GUEST BLOG: Bryan Bruce – Is Todd Muller sounding desperate?

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Is it just me or are Todd Muller’s attempts to politicise the government’s management of the Covid 19 pandemic looking increasingly desperate?

I mean, let’s just have a look at the Covid-19 news from the USA yesterday.

Alabama, Alaska, Idaho, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee all set single-day records for new cases on Friday, according to a Reuters tally.

The daily U.S. tally stood at 53,483 late Friday, below the previous day’s record of 55,405.

Now THAT’S mismanagement. That’s “a shambles”

A 43 year old woman who tried to escape shortly before 6.20 pm last night from the Pullman Hotel (a managed isolation facility) and was captured a couple of blocks away at 8pm on Anzac Avenue and is now in police custody is NOT gross mismanagement or proof that the system is a compete shambles…

The Director General of Health cannot be held responsible for every self-centred person in the country.

Bryan Bruce is one of NZs most respected documentary makers and public intellectuals who has tirelessly exposed NZs neoliberal economic settings as the main cause for social issues.

TDB Recommends NewzEngine.com

34 COMMENTS

    • National MPs lie.

      It’s a simple as that.

      You got it in one. And they do it so easily, so naturally.

      And the NZ propaganda machine spread those lies as “facts”. That blaring 24/7 propaganda machine is the curse of Aotearoa.

  1. Todd Muller is another “hollow-man” as wonderfully described in Nicky Hager’s book “The hollow-men”.
    https://www.nickyhager.info/the-hollow-men-documentary-film/
    “We watch the Brash team develop and then put into effect their plans to win the 2005 general election. Once in power they intended to complete the radical right transformation of New Zealand society – their ‘unfinished business’ from the 1980s and 1990s. Helped by Australian and American political strategists, and funded by big business and a tiny elite of the super rich, the Brash team deftly played the race card, the immigration card, the tax cut card and ‘dog whistle’ politics, in an attempt to influence so-called ‘soft voters’.”
    Based on thousands of confidential emails, reports and memos written by Bash and his closest advisers, The Hollow Men is an extraordinary story of unprincipled and anti-democratic politics.

  2. As desperate as Muller is, check out how brazen our media has become with their vested interest blatant bias. They are just as desperate.

    TVNZ is little more than a PR team for Muller while running interference against the Government on behalf of the National Party. How is that even legal?

    We all know that the word “Aroha” translates to love. It’s a beautiful word. So there is a portrait of Ardern with one word at the bottom. AROHA. It’s such an important message in keeping with being kind that the portrait has been put up around the country. Nek minute, National MP’s and trolls start bleating about it saying it’s electioneering. The portrait is torn down all round NZ. How far king small minded and pathetic.

    I assumed the role of a news reader was to read news. Nothing more. Nothing less. No opinions expressed. No emotive language used. No bias displayed.

    6pm. News reader Simon Dallow to Jessica Much McKay who has routinely and incessantly displayed her contempt for Ardern…….”what do you make of this latest debacle at the border?”. Why is it now acceptable in the run up to an election to use such emotive language with leading questions during a news bulletin by a news reader?

    In 2019, a relentless crusade by the National Party and the NZ Media was run against Jacinda Ardern. It was alleged she knew all about a sexual abuse case and actively covered it up. This is despite even blind Freddy being able to see the allegation was highly dubious at best. Did that stop or slow down the crusade? Absolutely not! TVNZ ran prominent “news” stories about it most days. Journalists freely offered their expert opinion that Ardern must have known about it so there must have been a cover up. TV3 did the same. Tova O’Brien as per usual led the charge. Ardern was guilty. These arseholes and their ilk sold this bullshit almost every day. It was relentless. Of course you had all the other usual suspects convicting Ardern with no ambiguity. Vance,Soper and his vile tag team partner, Hoskings and his vile tag team partner etc etc etc. Their bullshit was sold as factual news all day every day. If what they were spouting was correct, it would be the most serious charge ever against any NZ sitting PM…..but there wasn’t a word of truth in it. It was nothing more than a hit job against Ardern by our media on behalf of the National Party. How is this possible?. Why are all the offenders just carrying on as per usual with absolutely no consequence for their reprehensible conduct? Not even a faux apology to the innocent target of their crusade. They just slid back under their rocks for a few days.

    What did TVNZ do? An independent review was conducted and it totally cleared Ardern and highlighted the lack of credibility of the alleged victim who was clearly a stranger to the truth. How appalling and humiliating for TVNZ and others. How did they announce this? With the same fanfare and priority of which they had her convicted? Hell no. It was a 20 second piece buried in the news. The 6th news story. 15 of the 20 seconds were about how Labour needs to learn from it and do better in the future. WTAF?

