will make a significant change to that situation, however it will take him 8 years to do that. If he goes too extreme then he’ll get kicked out in 2012 and we’ll end up with a bloody Republican president again! I would expect Obama to be a little more extreme in the changes he makes if he can win the 2012 election and if there’s a Democrat dominated congress throughout that time.
I think in some ways Obama’s biggest legacy will be the changed position the USA has on climate change talks. Something might happen now.
Jarbury – You’re right about climate change that has been a great change and there will be many other positive changes. But nevertheless, we must be ruthlessly critical of all people in positions of authority. It saddens me to see many lefties not being critical enough when it comes to Obama. It reminds me of how much the left has lost its way. I’m not being overly harsh on Obama I’m being realistically critical. He’s not that liberal, just a tad more than the last guy and he’s certainly not left wing. There will be positive changes, but the Afghanistan war, Pakistan, the bailouts, Israel-Palestine, military spending, it’s all just a continuation of same old policies, not change, with maybe a bit of window dressing here and there. Lefties would harshly criticise Bush if he did many of the things Obama has done and so Obama should be given the same ruthless treatment. He’s not going to make great changes, no matter how many terms he gets, not because its unfeasible or unpalatable to the American public (just look how much support he’s got there) no its because it’s unpalatable to him, because he is not who you think he is, Jarbury. That’s clearly demonstrable from his actions, not his lack of them, since he’s been in office.
I’m not sure whether it’s that possible for Obama to be particularly ‘left’ with regards to foreign policy. US foreign policy is, in many ways, the biggest of big oil tankers to turn around. Their climate change policies are a huge step in the right direction, and I guess I’ll wait and we where he’s at military wise in four years time.
I’m more heartened by the domestic policies I hope to see from him. Unlike NZ the US is embarking upon a “Green New Deal” and I think that’s a critical step in the right direction. I also have high hopes that Obama will finally do something about US health care – which is an utter embarrassment for a country of that wealth.
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What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for âFutures Exchangeâ) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
TL;DR:Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:Â We want our country to be a ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
Peter Dunne writes – This weekâs government bailout â the fifth in the last eighteen months â of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The governmentâs stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading → ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
What was that judge thinking?Peter Williams writes –Â That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop:Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labourâs caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
 Buzz from the Beehive  The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the governmentâs official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary. It can be quickly analysed ...
For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
Bryce Edwards writes –Â Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? Thatâs the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Governmentâs removal ...
Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
Questions need to be asked on both sides of the worldPeter Williams writes –Â Â The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ârock solidâ $2.1 billion cost he was ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop:The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
TL;DR:Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
Bob Edlin writes – The MÄori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
The Government has accepted Labourâs change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te PÄti MÄori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. âIâm calling on all political parties to support my ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jonesâ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Governmentâs fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Governmentâs miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesnât act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
The New Zealand public voted for a change in direction at the 2023 general election and that is exactly what this coalition government has been delivering in its first 100 days. There was an immediate focus on the economy, easing the cost of living, cracking down on law and order ...
The Government has left the health system as an afterthought, announcing half-baked targets at the last minute of their 100-day plan, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
Kiwis are still waiting for their promised cost of living support after 100 days of a National Government that is taking us backwards, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own â and itâs hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
100 days of National taking NZ backwardsThe National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own â and itâs hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
The Government must commit to funding free and healthy school lunches, as thousands of people sign the petition to keep them, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti says. ...
If the Government was serious about moving families into public housing, they would build more houses so there is actually somewhere for people to go. ...
The free and healthy school lunches programme feeds our kids, helps them to learn, and saves families money â but it is at risk under this Government, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
The Governmentâs proposed changes to Firearms Prohibition Orders (FPO) add almost nothing new and are merely an attempt to distract from its plans to loosen gun laws, police spokesperson Ginny Andersen and justice spokesperson Dr Duncan Webb said. ...
