Wee gripes: doublethink

31 comments on “Wee gripes: doublethink ”

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1. lprent 1

   30 July 2009 at 11:41 pm

   I noticed that double standard coming through, especially from the faithful echo’s of Hooten.

   Lianne resigned. Pehaps Paula should as well. Can’t have Labour having a more effective leader than the NACT’s or a more ethical mister can we…
   • Peter Johns - bigoted troll in jerkoff mode 1.1

     31 July 2009 at 8:55 am

     IIRC Dalziel was sacked by HC over this issue for being economic with the truth on this. Paula Bennett has been 100% up front on this, not hiding behind some leaked memo from an outsider.
     Also, the left have their head in the sand on this issue, the general public are behind what PB has done.
     The left still think their opinions are gospel, but the public say elsewise on this issue.
     • Tigger 1.1.1

       31 July 2009 at 10:20 am

       Yes PJ, the public are all united behind Bennett because they too think it’s okay if the government releases private information without their consent.
     • snoozer 1.1.2

       31 July 2009 at 10:33 am

       Peter, unappreciated genius, did you read the post? then answer this:

       “How does the method of release (‘sneaky’ or ‘open’) change whether if giving this information out is OK or not?”
       • Peter Johns - bigoted troll in jerkoff mode 1.1.2.1

         31 July 2009 at 10:56 am

         Easy – public reaction to how Paula Bennett handled this. It’s that simple, I know as I am a genius. The left are in knots over this as it was another attempted smear by Phil Goff et al that has backfired.
         Perception is as always reality my socialist fiend:)
         The public sees this as OK.
2. Zetetic 2

   30 July 2009 at 11:47 pm

   Ultimately it comes down to two things.

   Tories don’t think that the rules apply to them. They are the Altases. Rules are for the little people. How many businessmen do you know who use every trick in the book (legal and illegal) to avoid tax and get on their highhorses about ‘those darkie crims’?

   The other thing is that the ministers don’t get what being a minister is. They don’t get the responsibility. It’s just a position of power. Key is the perfect example of that. No sense of the gravity of his role.
   • BLiP 2.1

     30 July 2009 at 11:51 pm

     Where is that fucker, why wasn’t he in the House today to answer some questions? Off on holiday again, I suppose, it has been a wee while now, poor dear must be getting a bit tired.
3. Zetetic 3

   30 July 2009 at 11:59 pm

   🙂

   Well. PMs are usually not in the House on Thursday. But he wasn’t there on Wednesday either.

   Sure English can answer for him. But there’s no point in that because you don’t get Key’s actual opinions. Plus English doesn’t stuff up.
   • sausage fingers 3.1

     31 July 2009 at 8:49 am

     No. He doesn’t does he. He was very effective yesterday.

     And don’t you have to commend Lockwood. Much less partisan than our last Speaker and such a mellifluous speaking voice.
     • Maynard J 3.1.1

       31 July 2009 at 9:05 am

       mellifluous: What a fantastic word. Ten points, and I will conceed I do not know what it means.
     • Zetetic 3.1.2

       31 July 2009 at 9:10 am

       Lockwood’s fair. His stuff ups advantage one side as frequently as the other.

       He and Brownlee hate each other, eh?
4. Gosman 4

   31 July 2009 at 6:45 am

   Dalziel didn’t lose her job for releasing the information. She lost her job because she was caught out in a lie about how the information was released.

   You are also forgetting that it is not just the Dalziel case where Labour acted in this manner. There was numerous examples over the course of the last Government where this tactic was used.

   You might think it is not a good defence to say ‘Well they did it too’ however I am curious if anyone from The Standard rallied against Labour when this was done?
   • Zetetic 4.1

     31 July 2009 at 8:29 am

     Yes, One more reason why I’m RAM
5. Irascible 5

   31 July 2009 at 7:08 am

   Bennett & Key reveal their true intellectual level of development – that of the play-ground bully seen in every schoolyard – who,when caught in the act, immediately plead the “They did it first so it’s OK for me” defence. It doesn’t hold in the school yard so it doesn’t hold in real life. But then neither of these people have ever lived in reality anyway.
   Don’t expect either person to mature at any stage… they never do at school either.
6. Gosman 6

   31 July 2009 at 7:20 am

   Politics is a dirty business at times. It certainly looks like that at least one of these solo mothers has allowed herself to be used before for partisan political benefit and there are questions over whether or not she is doing so again. If you are doing this then you should be aware that things can get quite ugly as Labour has shown in the past.

   On top of the Bennett is playing to a completely different constituency than the outraged on the left. Her actions are playing out quite well amongst this crowd if the reactions on boards such as Trade Me and Talk Back are anything to go by. You might dismiss this as the irrational ravings of the unwashed masses but in a Democracy their vote counts as much as yours.
   • Zetetic 6.1

     31 July 2009 at 8:30 am

     Ah. The ‘you’re right but you’re outnumbered’ argument.
   • Lanthanide 6.2

     31 July 2009 at 9:58 am

     Only if they actually vote. 20% of people didn’t vote in the last election.
7. lprent 7

   31 July 2009 at 7:40 am

   The standard started in august 2007. If it came up since then, one or more of the writers would have offered opinion on it.

