I’m sorry, but someone has to say this.
The NZ Right are despicable in their attacks on Jacinda during this pandemic. Their collective hatred for her burns so incandescently bright that it eclipses any genuine criticism they might actually hold.
Simon Bridges terrible attack on beneficiaries combines with his own appalling attacks on the Prime Minister alongside Right wing opinion shapers who are saying things like this…
…and this…
…if this were the war against Fascism, Louis from the fake Taxpayers Union, would be criticising Jacinda for being too aggressive towards the Nazis!!!
This is a once in a generation event that dangerously threatens public health & the economy, the continued toxicity of the NZ Right is disgusting and borders on a mental health disease.
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And all the mainstream sycophantic media shrills getting the boot in as well, we all know who they are. The Herald has sunk to such a stinky filthy level it would be hard to even burn it let alone use it to wipe poohy bottoms in an emergency.
Oh yes. Love it!
You mean like ” Forest (Mike Hosking) Gump.
“I love you Johnny”
Hosking appears to be doing Bridges bidding in the Herald. Hosking clever use of headline to push his anti government diatribe on the country. People see through Mike now. He has become somewhat of a dinosaur.
In my view this is a fairly reasonable comment.
Many of us are well tired of Jacinda’s appeals to emotion, obvious photo ops, soft overseas trips and her inability to tackle hard subjects with substantive policy.
She would if Simon Bridges would rise walkway to the level of being a descent Leader of The Opposition. Everything response New Zealand has is inspit of The National Party.
What else do you suggest Andrew?
Fuck all eh? You whingy wanky haters of this Prime Minister never have anything of substance, just petty whining.
And it does not take a rocket scientist to see the theme going here has been crafted by focus group, Nationals by any chance?
Closed borders, not enough?
Reduction in gathering numbers not enough?
Sports events off, nope?
Any gathering of any sort be it a trade show or a close association, not enough yet?
She has one hell of a balancing act to pull off here. We are an economy hooked to the Neo-Liberal policy of retailing to each other, tourism, service industry, hospitality and selling houses to an ever-decreasing number of investors. Most if not all of the above is on the precipice on a good day anyway, too much to far and it will break the economy and then lives will be lost.
And anyone who thinks when all this blows over everyone can just open up and go back to what they were doing has their heads up their arses. Much like you!
Briliant! X-ray, well said!
Hear hear. Bridges can’t even manage to build a bloody bridge in the time he promised. Whinning miserable little shit, he’s mother should have spanked him more. I could not imagine a worse leader world wide. Jacinda has been doing an amazing job. When I look at other world leaders and what they have done and the precautions they have taken she really stands out. So you lot who along with Bridges and Donkey try getting together to do something constructive for a change and show some true leadership.
Well fuck off to Italy then if you think that’s all she is. Just have a look at Bridges photo Ops lately. Or Bennetts weight loss photo ops Her policies you may not like, your tight wing mantra doesn’t go unnoticed but a massive amount of us are better off under her policies than Key and then English’s punative ones
Adern has been pretty ineffective since she came to power.
You are allowing your bias against the right and your personal relationship with Adern to drive your reaction to these comments.
You are incapable of being objective when it comes to her, otherwise you might see the rights point.
Can you imagine Clark making as many stuff ups as Adern? Clark may have had the public persona of a barracuda, but she was highly effective.
Ineffective we had 9 years of ineffective yet you let your bias against Ardern affect sound judgement. Open your mind a little ..And dont tell me how I think particularly given your lopsided views.
100% Bert I couldnt say it better.
Argument might be more cogent if you learned to spell…
Another revisionist. Clark did make mistakes but she learnt from them, got better & better as she went along. Derided by the right but well-respected internationally just like Jacinda is derided here by some yet is becoming well-respected internationally unlike these ‘buffoon heroes’ that right idolises like Trump, Scomo, Johnson, Bolsonaro, Duterte etc
“Many”, you mean just you, Ada and the other dropkicks from the taxpayers Union.
You keep forgetting that National and it’s leaders promised the world and then gave us the housing crisis.
Given your disdain of Ardern you must have been appalled at Key’s handling of Pike River then, not to mention the Christchurch earthquakes?
Pike River just sucked up another $15 million when the country needs every dollar. What are they going to achieve . Little was praising the company when he could have protected the workers. Now some of the families say they want to go further in .
National moved quickly after the earthquake and the formation oof the red zone meant many were able to move on without endless fights with insurance . Workers were paid and the city did not fade away. There are so many houses here the price has dropped unlike most areas.