The great Victorian era English politician Lord Macauley stood in the British House of Parliament and said, "The gallery in which the reporters sit has become a fourth estate of the realm". He understood and outlined even way back then, the significant role and influence media have in a democracy. ...
"The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,â Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand â European ...
New Zealandâs social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. âI want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealandâs social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. âTo coincide with World ...
Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April. ...
Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that todayâs opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand. Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. âIt was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealandâs relationship with China, including trade, ...
KÄinga Ora â Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. âEarlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of KÄinga Ora. ...
TÄna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealandâs indispensable strategic partnerships. Â Â Â âSingapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland Acknowledgements and opening MĹrena, ngÄ mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Good morning, itâs a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. âMarch 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,â Mr Luxon says. âToday we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024 Acknowledgements and opening Morena, Nga Mihi Nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau Good morning. Itâs a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asiaâs most populous country. Â âWe are in Jakarta so early in our new governmentâs term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week. âWe look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealandâs ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. âThe recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Aucklandâs rail agencies work together to ...
The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee. âOver the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023â24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today. âThe Amendment Paper represents ...
Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).âAs it stands, SNAs ...
Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. âParts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. âA $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level.  âWe have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Governmentâs priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,â says Mr Peters, ...
Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Governmentâs commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says itâs a great example of taking ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Governmentâs commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says itâs a great example of taking ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Governmentâs plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. âThe SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Governmentâs plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. âThe SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024. âLower fruit and vege ...
TÄnÄ koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
TÄnÄ koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. âFarmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and itâs vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,â ...
Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction.  Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. âThe Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. âCurrently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliamentâs Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023â24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. âOne of the ...
Assalaamu alaikum. اŮŘłŮŮŮŮا٠ؚŮŮŮŮ In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness. Itâs a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. âSimon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology. It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. âHelp is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Governmentâs restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,â says ...
Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. âNew Zealanders believe ...
Pacific Media Watch Earthwise hosts Lois and Martin Griffiths. Earthwise presenters Lois and Martin Griffiths on Plains FM 96.9 community radio talk to Dr David Robie, a New Zealand author, independent journalist and media educator with a passion for the Asia-Pacific region. David talks about the struggle to raise awareness ...
Pacific Media Watch Ismail al-Ghoul, an Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent who was held for 12 hours at Gazaâs al-Shifa hospital, says Israeli forces rounded up Palestinian journalists at the facility and made them kneel on the ground for hours, while naked and blindfolded. âThe occupation forces handcuffed and blindfolded us ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Wood, Program Director, Energy, Grattan Institute chinasong, Shutterstock Electricity customers in four Australian states can breathe a sigh of relief. After two years in a row of 20% price increases, power prices have finally stabilised. In many places theyâre ...
Chumbawamba have reportedly issued the deputy PM a cease-and-desist notice after he used their song 'Tubthumping' before his state of the nation speech. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Deborah Lupton, SHARP Professor, Vitalities Lab, Centre for Social Research in Health and Social Policy Centre, and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society, UNSW Sydney kitzcorner/Shutterstock The assertion from Queenslandâs chief health officer John Gerrard that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Shutterstock Why are musicians so keen to get played on the radio? It canât be because of the money. In Australia they are paid at rates so low they ...
"Farmers make a point not to tell our urban cousins how to live, yet ChlĂśe from central Auckland is hell-bent on having her say about farmers," says ACT Rural Communities spokesman Mark Cameron. âOn her first day in the House as Green ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards – Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. Itâs been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its âFirst 100 Day programmeâ. During this period thereâs been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Curran, Associate Professor of Ecology, Lincoln University, New Zealand Getty Images/Gerald Corsi In the latest move to reform environmental laws in New Zealand, the coalition government has introduced a bill to fast-track consenting processes for projects deemed to ...
Uber has argued it does not have as much control over drivers as the unions suggest, and wants a judgment ruling that drivers are employees and not contractors set aside and sent back to the Employment Court. The 2022 ruling followed a three-week hearing in which four drivers sought to ...
