Ever since the 2017 election conservative media have sulked and snapped at Jacinda for – almost anything really.
“She has no substance” they wisely tell their audience of wounded partisans despite her incredible substance on display every day.
“That’s right Mike, she is out of her depth”, they wail like stray cats on a fence, backs arched, tails high and ears pinned back, bristling at territorial threats.
“Cindy had a baby, so what?” – clanged the cans in the rubbish bin, down Soper’s alley, where sensational stories go to die after a single day.
“She’s being taken for a ride by Winston”, said the supposed sharpest minds in Dumb Fuck Town, where old coots listen on transistor radios over a beer to what these socialist communists are up to.
“It’s a shambles, God help us all” – and repeat.
Repeat forever.
Repeat like your life depends upon it.
Repeating these words every day, every week for a year or more now has been the steady conditioning of major right wing segments of New Zealand by their conservative news media who relentlessly paint a gloomy, negative picture to harm and wound the government.
The grand poobah’s are Hosking, Garner, Richardson, O’Sullivan and ….other nameless ones.
Meanwhile Jacinda has been an incredible world beater on the international stage…so much so…that the local media have had to go silent, or award her 6 out of 10 with a plate stacked high with ten tonnes of sour grapes.
Welcome to today motherfuckers.
This world leading mother, brilliant, inspirational woman has taken the world by storm and there’s nothing to do but eat those words about lacking substance, about being out of her depth, about Winston running the show.
It’s nothing but loserdom.
Loserdom worn on the foreheads of all those who now cannot find their voice to criticise this phenomenal leader – while love pours in from all over the world, and there’s a seismic shift as she sets an example that puts others to shame.
The conservative media do what they always do at times like these.
They look around at the corners and sweep up lint and decide not to say anything for a week until this all dies down.
Dusting.
Audrey Young’s last opinion article was about what a shambles the government is.
Not a great deal of glowing for Jacinda this week – unlike her hot flushes over John Key.
Hosking usually writes four wonky warped opinions a week, but has only managed one this week.
It’s that time again – time to brush the lint and look into corners.
Fran has finally spoken out against Facebook – but defended free speech last year, along with almost everyone in a giant step for irony and a small step for fashion crime.
Who can forget TVNZ showing us all graphic videos in 2014 and 2015 to illustrate terrorist acts – but now Fran is shaking her fist at Facebook.
Bryce Edwards says it’s dangerous to blame anyone but this lone wolf terrorist, not his beliefs, not the conditioning he went through, not the seething hatred of the cess pit around us all – formed by these disgusting attitudes.
Apparently all the causes cannot be examined and we must sweep this all under the conservative carpet.
Millennials tell countless stories of their older family racist parents, uncles, aunties and grandparents.
All people who mostly tune into the same radio station, and read the same newspapers.
First time callers but long time racists.
Stewing like KKK members itching for a torch.
The vile racist attitudes of those old kiwis who have grown up separated from diversity – grumbling at innocent people in petrol stations, supermarket check outs, liquor shops – because they are the wrong race or religion, is not something we can hope to influence.
It’s so deeply ingrained that undoing all those knots would take a miracle.
It’s possible – but those who try – talk about banging their heads against a brick wall.
Decades of negative press and bigoted attitudes – now find this bloody socialist taking away their ability to shoot hundreds of bullets in 10 seconds.
It’s a bloody outrage, they cry.
How did all these hard withered souls get so ignorant and tied up in knots?
By a million exposures to the same old bullshit.
By grumbling, bitching and whining over tiny little incidents, as their ultra slow neurons leap to the nearest stereotype.
Media for sure have reflected these attitudes on talk back radio for years.
Ever since I was a kid and generations before.
Carping on and bitching at all things Maori, stewing about how all Muslim people are the same, when they are just as diverse as anyone.
It’s fucking annoying and that is why I write about it.
We have this clear air – when we are all more receptive to this inner worm.
Don’t even start me on our Chinese friends who must suffer a great deal every day from all of this shit too.
Anyway – Jacinda Ardern is being hailed all over the world.
Decisive, compassionate, caring and kind.
While the conservative media has nothing much to say, because it would kill Hosking and his ilk to praise Jacinda – at all.
Not a single word shall pass his lips that is not vitriol for all of her actions.
In the meantime, I am hopeful about all the good in our young people, all the free minds, inclusive souls, evolved, bright and respectful.
Thank goodness for you.
It takes a great deal of coldness to begrudge Jacinda right now, and only those able to clearly see a great leader amongst us – can realise this.
It’s like being on the side of evil versus love.
Begrudging every step, as our PM shows the world the kind of heart and strength and humility that would deserve a Nobel Peace prize.
Meanwhile, conservative media seethe in the shadows.