I am happy to give credit to the moves made so far by Jacinda but it must be remembered this is the same team who gave us Kiwibuild and the non existing light rail to the airport.
The team that gave us Kiwibuild on the back of the National parties policies that created the housing crisis. If Key had “shown some guts” the Pike River cost should never have got to this stage.
Andrew you forgot to write ‘white nationalists’ after your statement ‘many of us’ …
——————————————————————-
Trevor Sennitt told us all a week or two ago ,,, when the usa stock market had lost 10% ,,, that it was recovering and on the way back up.
At that stage the losses were 4 TRILLION dollars ,,,, and the usa govt threw 1.5 Trillion dollars into that fire , last I checked the stock market was 35% down ,,, giving a rough total of 15.5 TRILLION dollars lost , gone, vaporized.
And now Trevs whinging about Pike River ,,, while trying to blame Andrew Little for the disaster. ,,, what a dishonest idiotic turd he comes across as.
Personally I would not listen to anything white nationalists, proven idiots or right wingers have to say about our epidemic in this world pandemic,,, or anything else of importance.
Yet it was perfectly fine for Bolger and Key to do all those soft overseas trips and photo-ops? Double-standards much? A lot of the hostility is rooted not just classism/elitism but in misogyny. The same thing that Clark and Gillard in Australia dealt with. White men chafing at the bit that a woman is in charge.
You should see how the Left in the US, UK and Australia are losing hie minds over Trump. Boris and ScoMo. Equally fraught and unbalanced.
Partisanship causes people to lose their minds.
Ada “Equally fraught and unbalanced. ” So, is this an acknowledgement, Ada, that NZ right-wingers are fraught and unbalanced, ? Any chance of self-correcting, Ada ? With a little bit of help from your friends ?
“Partisanship causes people to lose their minds. ” Big assumption here, Ada. Minds ? You jest. Do you twitter and tweet too ? Hmm ?
And yet Ardern has asked National for partisanship and all she got from Bridges was woof woof woof!
bert – PM Ardern is always good in an emergency; it’s not her fault that she’s attractive and photogenic – Clark and Shipley were quite vilely pilloried for not being so – and for worse – that’s the low level which many right-wing males – and probably all the right-wing post-menopausal females – function at.
There must be good people on the right who see that it is now in the country’s interests to dump Simon Bridges and get a competent skilled leader with the nous and the ability to rise above the sewers – maybe Amy Adams, Paul Goldsmith – dunno- otherwise there may be some constitutional way of dealing with them – ask Geoffrey Palmer- but if they do need to shape up pronto.
We’ve all been far too kind to Bridges, for far too long.
You can’t win (if a left female politician) …get derided for looks or derided for ‘just being a pretty face’. Misogyny at it’s finest.
Ada ,,,, are you saying all doctors and scientists are left wing ???
because it is the anti-science stance of Boris and Trump that is causing alarm …,. their total disregard for needless deaths ,,, and indifference to the incredible workloads, stress ,,, and danger that health workers are placed under.
Why are right wingers such dangerous uncaring idiots Ada ?
https://youtu.be/j1Cwazo9Dhc
Not a bad analysis too on today’s Mediawatch: self-appointed sages (predominantly from the right – Newstalk ZB of example) elevating themselves to being expert on medical issues, and seemingly knowing better than actual expert scientists basing their work on evidence and experieince.
One good thing to come of all this is that some of those generic, managerialist masters of the universe are having to do what they’re told or there’ll be a bit of March Richardson index finger type waving going on. There’ll be more to come I’m sure.
Once again JA has stepped up. A lot of people around the world are envious
Heard that. Lots more traffic on RNZ too. Trustworthy info coming through and more people are listening in. More than to the bullshxt coming out of the mixed messages on the hate Jacinda stations and hard copy media. They all look like fools and their self-interest and greed gobbles up any possibility of thoughtful intelligent analysis. Great for Ardern; the dodgy behaviour by Bridges’ backers then continues to strengthen her trustworthiness and integrity! Wonderful. Having watched the misogynistic and vicious attacks on Clark no doubt it’s the same for Ardern, so not only is she experiencing right wing hatred but also because she is a woman Prime Minister. Chin up Ardern. You’re doing just fine.
Desperate despicable right-wingers are incapable of serious positive discussion, but then that’s the pattern set by their leadership.
Desperate and despicable right-wingers are following the lead set by Simon. Thankfully we have a leader who is the setting a course founded on decency and respect.
Yes. The right ARE despicable. That’s why we hate them, and that’s why they love themselves.
Actually, do you know what the Right also are?