    Muller becomes National Party leader. TVNZ run a PR campaign for him. Showing only interviews with people who thought he was a decent guy. Not one person had a negative thing to say. Very interesting. They run a piece with him walking on the beach with his family. They spout off his children’s names like they had relevance and even his poodles name FFS. It was nauseating but according to TVNZ, just a getting to know Muller piece. Why is that the role of TVNZ? Surely it’s up to the man himself and his party? It was an extended party political broadcast on behalf of the National Party. Nothing more, nothing less.

    National Party get things badly wrong but no follow up interview with anyone from the Labour Party.

    Any news good or otherwise regarding the Labour Party is quickly followed by prominent National Party MP’s offering their very predictable scathing undermining comments. What would you expect from them?

    Yesterday, Labour started off it’s election campaign. Very positive news for them. Flip over to TVNZ to see their report of Labours big day on the news that had absolutely far king nothing whatsoever to do with Todd Muller. I wondered how TVNZ would sell it. The piece was about 2 minutes long. Approximately 50% of the time was devoted to Todd Muller being gifted yet another platform during a news bulletin to offer his vested interest scathing, ridiculing and undermining, perspective. WTAF?

    Our media is in desperate need of a total revamp. Start with the hidden from view head offices encouraging their “journalists” to play “Gotcha” with Ardern at every opportunity. We need and deserve news. Not the bullshit we have now masquerading as news by a long list of alleged journalists who should all be receiving huge bonuses for the work they do on behalf of the National Party.

    It should never be acceptable for any NZ journalist to influence an election outcome via their own blatant bias and to be party to destroying careers of people like Claire Curran on behalf of the National Party.

    • TVNZ highlights the problem with a democratic country having all of its television broadcasting networks funded by advertising. The primary goal of the 6pm news bulletin is to sell more Mazdas, not to deliver impartial information about events of the day.

      • And so very easy to fix
        Well, easy. except for the fact that we’re still committed to the neo-libs’ funder-provider models (like the ones that were so successful in the health sector a few years back), an enterage of entities each with their CEOs, management and promotional teams, and making sure that assets that were once an integral part of public broadcasting are either flogged off, separated out and used as a nice little revenue stream that should never be ploughed back into the system they were stolen from.
        That, and probably also because there is a minister with a bit of a stutter who has only ever grown up knowing nothing else, and seems o have been appointed on the basis of his once having worked in that commercial environment.
        These things take time @ Simonm
        I gave up looking at all the financial reports (those available that minimised specifics) of all the entities involved, but I still maintain we have a system that’s over-managed, has a raft of needless ticket-clippers and high salaried management ‘teams’ (duplicated/triplicated), and committed to the ideology.
        There is no reason there should not be (and this is BEFORE we consider what we should be providing Maori broadcasters) – 3 FTA radio networks and 2 television netowrks – one commercial free, the other with AT MOST limited sponsorship. And then another 1 or 2 FTA channels in which independent content producers can air their wares.
        The can is getting mighty close to the edge of the cliff

    • Dallow will be looking for a new job soon. McKay’s opinions come across like marshmallow, soft and easily melted, her faux serious tone and eye bulging can hardly be taken seriously. National are in for a shock in September along with all the sycophantic media. I wouldn’t be surprised that by next election the political and media landscape may very well have changed for the better. When Jacinda came to the fore she held a lantern to the darkness, the light is steadily getting brighter and brighter. New Zealand is incredibly lucky to have such a bright star leading the way.

    • Yes NZ media is 99% presstitutes and pure and utter National party propaganda. HOW they are allowed to do this amazes me.
      Labour should cut their funding and let National pay for their own propaganda.
      The news readers are shameful people who should be remember for their traitor-like-action as TraitorKey is.

  3. He (Muller) needs to get on with his parties policies. He should be telling us what they will do differently and how his parties policies will help us recover from all the debt and unemployment we will have. Instead he has the Covid mentality lodged in his brain and mindset and its sickening to hear constantly. He is starting to sound like a scratched record.

    • That he is sounding like Bridges did would be more accurate. All negativity, no ideas, just perpetual squealing like a cut pig.

    • And most importantly the Presstitute corrupt media ALLOW him to get away with just B.S’ing without offering a ‘costed’ and sensible plan as an alternative. About the only limit to their ‘worship’ is ‘no B.J’s are given’, BUT other than that, Natz get every possible help.
      How come Labour constantly get asked about ‘costed plans’ and National don’t?
      How come National can run MASSIVE budget deficits and Labour (invariably) don’t, yet Labour get the hard line questions about ‘balancing budgets’.
      NZ media make North Korean news readers and their media seem EXCELLENT. Which one would think is almost important. At least their presenters are scared they’ll be shot if they don’t lie. NZ’s lot get massive salaries to lie to Kiwis and sell us down the river. IMHO, their profession is below that of used car salesmen and politicians.