Itching to bitch and moan about Jacinda again on auto repeat.
Cos that’s the news in Dumb Town.
Gerard Otto is an activist and a writer.
100% Otto.
Now what we have to do is “Call Out These Morons” as they promote their racial or selfish garbage.
We need to support the young student in Christchurch who said,” They think our generation are big trouble – we are not – we will fix our world” or words similar.
Our world is sick, and our generation, the 60 to 70 year olds, have allowed our world to drop to this disgusting level, with our desires for stuff and more useless stuff, regardless of the consequences to our planet.
We have pushed our greed for ourselves and our so called democratic freedom to the limits that now have young people all over the world asking, begging and protesting for our generation to clean up our mess NOW.
When I hear my fellow Nz’ers whining about the change to our gun laws – I remind them of the little children who were murdered and maimed last Friday – I put myself in their places – NO ONE IN THIS COUNTRY WILL EVER HAVE WEAPONS THAT CAN DO THE SAME TO MY LITTLE GRANDCHILDREN OR YOUR GRANDCHILDREN.
Kia kaha, kia maia, kia manawanui. Arohanui
Beautifully written piece, Gerard. Fortunately, not all of us have aged quite so bitterly as your imagined friends, hunched over their transistors with a warm beer. Kia kaha from your TDB colleague.
Who was bold enough to criticise Mother Theresa publicly? but I knew a priest who did privately. Not all of us share your enthusiasm for Jacinda, she wasn’t as sympathetic to Muslims before the massacre, ask the Islamic Women’s Council who lobbied government constantly to act on their behalf against racists. They will be listened to now, and it’s good that Jacinda has woken up, but at such a heavy cost.
Superb words Gerard. I am glad you also mentioned Audrey Young. Oh how she waxes lyrical over her beloved national party and Bridges but rubbishes Jacinda Ardern. Her silence now is deafening but her opinions are generally tired and listless without any basis to back them up.
And what about the guy who gets paid mega bucks for sitting in a soft chair in a safe little radio studio and on a daily basis rubbishes Jacinda Ardern and her Labour-led Government. I forget his name because he is so forgettable – oh that’s right Larry Williams.
Then there is Barry Soper and his wife whose name I actually do forget. Soper and Williams sneer and scoff about Jacinda like a couple of protected little bullies.
At the age of 78 I have maintained for quite some time to hand it over to the girls. I suspect we could make a heaps better fist of it all!
Otto, your blogpost is one of the best I’ve read on the Daily Blog. Even many of the so-called “armchair experts” who comment here are silent, because you’ve put in plain language what is the simple, unvarnished truth.
The Ray White Real Estate husband and wife agents (Paul Davie and his wife) who have been removed from Ray White for expressing the toxic vile and twisted views of Muslims, Maori and others are the very personification of the evil that exists within out community.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12215325
Gerard that was a superb post.
Can i make a suggestion you don’t need to use profanity to make your point as your posts are always a true reflection of any issue we are facing at any time.
I can understand your fury at the conservative media and agree totally with regards to the negative barrow they always push when they have a government that is not a National one.
It is almost like most of the voting public’s vote for the three parties of the coalition don’t count at all.
Racism and it’s effect are deeply ingrained and until now never countered.
1981 and the ” tour ” should give any millennial an insight of the last time racism raised it’s ugly head and was on display for everyone too see.
A lot of soul searching was done in the years that followed but attitudes remained the same.
Some how because it was rugby the violence was justified and hey nobody died in the guerrilla like war that ensued between both sides of the protest so the red squad was praised for kicking the s**t out of these people for daring to make a stand against apartheid.
It did demonstrate that a great many kiwis were prepared to take action against a rugby tour from the racist regime being played here.
They made a stand against injustice just as we are doing now but without the violence , there has been enough of that.
Jacinda has stood high above all her enemy’s to show the leadership , strength and fortitude that the Likes of a Key , English , Bridges or Collins could never have provided because they don’t understand humanity because if they did they would not pursue polices that harm it and sit back and allow their friends in the media and elsewhere to assist in destroying it.
A lot of people attended their first Islamic sermon today that they would never have done prior to last Friday and i was one of them here in Christchurch.
My only religious belief is to protect others right to attend their mosque or church in this country without the threat of violence.
A lot will change and Jacinda is best placed to do just that.
It is time we changed how we see things and that means a different media that survives on being bias to one side over all the others.
An outstanding blog piece from Gerard.
Through absolute horror and evil, Jacinda has emerged demonstrating her strength of character, courage and leadership offering hope, tolerance and love, while at the same time, coming through as a positive ray of light in a dirty, dark, dismal world full of vicious hate and aggression.
Having a leader of such powerful warm, caring and uniting qualities, is something NZ should be not only proud of, but also grateful for.
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