They’re boring. They, are sooooooooooooo boring.
simon bridges is as boring as a concrete lamp post with no interesting life stories.
paula bennett? Imagine being stuck in an elevator with her and her arse? Oh my god, how boring would that be ! ?
Remember the last few years of the right? Remember their banal wafflings? Their stiff hair and snooty noses? Remember the dull sounds of their polyester G strings twanging up and down our parliaments corridors?
bill english? The dull little double dipping Dipton dribbler? He could tranquillise a draft horse by simply telling it what he might think is a funny story.
We must all remember just how dull, dreary and plain ugly the Right were and are. Remember Peter dunn? With a hair style more resembling a marble corbel that’d just fallen off a boring Roman toilet? And that bow tie?
“ Oh, I like that bow tie you’re wearing Pete! Goes straight to my panties…” said no one.
And let’s not forget the twerkmiester? The fluro pink spandex dick with roger douglas’s finger prints all over his breast meat? david seymour. His mantra must surely be “ Gimme yours. All of it?” and would be more boring in these heady times of inclusion and cooperation than a clock work train set that’s lost its key. He’s the kind of doodle you’d get from a person in a coma.
We need the Right wing like they don’t need a meaning to life that can’t be bought, sold or traded
100% behind you Countryboy.
Well she is exposing herself again to be compromised into the over-promising, implying too much. There are limits of how much you can control this virus thats why its called a pandemic. Raising expectations, we’ve been through that already, 2017??
Less is more … We’re level 2, soon to be 3 and then 4 at some stage soon. And then what?
Time for some distraction techniques to kick in. Like NZ compared to other countries, in detail.
Where NZ is in the Coronavirus cycle compared too ect …
Oh, and “Stop the fuck with the Panic Buying NZ! Message or else!”
Rig Lotto so everyone wins! Every week!
Perhaps those criticising the PM and her management of CV19, could put forward a better plan of management!
I am really getting so angry with the sniping and negative comments out there. We need to all do our bit to help contain this virus.
In recent days, Trump has been promoting the potential of a drug called hydroxychloroquine — a common anti-malaria drug — as a treatment for Covid-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. The off-the-shelf drug is easy to produce and has been anecdotally effective in China and South Korea.
The above is being echoed by a LOT of people, rightly or wrongly. If you assume everyone who utters anything against the PM are all right wing then the impeding election is going to be a massive land side to the Natz like we have never ever seen before…but are they all righties? More than probably not which means many saying the same thing have to be leftists.
People are scared and scared people can make crazy statements, get used to it, we’ll see a shit load more before this ride is over.
But is now really the time to intentionally play stupid and pathetic politics Martyn? The wise would say No, the mindless drones on the other hand……..
but are they all righties? More than probably not
Many are paid social media influencers.
$10,000 will buy you anywhere from seven to 20 posts from as many as 14 paid influencers.
NZ 2019 Social Media Influencers
“is now really the time to intentionally play stupid and pathetic politics”
You are calling out Mr Bridges’ appalling episodes of doing just that, then. (I won’t hold my breath.)
There’s a time and a place Mr Bridges and the time is not now
I hesitate to include twitter as legitimate “media”, let alone that it presents anything ever worth reading.
Don’t feed it.
Will this Government do a Winston Churchill and suspend the election & parliament. Like Churchill did during WWII
No, (deep sigh) DennyPoa, Churchill did not “suspend the election and parliament”. What he did do was form “a ministry of all the talents” i.e. a cross-party coalition government including Conservative, Labour and Liberal Party ministers. Then Parliament itself postponed elections until the war in Europe was over.
If you’re going to offer historical examples – make sure you get them right. Otherwise, you are not helping the situation.
Read some books, mate. After all, for many of us now there isn’t that much else to do!
I did, and thats where I got the idea thats what happened. But thanks for the insight. Any book recommendations?
Well it’s a little contradictory to limit gatherings to 100 people and then hold an election where we all come together. Unless we can increase the amount of polling stations and volinteers or at least delay the elections until appropriate resources can be brought to bare I don’t see how we can go on with the September elections.
Can I just point out @ CT?
‘Paoa’. Denny Pao-A
Not Pao.
Just sayin’.
( Raspberry. )
The thing with tricky facts is I always bung on a ? mark at the end of my comment.
A question can never be confused with a potentially erroneous statement.
That, might help our ever wonderful and erudite Chris Trotter from over-breathing.
Or, A Labour & National coalition as Government!
The Greens are dog tucker & NZF might not make it!
NZ First has a deep base dont worry they will survive.
For a lot of them, it’s their job. They’re being paid to do just that.
