How come this case of state spying hasn’t received the same level of attention and focus as the bullshit Sroubek case?

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So it turns out Iain Lees-Galloway was misled by Immigration after all…

Missing information on Sroubek would have ‘likely’ led to deportation – Minister
Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway says he would have “likely” decided to deport Karel Sroubek at the first opportunity if he had known from the outset that Sroubek had returned to the Czech Republic in 2009.

That detail about Sroubek’s travel history was emailed from an NZ Customs intelligence analyst to Immigration NZ six years ago – but was subsequently overlooked and not included in the file given to Lees-Galloway to inform his decision about deporting Sroubek

…which means all the screaming at the Minister by right wing media and National for not doing his job is actually bullshit, yet look at how Tova is spinning this now…

…ummmm, WTF?

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The issue in light of this revelation is that the criticism Newshub and National have thrown at the Minister was false and instead of admitting that, the new attack line is transparency???

But put the fact the story is and always has been bullshit aside, there is a bigger, far more fundamental question, how come the case of state spying hasn’t received the same level of attention and focus as the bullshit Sroubek case?

We see this all the time in NZ. Serious and significant abuses of political power by the State, be it mass surveillance lies, war crimes or dirty politics, gets overshadowed by simplistic trivial bullshit.

How come a micro aggression of a prisoner shouting at his wife after she reneges on an agreement is a BIGGER news story than entire swathes of the Government illegally spying on citizens?

National and the right wing media tried to sell this as incompetence to a reactionary public who hate criminals, but the continued popularity of the story goes beyond redneck kneejerks, the story is clearly trending for the news papers.

Is it because Millennials who feed the click-bait only understand micro aggressions and can’t subjectively connect to far larger issues that they don’t immediately identify with?

Is that what we have been left with as ‘news’. Sroubek shouted at his wife on a phone call, and that’s a bigger story than the State illegally spying on huge numbers of people because Millennials can identify with a subjective micro-aggression but can’t with an issue they aren’t immediately reflective of?

I die a little bit inside every day I read the mainstream media in this country, no wonder NZers are so wilfully ignorant of the issues that actually matter.

7 COMMENTS

  1. RNZ news is a stream of US propaganda, most of it completely at odds with wider international commentary. Typical US bullshit for Kiwis to swallow. Syria, China, “North” Korea, Iran, Venezuela, Yemen, war, US adventurism and memes fornicated by the fragile but destructive Empire to prevent peace.

    The real human world is not commented on and certainly public discussion is more likely about sport, or soaps or anything but what is important. This situation is not an accident by is a well managed campaign by those who do not want public attention to issues that may interrupt their program of wealth and resource collection.

    RNZ’s CEO is ex Fairfax while the chair of the board is ex Bolger’s office.
    They do not work for public good.

    A quote from a child with more common sense and courage than any Western or Kiwi politician.

    “Today we use 100 million barrels of oil every day. There are no politics to change that. There are no rules to keep that oil in the ground.
    So we can’t save the world by playing by the rules. Because the rules have to be changed.
    Everything needs to change. And it has to start today.
    So everyone out there, it is now time for civil disobedience, it is time to rebel.”

    Yes surveillance will pick you up but you and the world have nothing to loose. Don’t be scared as the numbers will build to join you regardless of surveillance.

  2. The mainstream media is a make believe world of celebrity wannabes and faux news reporting who pander to mainly National Party supporters.

  3. Well at least you have seemingly moved on from blaming the boomers for everything wrong with society. I 100% agree: the only generation that “get’s it” is ours Bomber. OURS! ;-). Yes, I’m being super facetious.

  4. We all know that our ‘state’ owned TV us absolutely useless as is TV3 with real issues that matter. Shame really because this is one John Campbell could be putting his mind to.

    This issue should be getting endless media time. What department hired Thomson & Clark to spy on Mana and the Greens I really would like to know this but haven’t found it in the report or the appendix etc.

    Ever single person and / or entity should be entitled to know they have been spied on, over what period of time and for what department surely.

  5. Neoliberalism requires a State Apparatus to keep it’s people in check.

    JK further extended the Powers of the State into a Stazi Type Operation spying on it’s citizens especially those who did not agree with the Natzi Regime.

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