It is that time of year where you are expected to gaze at your navel and reflect on the events of the past 12 months. I thought that a post of the Standard’s ten most popular posts would give a feel for the events that were most important for the Standard’s readers and participators over the past 12 months. Anyway here goes:
Number 10 was a post by Anthony R0bins about Labour’s housing policy posted on July 28. The policy of restricting the ability of foreigners to buy land locally hit a real nerve in the debate. Was this a nationalist policy by Labour wanting to preserve local control or was it a racist dog whistle designed to discriminate against foreigners? 702 comments later the debate had covered a number of areas and showed the benefit of online participation. The debate covered everything from compact urban form to xenophobia. The post was relatively concise but the debate was intense.
Number 9 was a provocative post that I put up . It was during the Roastbusters debate and linked to John Tamihere’s expressed desire to stand for Labour out west. I thought there should be a discussion about whether or not he should be a Labour MP and I believe the overwhelming response was that he should not even think about it.
Number 8 was a prescient post by Eddie on Shearer’s leadership of the Labour Party put up a month before Shearer stood down. It suggested that his handling of the Manban was the last straw and there had been a sea change of opinion about him. It rightfully predicted that his days were numbered.
Number 7 was David Cunliffe’s guest post during the leadership campaign. A guest post was also provided by Grant Robertson. Shane Jones did not do the same but I posted about his leadership announcement to provide some balance. Interestingly the views were in the ratio of 56:28:16 and the membership votes in the leadership contest were in the ratio of 60:27:13. That is some coincidence …
Number 6 was a post by Eddie on Labour’s three factions that was put up on March 25. It gave by far the most sophisticated analysis of Labour’s factions that I read all year and essentially predicted that the careerist left would splinter and cause a change in the leadership which did occur. It also hinted at the problems that Caucus had at the time.
Number 5 was a post by Helen Kelly about the film industry and the slave wages being paid to talented technicians. She also suggested a means of organising the workforce so that their rights could be protected and enhanced. Although it attracted few comments (only 45) it obviously struck an international chord and was immensely well read.
Number 4 was a post that I put up about Bevan Chuang during the height of the Cameron Slater inspired Len Brown witch hunt. I thought that Bevan’s treatment by Slater, and for that purpose by Len Brown, had been awful and that discussion of her predicament was necessary. Most of the post was provided by a commenter who shall remain nameless but it was an attempt to see the whole issue from Chuang’s perspective.
Number 3 was Karol’s post on Simon Bridges’ implosion on John Campbell’s show. If you ever need to see reinforcement of how aggressive, obnoxious and conceited a tory Politician can get then the film clip in the post has to be seen. Bridges was outrageous and his performance should be compulsory viewing for every progressive person thinking about getting involved in the next election.
Number 2 was Mike Smith’s post on Chelsie Crayford posting a photo with John Key with a sign saying that she was “with stupid”. She was attacked by all the usual suspects but her bravery and her ability to accurately describe the current Prime Minister was a worthy addition to the posts of the year. Interestingly Facebook provided a number of the hits.
And …. [drum roll] … the most popular post of the year is …
A guest post by BLiP where he documents the many lies that John Key has said over the past few years. Congratulations BLiP and please, please keep up the good work.
May 2014 be even more satisfying and rewarding than 2013 was.
Powered by WPtouch Mobile Suite for WordPress