Including, I strongly suspect, some commenters on TDB.
Silver Lining, at least the world knows what to do to stop climate change.
“All the ways coronavirus is stopping climate change in its tracks”
“Tens of thousands of lives saved – expert”
“While coronavirus has tragically claimed 3237 Chinese lives, there are some suggestions many more have been saved by the improved air quality.
“One Stanford University expert, Marshall Burke, believes between 50,000 and 75,000 premature deaths have been prevented already, simply due to cleaner air across the country.”
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/world/2020/03/all-the-ways-coronavirus-is-stopping-climate-change-in-its-tracks.html?fbclid=IwAR245vzF5n00N6LtZqkxm0Jd2huVmNxLs5p7UyP0Ca5ixXhRh7oOg5TnRU8
“While many are noting the positive environmental impacts that have followed the spread of COVID-19, the International Energy Agency (IEA) isn’t hopeful it’ll have a lasting impact.
The global energy watchdog says reduced air travel and less industrial pollution are temporary, and likely to bounce back quickly once the threat of coronavirus passes.”
So why is the NZ taxpayer bailing our the polluters like Air NZ?
“WELLINGTON (AFP) – The government in Wellington on Friday (March 20) announced an NZ$900 million (S$740 million) loan deal with Air New Zealand to help the flag carrier survive the coronavirus crisis.”
I would have thought many things more important to NZ government and people like power that will go down if Rio Tinto leaves, better food, fresher water, more health care available, biodiversity maintained, etc that are more important than having one’s logo on an aeroplane…. that doesn’t even fly to many places in the world!!
Air NZ get 900 million????
$8 billion for transport across the country
Maori get 56million to help with Coronavirus
$10 million for decarbonisation projects
$300 million for mental health facilities.
The different amounts of spending hows government priorities – geared heavily towards propping up polluting companies not social or environmental outcomes for the benefit of society.
We now have the answer to NZ roads, remarkably uncongested with the absence of tourists and unnecessary visitors to our country which also helps our health spend, housing and pollution.
So maybe swap out the roads, Rio Tinto and Air NZ bail outs and taxpayers instead save 9 billion+ to spend on non polluting, non sunset industries to reset NZ out of being a low wage, volatile economy reliant on overseas interests.
Bonus would be the housing crisis, also reduced as the houses and accomodation get freed up as well as the natural environment being saved, air and water quality and people benefiting the most!
Good time to trial this for NZ citizens instead of all the corporate handouts that funny enough they are supposed to save for, sell assets for have insurance for.
People should be prioritised over business which exists to make profit not for social good.
To: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Finance Minister Grant Robertson
Coronavirus: Emergency universal basic income for everyone
https://our.actionstation.org.nz/petitions/coronavirus-emergency-universal-basic-income-for-everyone?bucket&fbclid=IwAR018wuGoWlINph7ynRqzt4aIuBAA6R9HAkg2GeI4wJ2g1YZA3kuq8i5aoI
Could be a transformational moment, where NZ gets rid of all benefits and just goes in with a universal benefit trial for next 12 months as well as helping mental health and suicide levels!!!!
https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2019/2/9/18217566/finland-basic-income
Is this NZ transformational moment??? Or is our government going to back more neoliberalism that doesn’t work based on our declining social position in the world?
Thanks for the environmental update SaveNZ much appreciated.
Yes the carbon emissions have been reducing graduallly since january when China went into lockdown, but sadly now it appears China are sending workers back to the grindstone now so we expect an increase to happen there again.
Our family talked to our son stranded in southern Germany today and he reported that they are all in lockdown and germany has al gomne into dockdown.
So Germany is the biggest industrial country in Europe so we expect to see a puase and reduction in Germany soon.
This is what the ‘Right’ are doing in the US and this is what they would do here if they were in power:
GOP Stimulus Plan to Cut Taxes for Corporations While Denying Benefits
“Heartless,” “cruel,” and “appalling” were just some of the adjectives progressive critics and analysts used late Thursday to describe the Senate GOP’s newly unveiled trillion-dollar economic stimulus package which—by design—would completely deny direct cash payments to the poorest Americans while cutting taxes for corporations, dishing out tens of billions in bailout funds to major industries, and restricting paid leave benefits that were just signed into law this week.
“The Senate GOP package is an utter disgrace,” tweeted Richard Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO. “It gives free money to corporations, ignores the health crisis, and does nothing to keep people working or help the unemployed. The labor movement will oppose this Main St. bailout of Wall St. with everything we have.”