What can and canât be purchased by disabled people or their carers has been slashed in an effort by the Ministry of Disabled People Whaikaha to save money. The purchasing guidelines, a set of rules that sets out what can be purchased using the various streams of Government disability funding, ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Tod Wright and Hien Nguyen, Fiscal incidence in New Zealand: The effects of taxes and benefits on household incomes in tax year 2018/19 . Analyses of the distributional impact of taxation and government ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Cory Davis, Boston Hart and Benjamin Stubbing, Household cost-of-living impacts from the Emissions Trading Scheme and using transfers to mitigate regressive outcomes . This Analytical Note ...
A coalition of public transport and climate organisations, united as âTransport for Allâ, is actively opposing the governmentâs transport proposals. The draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) includes plans for higher fares for public transport, ...
Greater Wellington is inviting feedback on proposed changes to its Revenue and Financing Policy. The Revenue and Financing Policy covers the Councilâs various sources of funding, and how the cost of services is shared across the region. This includes ...
Labour has conceded it could have done more to deal with disruptive state housing tenants while in government but says the current coalition is going too far. ...
The band has asked their record label to issue a cease and desist to stop the NZ First leader using their 1997 hit to support his âmisguided political viewsâ. âI get knocked down, but I get up again,â blared through the speakers on Sunday as Winston Peters took the stage ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Food rationing is underway in remote areas in Papua New Guineaâs Highlands following torrential rain and flash flooding. More than 20 people have been reported dead in Chimbu Province. In nearby Enga Province, the centre of last monthâs massacre, a 15-year-old boy has been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Hughes, Lecturer, Research School of Management, Australian National University After months of debate and intrigue, the AFLâs 19th and newest team, the Tasmania Devils, finally launched its jumper, logo and colours in Devonport this week. The Devils will wear green, ...
Brannavan Gnanalingam reviews the debut novel by Saraid de Silva.One of the most baffling things for children who move to a new country is what their parentsâ (or grandparentsâ) lives were like prior to moving â for kids in particular, theyâre too busy trying to fit in in their ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Gaunson, Associate Professor in Cinema Studies, RMIT University Narelle Portanier/Binge âIf you donât know who your mob are, you donât know who you are,â Detective Andrea âAndieâ Whitford (played by Leah Purcell) is told early into the new crime ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elise Klein, Associate professor, Australian National University Itâs commonly accepted that women do the vast majority of caregiving in Australian society. But less appreciated is that Indigenous women do larger amounts of unpaid care than any other group. Working with the Aboriginal ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne Joe Biden and Donald Trump have both secured their partiesâ nominations for the November 5 United States general election by winning a ...
Comment: There has been a striking contrast in trans-Tasman interest about Chinese foreign minister Wang Yiâs visit to New Zealand and Australia. While the Australian press has been full of articles about the visit â including his curious decision to meet with former prime minister and China booster Paul Keating ...
After years of pressuring banks and other institutions to stop investing in fossil fuels, climate campaigners are making some progress. So how does divestment work?For years, climate activists have been pushing banks and other big institutions to divest from fossil fuels. New research from climate advocacy group 350 Aotearoa ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. The three young Polynesians are part of a K-pop fan community in TÄmaki Makaurau. Itâs one of many that have sprung up worldwide as K-pop has gone ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. This one-off documentary presents three intimate portraits of young Polynesians who are pulled into a Korean cultural phenomenon. K-POLYS is directed by Litia Tuiburelevu, Produced by Hex ...
Thereâs ample evidence demonstrating free school lunch programmes provide wide benefits across schools, households and communities according to public health researchers. ACT Minister David Seymour wants to reduce the spending on Aotearoa New Zealandâs ...
By Wata Shaw in Suva Fiji is facing an exodus of Fijians as many are leaving for overseas seeking employment and education and others are migrating, says Opposition MP Viliame Naupoto. Speaking in Parliament, he said: âHis Excellencyâs speech (Ratu Wiliame Katonivere) comes after a little over one year of ...