   The disgruntled forces of anti’s are a force in politics. However they usually wind up as being anti-government (which ever is in power at the time). Government is about making choices, and Key cannot avoid it forever
8. Clarke 8

   31 July 2009 at 7:54 am

   And for the record, claiming “I did it because she did it!” is a defence unworthy of a 12 year old, let alone a Minister of the Crown.
9. Sting 9

   31 July 2009 at 7:58 am

   Oh go dumbo gals, kiwi politics is a bit like a Mills & Boon rubbish romance novel. Would a real leader and man please stand up. Yeah right, coward of the country.False people do well in the dirty scumbag world that politicians enjoy.This stupid Minister would be more productive back on the DBP.
   • Maynard J 9.1

     31 July 2009 at 8:57 am

     Hi Dad.
10. lukas 10

    31 July 2009 at 7:58 am

    If it came up since then, one or more of the writers would have offered opinion on it.

    Rubbish- when Labour was in power and many a scandal was around, you ran the line- the writers write about what interests them.
11. Scott Yorke 11

    31 July 2009 at 7:59 am

    “smart guy baiting reactionaries for his political ends”

    I agree Farrar is a smart guy. But who’s the smart guy on talkback? Leighton Smith? Danny Watson? Michael Laws?
    • Zetetic 11.1

      31 July 2009 at 8:32 am

      I was feeling charitable 🙂
12. lprent 12

    31 July 2009 at 8:34 am

    Lukas. We cover things, we don’t obsess like dpf or no munster or some of more witless blogs. I remember a week on kiwiblog that had over 40 posts on Winston for instance.

    Read the last section of the about
13. mickysavage 13

    31 July 2009 at 9:33 am

    I wonder if the left is not getting sucked in by all of this. It seems the approach is to personalise any political issue and then attack. The original issue is then lost.

    This debate started over DPB recipients losing the ability to access study grants. The original policy was a very good one. It provided a means for DPBers to gain qualifications and the chance of employment, thereby reducing state dependancy. This should be very acceptable to the nats but they want to pinch pennies instead. Their justification for this is poor.

    The subsequent maelstrom has muddied everything and to swinging voters it just looks like a bunch of politicians shouting at each other.

    Labour then lost many chances to really put the acid on the nats. For instance the decision not to support the Green’s bill protecting dolphins should have been the headline from Wednesday. This would really have dented their alleged blue green credentials. But instead we have both parties in attack mode.

    Don’t get me wrong, Bennett’s use of private information in the way she did was appalling.

    I wonder if a Barack Obama calmness would be for the left a better weapon to use rather than a Mallard beligerence.
    • Rob A 13.1

      31 July 2009 at 11:20 am

      Nice post.

      IMO, The NATs continuing high polling has nothing to do with them doing well as government but rather Labours ineptitude as the opposition.

      There are alot of things where Goff could score real points but instead we are being dragged into this murky debate where it seems peoples views are going to run along partisan lines anyway. And the few real attempts Labour have made have been incompetant beyond belief, welfare for a man with 2 investment properties for example.
14. Maggie 14

    31 July 2009 at 10:01 am

    People like Gosman and Bill English have a very strange definition of public opinion. Apparently it is measured by talkback radio and Trade Me….I guess we should throw in newspaper websites and blogs like Kiwi and Whale Oil, as well.

    English even tried to argue yesterday that newspaper editorials were public opinion!

    Mickysavage is right about at least one thing: The personalising involved totally skews the debate and the real issue is lost.

    But when you have media run by people like Tim Pankhurst (ex-editor of the Dom Post) who once declared running a daily paper was like being in show business, you know what to expect.
15. Ianmac 15

    31 July 2009 at 10:49 am

    (Lianne seems to be the poster girl for “they did it too.”
    Who separated the envelope act from the lie? By my recollection it was the act of leaking and lying as the reason.
    Therefore a good example of integrity from the PM.)
    And Micky Savage what you say is true. Talkback, editorial, blog seem to conspire to lay false trails. Should hound-dogs let themselves be lead astray?
16. randal 16

    31 July 2009 at 10:50 am

    paula bennet wuz right.
    torkback radio PROVED IT.
17. IrishBill 17

    1 August 2009 at 11:51 am

    Right now the Nat’s research unit will be doing overtime trying to find examples of Labour MP’s spending in order to run exactly this kind of argument in defense of Bill English’s $52,000 a year housing rort.

    I’ll bet anyone here $100 that by the end of the day we see the details of past Labour MPs’ accommodation spending being used to justify this as “business as usual” on DPF’s blog.

    Actually make that the end of the weekend. They’ll be slowed down by the fact they’re all at conference.

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