  4. I was going to sat that Muller is an also ran , nut come to think of it , he has never run, he stalled from the start. The P.M had a good week last week I thought, lets see what happens this week.

  5. One needs to be thinking critically when reviewing media reports.

    In the US the media are not reporting Covid 19 deaths anymore, because in fact there aren’t many. Instead they’re reporting ‘cases’ and the number of cases is mainly driven by the number of tests – the more tests, the more cases. The majority of people who test positive are asymptomatic – most not even aware they’ve had it!

    So the world moves forward with the virus spreading through the population, accounting for a few deaths among the elderly and infirmed as it goes but slowly gaining herd immunity.

    So where is New Zealand in all this?

    Left behind in isolation. With a collapsing economy and no path to reconnect with the wider world. In 2021 there will probably be a depression in this country, brought on by the policy of isolation. I’m beginning to think that whoever wins the election loses in the long term because they will be presiding over a disaster.

    • Only National can rebuild our economy! It’s hard to imagine how bad life would be for the kiwi underclasses, under Nationals mismanagement. They can’t get there own shit together let alone run the country. A rebuild under National would just about be the end of us. Even though Natz thoroughly deserve all the coming trouble, no thanks I’ll stay with a Labour-Green col.

      • Yes and Clarke was publicly crucified. All the meanwhile Nationals Maureen Pugh and David Carter whom Bridges labelled effing useless and will be gone, stayed on the public tit for far too long. Bugger National they also have useless MPs, it’s just they are hidden from the media. And dont get me started on Woodhouse, he of ” dirty politics “fame.
        The last party I’d want to rebuild the economy and besides plenty of rats leaving a sinking ship.

    • Real?
      Maybe a tad more informed research from you, might save me having to explain how ridiculous your post is.
      p.s. Would you like to buy a bridge?

      A disaster was happening before C-109 came along (Nov repo rate disaster). C-19 was just the final straw that broke the ‘insane financial casino and ponzi schemes back’.

  6. A shambles, agreed, the media egging on mass protests during a pandemic. Good one. Other than that that how about giving us is the deaths per capita from around the world or is unbiased reporting a bit of a stretch? As for Muller, he has no spine.

    • @ Off white. I’m not sure that Ted lacks spine, I think that it could be more of a brain function issue. Everywhere he looks, he perceives a shambles. That’s quite a sad way to live.

      A mathematician – whom I once specifically asked – said that even in chaos, there is order. Ted doesn’t even see that, he just sees a shambles. He might benefit from a course of ECT to sort what sound like tangled neurons, and he mustn’t ever be put in charge of traffic control, or go anywhere near a normal kid’s bedroom or he could go into total meltdown.(Could just be high cholesterol ? Eye problem things ?Dirty spectacles ?).

      The Nats who conjure up invisible men illicitly lodged in lockdown, could have all sorts of issues, and I’m not prepared to go into repressed memory syndrome, or religious histories, but they could demonstrate how level-headed they are by forming posses, and keeping a 24×7 watch on all quarantine facilities themselves.

      With a bit of luck they might see a few more fence-leaping ladies, and they will be able to ecstatically phone thru’ their pictures to the media screaming, “Ecce ! A shambles ! A shambles ” and wail, “This is all your fault,” to PM Ardern, in the way that some men always do to women, even when their shoelaces come undone, they cut themselves shaving, or they fall off their high horse. Life’s hard when you choose it to be.

  7. Well Andrew you appear to be out of sync with the rest of our team of 5 million. We are trying to increase quarantine numbers but as you have seen with our Aussie mates, who have way more dosh than us are also having problems. There current problem emanating from and old problem, its called ‘someone can’t keep it in their pants problem’ and then we have fence jumpers absconding for a day out. Do you have any suggestions how we might do quarantine better? or do you just want us to open up the flood gates and survival of the fittest approach. And who cares about our elderly and those with underlying health problems, heck we can quarantine them. I am keen to hear you solution to us coming out of isolation.

  8. But, but, don’t you know the homeless man told Todd or maybe woodlouse he saw the PM boosting that woman over the fence?

  9. Just a reality check on the Covid situation in USA.
    Notified daily Cases might be increasing (for a number of “”admin”” reasons)

    But numbers of daily deaths are steadily decreasing!!!!
    Now back to levels last seen on March 23rd!

    • yea! Only 130,000 deaths in the USA so far. Congratulate yourself donald.
      As Obama indicated to the Fox news table …Andrew and Roy Edwards that’s sarcasm.
      Nah! There’s no point.