The Taxpayersâ Union is welcoming comments from Christopher Luxon this morning recommitting to âno new taxesâ as part of Budget 2024. âMr Luxonâs refusal at the Post-Cabinet press conference yesterday to repeat the âno new taxesâ promise ...
SAFE is urgently calling on the Environment Committee to reject the Governmentâs Fast-Track Approvals Bill, and is urging New Zealanders to rally behind the call. The proposed Bill, currently under consideration with the Environment select committee, ...
Teammates who spend all their time picking fights with spectators are only helpful for the other team, writes Madeleine Chapman. Anyone who has ever played a team sport competitively, particularly as a child and particularly, for some reason, basketball, will know that thereâs a lot of politics involved. While there ...
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Clearly Obama’s the odd one out. The reasons are so numerous….
Two of them are from Hawaii.
I fondly recall The Sprout’s first post. He had put so much effort in, even a bit of analysis, trying to support his argument. Those were the days.
Sigh.
ouch! but a fair call Pat.
i’m a pretty vacuous vegetable at the best of times and for the past few weeks i’ve been a little distracted by the arrival of a new sproutling.
will try harder just as soon as i’m able.
Great news dude. Congrats.
One of them has a flag behind them?
Two US presidents vs one NZ Prime Minister………….
It will be interesting to see if JK and BO have a similar slide in popularity over time as the one that Bush went through ….. 90% after the WTC attacks to 25% when he left office.
Edit
GS
I thought one had a holiday home in Hawaii and only one was born in the USA ?
They’re all pretty much the same to me. Interchange them and you’d pretty much get the same terrible result.
Boy Bush, Key Boy and Brown Fella? Hard choice no comment. I don’t have much time for pollies. They give me the shits!.
I’m sure its mutual.
I have emails from Bush and Key boys, but have not recieved one from the smiling Brown Donny Osmond lookalike.
What does that tell you?
đ
d4j can name two of them but goes straight for the race comment on the third?
Dubya and Goober left of Obama, WTF!
One of them could turn out to be the greatest and most honest president the USA has ever had.
One of them always said what he thought and stuck by it, even though it was plainly a bad idea.
One of them is the Prime Minister of New Zealand who made a lot of money before becoming prime minister and small minded jealous people hate him for it, instead of applauding him for it.
Oh no, there has been applause, its just that the right are the only ones still clapping – like seal puppies.
Brett – Honest like saying you’ll hire no former Washington lobbyists than turning around and granting yourself an exemption to hire former Washington lobbyists. Honest like campaigning on withdrawing troops from Iraq within 16 months and when in office extending that by months and saying the countdown starts now no I mean now (months later) and even then around 50,000 troops will be left – some withdrawl.
Great like setting a terrible precedent and not prosecuting the bushites for torture. Great like actually increaseing the military budget in the midst of a recession. Great like enacting the greatest transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich in the form of the bank bailouts. Oh yeah he’s made a few token gestures like closing Gitmo, but that doesn’t close all those other prisons around the world or saying the CIA won’t torture, but not actually stopping them from outsourcing that torture. From a man who’s campaign slogan came from a children’s television show (Bob the Builder) and who renamed the war on terror to the overseas contingency operation could we really ever expect real change?
Brett I’m sure you’d be one of the first to criticise Labour’s spending, but what about Obama’s profligate spending? Or is it just that the handsome man gives you a tingly feeling?
And making a lot of money in banking, praiseworthy? You’ll have a hard time convincing many people of that at this time except all those former bankers in Obama’s team (one of the reasons why Obama got more money from Wall st than McCain). I’d rather praise productive people not simply rich people.
Two who have been accused of war crimes by Idiot/Savant, vs one who hasn’t?
nup, can’t pick it.
who is the odd one out sprout?
is it you? me? brett dale? ; who applauds dickfaces who make money out of other peoples money, always clipping the ticket as it goes past.