If the Right were in govt here, we would be seeing similar huge grabs for power:
The Department of Justice is using the coronavirus outbreak to ask Congress for sweeping emergency powers including suspending habeas corpus during an emergency, a power grab that was denounced by civil liberties advocates.
“Oh hell no,” tweeted Fletcher School professor Daniel Drezner.
Oh Hell No
Humanity is at a crossroads.
As the COVID-19 pandemic turns the global political and economic order on its head, two vastly different futures appear possible. At one end of the spectrum, societies facing the toll of the virus may collapse into authoritarianism.
But at the other end of the spectrum, we have the possibility of learning the lessons of this disaster — another colossal market failure enhanced by a neoliberal assault and now Trump’s wrecking ball.
This article by Noam Chomsky: We Cant Let COVID19 Drive us into Authoritarianism spells it out.
I would like to see the PM say she is establishing a Parliamentary Committee of the senior MP’s across the parliament, at least as a consultation group. That is what happened during the Christchurch Earthquake. Maybe she has already done so, but it is not obvious.
As for suspending the election, well it least should be delayed to the last possible date which I understand to be Dec 12. Any date later than that requires legislation with a 75% majority. Presumably it was done in WW2 delaying the 1941 election to 1943.
it least should be delayed to the last possible date
Absolutely.
Interesting times for the Nats Wayne, Goldie now making the appropriate “PM in waiting” noises.
Jacinda will make a decision on any change in the election date with safety of public in mind being paramount. Of course all her bitter opponents will make that political.
There’s no particular urgency to do this. National have demonstrated at length that they have nothing whatsoever to offer New Zealand. A few months in isolation might even bring their egos down to manageable proportions.
We need to look behind the scenes to understand what is happening. Look more deeply, think more consciously, be more aware.
Behind the scenes there is an epic battle going on. The warmongers, the powerbrokers, the uber-rich profiteers driven by greed, the oil drillers, the plutocrats…
Vs those who give a damn about humanity.
There’s a war going on, for power over people. For our minds, for our acquiescence. And the propaganda blares from radio stations around the country, non-stop. Twisting the way we perceive our reality.
Evaluate everything you see and hear, and if your heart is sincere, you’ll recognise those who are on the one side, or on the other.
Although the 1 – 4 system is logical it was a big mistake. I can see it being used by our moronic media to be a challenge to get it to 4 as soon as possible.
There can be NO doubt that the media can and will crank this up to armageddon levels which they may think will sell advertising (no point given the economy is shutting down) and or at least feed their insatiable lust for sensationalism, doom and destruction.
It’s hard to know what to loath the most but in this case, our media, the doomsayers from way back when (Y2K, Sars, Mers, Ebola and so many others), are just the pits. I am turning off what little I take in of their wall to wall wallowing in death, destruction and depression. Life must carry on.
I am hoping for one our corporate media will go down the toilet with the other businesses they are so irresponsibly damaging from a great height!
100% – Xray is correct.
Hey Martyn! The next few months if not year(s) are going to be brutal on TDB!
Stir Crazy politico’s and bystanders tearing each other a new one! Hehehehe!
going to be brutal on TDB!
Might be overload ahead at times, yeah. Hope crowds don’t crash the site too often.
DannyPaoa like most right-wingers you don’t know the proper use of an apostrophe. In fact, your English is pretty appalling.
You have a health emergency
Who’s advice do you take?
Your Doctor’s, or your accountant’s?
Coronavirus: Doctor group – raise threat level now or risk becoming like Italy
Thomas Coughlan
16:56, Mar 22 2020
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/120477240/coronavirus-doctor-group–raise-threat-level-now-or-risk-becoming-like-italy
Can someone please find out who DemocracyMum is? Some think it is Hamish Price, others that its Judith Collins. That would really help.
Well lets be cleanly assured of one very vital thing during all this and that is if there was a National government I am sure the government(if National)response would be the as expected “Nothing to see. Move along please”.
And the mainstream NZ media that are thoroughly into the NZ National Party pocket would be behaving the very same way whilst worshipping all things NZ National Party.
Right now I am proud of our government and I am proud of Jacinda. It’s not easy for her or her government. They are resorting to the right approach. But they will be damned if they do and damned if they don’t.
There will be those all too numerous armchair/studio(in the tv and radio studio that is)experts who will be telling Jacinda what should be done. They will be the Duncan Garner, the Mike Hosking, Mark Richardson, etc.etc.etc in the mainstream NZ media. They are armchair experts whilst possessing sweet F A in the intelligence levels.
Take care NZ and NZers. We are now entering an age where we just don’t know what the future can bring.
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