  10. I’m bloody glad that I’m always right about everything.
    That’s why I’m confident with what I’m about to write below.
    The first act.
    In 1984 the natzo deep state grew the undi stain that was roger douglas in a laboratory then he and his criminal minions supplanted themselves deep within Labour. Otherwise, the natzo’s wouldn’t have been able pull off AO/NZ’s own particular iteration of neoliberalism. They’d a been outed.
    In AO/NZ’s case, that meant stealing our taxes paid for assets and services which were paid for from our export revenues which were, as they are now, earned by exporting agrarian goods to the world. It’s that old fashioned thing where people need to eat and wish to wear warm, stylish clothing.
    The second act.
    Once our stuff and things were securely sequestered and belonging to foreign ‘investors’ the rorting began. Electricity prices, for example, sky rocketed, as did our banking costs , food, fuel, timbers, fishes, wools, etc.
    The third act.
    Now that roger and the natzos are not only stuffed to the gills with our money but they’re old fuckers and so they need to escape with our loot.
    But how?
    The fourth act.
    Easy. The natzo’s or yor simply threw their own party under the get away bus to distract us.
    Jonky took off unexpectedly to draw down awesome ‘coin’ from the anz and left a traitor cocky, The Dipton Dribbler, to face the muzak but then he flaked out and went off wandering with the sheep which meant the stunted legal muppet bridges was there to choke and stutter his way around until he was just too embarrassing to countenance so enter Muller. His trump-esque style would have impressed the riche blue rinse brigade in Tauranga but it won’t work with the now politic savvy internet generation where the simple poke of a button will wipe away all manner of bullshit.
    muller? You and your natzo mates nearly pulled it off and I don’t mean by over-wanking. You nearly made it home with our booty.
    The encore.
    If there are good and intelligent people within Labour? You, muller mate, and your thieving lying scum bag cohorts are in the deepest shit imaginable.
    For you homeless people to ponder… And for you farmers now getting below $1.00 a kg for your cross bred wool. Just as well you can sell your wool to Australia aye? I hear Newcastle needs coal also?
    “Sir John Key’s pay packet was also revealed. Key is chairman of the New Zealand board and sits on the ANZ Group board in Australia. As a group director, he received A$249,780 for the 2019 financial year, up from A$148,546 in 2018.Nov 4, 2019”
    A $249,780 is AO/NZ $264,766.80
    But wait? There’s more.
    Stuff.CO.NZ.
    “Oct 18, 2017 – Sir John Key can expect to earn at least $200,000 for about 40 hours’ work a month as chairman of the ANZ board in New Zealand, industry commentators say. It was revealed on Wednesday that he had been appointed to the board of the bank and would take over as chair in January.”
    BTW? Where’s SIR ron brierly these days? Still pouring over his lap top?
    Isn’t it funny that many crooked fuckers love AU? Our bestie trading partner AND our trade competition.

  11. Is Muller sounding desperate? Of course he’s desperate. It’s what he’s going to do that’s important. While he will be like a cornered rat his/their supporters will be worse.

    Any Labour MP or candidate who looks the wrong way or breathes the wrong way will be in the headlines. Some candidate who did something stupid in 1985 when they were 15 years old may as well withdraw now, someone will know about it and it’ll be headlines.

    Would any mongrel National supporter deliberately release private information to embarrass the Government? Shortly before the last election did private information make it out? Was that from a supporter or from someone right in the game.

    The only rules are that there are no rules. That’s how it’s going to be played.

    • Peter “Some candidate who did something stupid in 1985 when they were 15 years old may as well withdraw now, someone will know about it and it’ll be headlines.”

      It’s worse than that. A right-wing Nelson female once wrote, paid for, and got a student called BL, to place a salacious advertisement in the personal column of a Sat morning edition of the Otago Daily Times, with the real Christian name and real phone number of a fellow woman student, who BL had said was regarded as a do-gooder. This annoyed the r-w female, who apparently said, “Let us play a joke on her.”

      Obviously this caused problems. It was a criminal offence. The facts were established with the ODT by solicitor, the late JSD More. The fact remains that chances are a microfiche exists at the ODT which could surface again, depicting a person created by malice and spite, trying to explain that it wasn’t she.

      That was a set-up; there are other nutters and extremists, often not the brightest, perfectly capable of releasing information to harm the government, and not caring if anyone else gets damaged; I wasn’t surprised to see someone suggest that the Nats set up the woman hurdler who quit quarantine; Young Nats
      are often dopey wee things thinking that their prince will come – and the princes featuring in ‘Dirty Politics’ often over-excited toads – some are quite obsessive.

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