I would suggest as per the debacle’ we now reside in – the smartest guy in the room IS NOT That Nice Smiling Man.
most delightful captcha: pagoda served. how apt.
Easy, Key is not the ruler of a country that is committing war crimes and genocide in Iraq, Afghanistan and lord knows where else.
I have just finished reading Pilgers updated “The new rulers of the world” This may not go well for my entire belief system. My head hurts.
You surprise me BB. Good luck on your journey.
The one on the right is not a dozy twat like the two on the left ???
They are all scientifically similar in that they are all male bipedal mammals with an identical number of arms, legs and internal organs. The difference, of course, is that Mr Obama stands for change you can believe in.
Also, the other two wish they were Obama.
Ah yes I think you’ve hit the nail on the head there micky. Obama is definitely the odd one out in that he actually wants to make the world a better place, not just for his cronies but for everyone.
For Obama’s critics, it takes a long time to turn an oil tanker around…..
it takes a long time to turn an oil tanker around
hehe I was thinking the same myself, was going to say.
I’m not that fussed about what Obama does domestically. Selfish like that, just don’t see it as any of my business. On the torture and the wars, I’m paying attention. Yesterday, in a press conference he took another step, said waterboarding was torture in his opinion. Well fuck-a-doodle-doo. But methods don’t only apply to madness,
There is a story about Pres Johnson and the civil rights movement. He was meeting with activists, and they were making their case. At the end of it he said words to the effect of, yes, I agree with you, now go make me do it.
The release of those memo’s was a big deal. There is enormous establishment pressure not to do anything, and it’s good to see a lot of push back from Obama supporters in the states against that.
Obama himself may be playing it very smart. The absolute last thing I want to see is an investigation get tarred as political payback. That is pretty much the only hope the torturers have. By being visibly reluctant, and yet putting as much info out there as people demand, Obama is countering that narrative. Obama himself cannot prosecute, but by not shutting the debate down, he is allowing the system to work. He called it torture. His justice dept has a legal duty to investigate crimes, and that signal was possibly that he would not stand in the way if Justice, or congress was to take steps. In spite of his rhetoric about moving forward and not looking back. By calling it torture (in his opinion) he has put himself one step more into a box.
Obama needs to keep well out of it politically. It’s up to Congress to reveal more, putting pressure on Justice to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate.
There are other pressure points as well. Bybee ( a memo writer) is possibly up for impeachment from his current gig on a california court, That would be a media shit storm, with much more revelations.
Cheney is demanding the release of supposed documents showing the supposed benefits of the program, but that won’t save him if things turn legal. It’s a purely political play, and in any case, CIA FBI and Military sources have already said his claims are for shit. Arse covering cuts all ways apparently. Also, and too, if Cheney starts to request things be declassified, he is no longer in a position to be doing the cherry picking.
According to the ACLU, there is plenty of video and transcript evidence of the interrogations. Just saying, Dick.
The Spanish courts, (despite ignorant reporting to the contrary) are heading towards prosecutions. That will mean requests for the alleged war criminals to be sent to Spain. The American public won’t like that, but may think having criminal investigations themselves to be the best face saving reason for refusal.
UN officials have already pointed out that by treaty, ratified into US law, there is a duty to investigate allegations of torture.
drip. drip. drip.
Coincidently I’m sure, I read somewhere unreliable that Bush snr, last year, bought a large amount of land, complete with spacious housing, in a South American country without an extradition treaty with the US. Probably an urban myth. But the thing with myths is, even though the words is false, they are all about what’s true.
A+
Jarbury – Why don’t you engage some of the points from “Obama’s critics” instead of just coming up with metaphors. If we’re talking about the direction of this ship he’s done so many things facing the same direction as his predecesors one would have to think he hasn’t even touched the wheel.
Pascal – I get the politics behind leaving it to the Attorney General but really the politics are no real excuse for Obama. He initially wanted to give them immunity and we should remember that. That is absolutely disgusting and it speaks to a deplorable human being. If his equivocating is all down to politics that to me points to cowardly man without principles.
That’s not what Obama’s Director of National Intelligence, Dennis Blair thinks:
Let’s not forget that the Obama Justice Department has thrown out a case against the NSA brought on behalf of the Americans who had illegal surveilance conducted on them and that they tried to get a case against John Yoo thrown out.
The absolute last thing I want to see is an investigation get tarred as political payback.
The absolute last thing I want to see is these people getting away with it.
I agree entirely. The cynical manipulation of war crimes for political ends is abominable, but even torturers deserve due process. Also, the longer Obama lets this play, the more of its filth will be exposed and pressure on the actual enablers and perpetrators intensified. They will be babbling wrecks by the time they face the dock.
Quite. I totally hear what you are saying believe me. On all your points.
Where I disagree I think, is that I think Obama might be playing it a smarter way than an all out assault would be. The politics of what we see as the high road may be disastrous. Does that suck? Oh yes. But that’s the reality.
At the end of the day it is going to be politics that gets it done though. If sticking by some principle leads to a higher risk of defeat, then what is the principled thing to do? Especially when the stakes are so high.
And are you sure that his equivocating is genuine, and not tactical? I’m not yet, and that is my point.
I’m not really interested in arguing about whether or not so and so is a bad man or what have you. I just want the process to go ahead with the best chance of success. That being defined by the rule of law being upheld, and future presidents being made aware that they are not above the law.
I think it’s worthwhile to give him some time…. that’s the point. It’s not like this is an easy point of time to fix a country that has had 8 years of suffering under possibly their worst president since….. well for a very long time anyway!
Regarding his foreign policy, clearly nothing is ever particularly easy but I think Obama has taken some good steps forward while at the same time possibly not yet being the ‘saviour’ some hoped him to be. But this is politics, and he has really tried to get cross-party consensus on issues so that the USA can move away from the extremely partisan politics that it has suffered under since the 1970s. Having to shift policies radically away from what Bush did, but at the same time at least try to get some of the republicans on side is no mean feat.
I don’t think Obama is after short-term fixes – he wants to change US politics and the US economy in a long-term way like FDR did. I am reading “The Conscience of a Liberal” by Paul Krugman at the moment (bloody good book by the way) and it would seem that Obama wants to operate in a way that shifts the average US political view back towards the far greater moderation that we saw in the 1940s-1970s. That would mean you can’t fix everything straight away.
You make very valid points. It is not Obama’s fault – but it is his problem to deal with – that the American public have been dumbed down to such an extent that they have no stomach for anything other than discrete, processed Change McNuggets rather than the real and substantive change necessary for America as it is today to survive.
And change is absolutely necessary. Some time ago I read a wingnut article somewhere comparing Obama to Gorbachev. Oddly enough, the comparison was valid, although the talking points and conclusions made weren’t. Obama’s problem is that, just like Gorbachev, he has become the leader of a country that is bankrupt, both metaphorically and literally.
Personally, having a soft spot for capitalism, I’m hoping that Obama succeeds with the USA where Gorbachev very narrowly failed with the USSR. But then, even Gorbachev had some success: that so many countries in Eastern Europe and the former USSR are at least comparatively free today is testament to his hard work.
While I disagree with some of the points you’ve made here PB, it is a tremendously well-thought out response to what I suspect was a rather flippant and trivial original post.
I forgot to add, two of them are w&%kers …
>>>They are all scientifically similar in that they are all male bipedal mammals with an identical number of arms, legs and internal organs.<<<
But that would imply that Bush has a brain.
Fret not DS…
A male chimpanzee is a (sometimes) bipedal mammal with an identical number of arms, legs and internal organs…
Two have been heads of state, one is a tosser
The answer is that all three attended Harvard College, but only Obama (J.D) and Bush (MBA) graduated.
Key is, in fact, the only one of the three not to possess a graduate degree.
One is the personification of humanity’s progress; a beacon of hope, and possible key to our species’ endurance.
One is the personification of a chimpanzee; a key and abiding exemplar of historical impediments to progression.
One is Key. Who gives a rat’s arse.
it’s in the eyes – the French have an expression “Il rit jaune – it’s a forced smile and the eyes tell a different story. Obama does not look as though he is holding onto a scalpel at the same time, and is genuinely happy to be photographed.
Too true. Cover that Key smile with your hand and look deeply into his eyes. There ain’t no warmth in there!
Andrew Sullivan on torture, Jesus Wept.
More than half of people who attend services at least once a week — 54 percent — said the use of torture against suspected terrorists is “often” or “sometimes” justified. Only 42 percent of people who “seldom or never” go to services agreed, according the analysis released Wednesday by the <a href=http://pewforum.org/docs/?DocID=156.Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.
Jarbury – The point is I don’t see much change, a couple positive moves, but that doesn’t distinguish him from the likes of Bill Clinton. Better than Bush yes, much better? not really. His bailouts of the banks transferring all that wealth from the poor to the rich is not change from the Bush years it’s just the same old bullshit from the oligarchs. Since he’s been in power he’s ramped up the attacks on Pakistan and he’s going to massively enlarge the operation in Afghanistan. He’s not really even drawing down in Iraq. Leaving 50,000 colonial troops is not much of draw down if you ask me and how much different is that from Bush given that he was going to draw down troop levels as well? To me not much has changed Bush’s war on terror has become Obama’s war on terror. And don’t forget that’s he’s actually increasing the military budget after years and years of ludicrous growth under Bush. When teachers are being laid off because the state’s can’t afford to keep them, when many American’s can’t afford healthcare, when the number of homeless has shot up, Obama is spending more on the military. I’m sorry but this guy doesn’t fill me with hope like he seems to be with some you guys. Comparing Obama to FDR makes me a little quesy. FDR was a fascist corporatist.
I think debate has shifted so far to the right that what should be reasonable left wingers are supporting Obama along with the conservatives here. It’s sickening to me.
Pascal – I think it is plainly obvious that Obama didn’t want to prosecute. he said as much himself repeatedly. So we can say the equivocating is not tactical it is genuine. He was pressured into his current position. See this newsweek article linked to from the Obama fan club Huffington post. So once again it disgusts me that he wanted to let these people get away with it.
Two are puppets with their strings pulled by their self interested moneyed backers. Two are men whose careers were made of the backs of rumour and manipulation.
One is a South Pacific Islander with a holiday home in Hawaii who speaks with English but has difficulty speaking it.
One has a real vision that he has articulated and put into practice on both a local and world stage.
“He was pressured into his current position.”
“There is a story about Pres Johnson and the civil rights movement. He was meeting with activists, and they were making their case. At the end of it he said words to the effect of, yes, I agree with you, now go make me do it.”
From your link:
“One transition source, who asked not to be identified discussing sensitive matters, said that Attorney General-designate Eric Holder may be more inclined than other Obama aides to press the matter.”
Eric Holder is the only one that matters. Not Obama, and not the chief of staff, who also was on the record against prosecutions. I don’t really want to keep going over this. The reason Obama can’t be the one to start saying ‘prosecute prosecute’ is that he is the president. It’s not his job, just like it wasn’t Bush’s job to be declaring people terrorists without trials. For him to be doing that would be part of the problem.
It would also make the dynamic immediately politicised in an unhelpful way. The story would become Obama v Bush, Dem v GOP. Rather than The Law v Criminals. It makes the battlefield better for the criminals if that was what happened.
By saying words to the effect that “I have no personal interest in a fight about this, here is what happened” and letting the process go forward, it helps in making it a legal fight rather than a political one. If he really was against prosecutions, why didn’t he fight to avoid releasing the memo’s? He had a better chance in that case than the one he fought, (and lost, coincidence?) about other state secrets. Also bear in mind that the courts may have redacted much more of the memo’s than Obama did, even if they ruled to release them.
I’m well aware of what has been said by who. I’m also aware of what actions have been taken, and I’m just reserving judgment as the process plays out. I don’t think that is unreasonable.
In any case, I doubt we are convincing each other, but that’s my position at the moment. Essentially reserved, pending further actions.
PB,
Re your opening paragraph ââŹâ did Johnson borrow that saying (in effect) from FDR.?
To the blogger/standard ââŹâ can I respectfully request that at some point when you play a similar exercize please substitute former Senator Phil Gramm for G.W. Bush – I’d be interested to know whether folks make any comparative with the middle pic above.. loosely this would be about mentors.. in the wider sense of events and happenings that career paths are prone to take..
Right you are, It was FDR.
Pascal – I’ve already said I understand the politics behind it. You make good points. It’s not a matter of convincing each other. The point that you’re not getting is that Obama didn’t want to prosecute. That’s what I’m saying and that’s what is so concerning.
I hope now that Obama’s been forced to give up his original position that they will be prosecuted, but after the John Yoo case, Jewel v. NSA, Obama’s repeated praise of the CIA, I have doubts that any serious attempts will be made.
Eric Holder himself said: “It would be unfair to prosecute dedicated men and women working to protect America for conduct that was sanctioned in advance by the Justice Department,”
The obvious question is why? So you can see why I have little faith in him.
This article in the huffington post concludes thusly:
I think you are being a bit unrealistically harsh on Obama Quoth. He didn’t present himself as “the most liberal President the US will ever have”. He presented himself as someone probably to the left of Clinton, but definitely not left enough to scare the American public.
Remember, the USA has had a pretty damn conservative government since at least 1980. What may seem to be pretty extreme right-wing policies to us (no government funded healthcare) are seen as normal there. It sucks, but it’s the case. I believe that over time Obama will make a significant change to that situation, however it will take him 8 years to do that. If he goes too extreme then he’ll get kicked out in 2012 and we’ll end up with a bloody Republican president again! I would expect Obama to be a little more extreme in the changes he makes if he can win the 2012 election and if there’s a Democrat dominated congress throughout that time.
I think in some ways Obama’s biggest legacy will be the changed position the USA has on climate change talks. Something might happen now.
Jarbury – You’re right about climate change that has been a great change and there will be many other positive changes. But nevertheless, we must be ruthlessly critical of all people in positions of authority. It saddens me to see many lefties not being critical enough when it comes to Obama. It reminds me of how much the left has lost its way. I’m not being overly harsh on Obama I’m being realistically critical. He’s not that liberal, just a tad more than the last guy and he’s certainly not left wing. There will be positive changes, but the Afghanistan war, Pakistan, the bailouts, Israel-Palestine, military spending, it’s all just a continuation of same old policies, not change, with maybe a bit of window dressing here and there. Lefties would harshly criticise Bush if he did many of the things Obama has done and so Obama should be given the same ruthless treatment. He’s not going to make great changes, no matter how many terms he gets, not because its unfeasible or unpalatable to the American public (just look how much support he’s got there) no its because it’s unpalatable to him, because he is not who you think he is, Jarbury. That’s clearly demonstrable from his actions, not his lack of them, since he’s been in office.
I’m not sure whether it’s that possible for Obama to be particularly ‘left’ with regards to foreign policy. US foreign policy is, in many ways, the biggest of big oil tankers to turn around. Their climate change policies are a huge step in the right direction, and I guess I’ll wait and we where he’s at military wise in four years time.
I’m more heartened by the domestic policies I hope to see from him. Unlike NZ the US is embarking upon a “Green New Deal” and I think that’s a critical step in the right direction. I also have high hopes that Obama will finally do something about US health care – which is an utter embarrassment for a country of that wealth.
Two of them are bible bashers, one’s not…