For the love of Christ, if the Right are relying on Liam Hehir to be their cheerleader this is going to become very cruel very shortly.
He just doesn’t have the hips or chin for it.
Look, his 5 stages of liberal grief as an explanation to the liberal rage that has erupted at this hard right racist Government is such bullshit I can’t believe I need to step in and point out how much bullshit it is, but before I take a bandsaw to his argument, let me back the truck up on Karl du Fresne’s crypto-fascist attack on John Campbell!
That’s right, you heard me right. Crypto-Fascist. I called Karl a crypto-fascist.
The role of the Fourth Estate is not to became the vassal of the new Government, the role of the Fourth Estate is to critique, challenge and criticise public policy that is not in the public good, and the journalist is the professional decider of that line.
John Campbell is one of the best journalists and broadcasters this country has. He is without a doubt the most engaged servant of the Fourth Estate and as the Public Broadcaster he has the mana, the skill and the authority to call it the way he fucking sees it!
To attempt to pressure him on the Public Broadcaster is a form of casual fascism, it’s the strange hold of the State on the State Broadcaster, a warning shot that Journalists who challenge this hard right racist Government will be sacked or censored.
Karl du Fresne is arguing FOR self censorship and agreement with the new hard right racist Government.
Fuck Karl du Fresne.
Normally he is actually far better than this on free Speech, right up until someone says something he doesn’t like.
This is a liberal Progressive Democracy you brownshirt crypto-fascist. This hard right racist Government is getting the backlash and rage not because liberals are in 5 stages of fucking grief, they are incandescent with rage BECAUSE this hard right racist Government has blitzkrieged a vicious slashing of vital structures built to bring equality to NZ, as we watch in horror that a Government spat out by an angry post-Covid bitter electorate has mutated into something vastly more dangerous!
Liam wants to say you are in a stage of grief, no you are not, you are fuelled with a bright burning light of righteous outrage that our shared Covid sacrifice has been squandered and rendered into this banjo twanging, redneck, culture war revenge fantasy counter productive fuckwittery and Liam’s call for calm is that the public service will ‘slow them down’.
Wow.
I bet Liam would offer his 5 stages of grief to the Palestinians as well and misread their blank expressions as delight at his intellectual offering.
What’s next? Dr Incremental Max Rashbrooke preaching we should sit on our hands?
Oh. He did write a column calling for exactly that.
What a surprise, Dr Incremental cautions caution.
Liam’s call for calm is that the institutional bias of the administration will kill off the blitzkrieg, which would be true normally, but this aint fucking normal world no more.
We ain’t in Te Puke no more Toto.
We are implementing conspiracy theories and superstitions as social policy!
That is very alarming!
If you are not frightened and angry by what this toxic stew of vested self interests masquerading as the public will has vomited up, YOU ARE NOT PAYING ATTENTION!
Luxon is a weak and shellshocked leader buffeted from crisis to crisis. Winston is the fox in charge of the hen house and David Seymour intends to amputate a vast chunk of the State with the glee of a horny sociopath in a slasher film.
Did you Right wingers think that only YOU were allowed to protest?
What?
The Dumb Lives matter Parliament Lawn protests?
The Taxpayer’s Union roadshows?
Groundswell?
The NZ Initiative?
The FreeSpeech Union?
Corporate Lobbyists?
Real Estate donors?
Federated Farmers?
Anti-Māori roadshows?
Did you think that only you were allowed to protest?
Oh no Comrades, oh no.
The Right are alarmed at the level of backlash they have received in just their first few months, and they should be fucking alarmed.
The Left are organising and the backlash of protest will eclipse what we have previously seen.
The Kings call on January 20th will sound an eruption of anger from Māoridom that will light a fuse at Waitangi Day.
The detente has been broken, the Right intend to rip away the wins and agreements made and denigrate Māoridom for their redneck voting base.
There is a price to pay for using Māori like a political punching bag.
The Right seemed to be under the impression that once they won power we would all fall into line?
This is a liberal progressive democracy, we all have every right to protest and stop you every where.
Everywhere will become a front line.
Everywhere.
The Right have started this deplorable agenda, the damage they have already caused workers, renters, Māori, beneficiaries and the environment is immense.
We are seeing the State used by the powerful to immediately bully the weak, but don’t worry says Liam, the public service will slow it down.
Great.
You can either take Liam’s very wafer thin assurances or you can get the fuck off your hands and fight this hard right racist Government.
What else do you need to see these political vandals do before we all agree everyone has to be on the battle lines?
Sure, they won an election, but that doesn’t stop every single one of us who are offended by their actions to protest it directly!
Do you honestly think a Government led by a feckless Luxon getting pulled between Winston’s latest venomous folly and David’s secret plotting has anything to offer but a bitter harvest of malice?
The economic pain is getting worse, not better.
The Right have egregiously underestimated the backlash to their agenda.
Less people voted than in 2017. There is a swath of those who couldn’t vote because Labour broke their heart and they are seeing the immediate ramifications of that decision and all this hard right racist Government has managed is to shock those voters out of their heart broken apathy.
The Right’s agenda is what people of conscience recoil from, and in a liberal progressive democracy we have every right to free speech and protest to challenge the powerful.
If this democratic truth is news to the Right, they are in very a very rough ride.
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As someone said the other day “I feel a March coming on”
Been up the street a time or two in ’81.
Don’t ride bikes any more but I’m glad I still have my helmet and crash gear.
Karl du Fresene is a racist, homophobic, misogynistic evangelical theocrat who wants a total ban of abortion, homosexuality and sex outside of marriage and imposition of biblical gender roles.
.
…and Hehir is a hard right Catholic neo-Falangist who holds a torch for Franco and Pinochet. The guy needs to be cancelled.
Where is that quote from Ir? Your first sentence is obviously only personal opinion, but who was it that commented on the role of the Fourth Estate?
It’s exactly what the majority voted for so yes, let’s have it all please
It seems like the RWNJ don’t like it when the boot is on the other foot. Well, tough. If they were pleased at the paltry pissant tiny turnouts at their trite little protests, just wait till they see what a real 100K strong angry protest looks like. They might, just might, get a inkling of how far out of touch they really are. It might behove them to remember that ignored protests lead to bricks through windows. That’s a warning that the next thing through the window is Molotov cocktail. It’ll only take one. Then the message might get through.
John Campbell is one of the best journalists and broadcasters this country has.
That might not say what Martyn intended.
Unfortunately NZ doesn’t appreciate the Fourth Estate. See below – we prefer bankers. Journalists left and right need to ask themselves why that is. I certainly wouldn’t rely on any journalist to guard my free speech.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2023/11/the-most-trustworthy-professions-in-new-zealand-and-other-countries.amp.html
Luxon holds a desire to break the rules of the treaty in order to maintain the status of land thieves and shysters. You need to learn that New Zealand is the most Maori nation in the world.
Sean Plunkett never came out openly as, a knuckle dragging champion of white race nation supremacy via majority while the boomers live (and by landed gentry estate wealth and power afterwards), while working in state broadcasting.
In his day, establishment expressed its cultural hegemony merely with the dominant presence of the white face affecting a toned accent of the wealthier suburb, or private school.
Whereas du Fresne one of the Mr Magoo’s at the Dominion was always a Garth George, but one without a conscience.
That said Plunkett has become boorish on radio and on x social media and Du Fresne can still write in complete sentences.
“Less people voted than in 2017. ”
Fewer.
Thank you. That annoys me too.
“Normally he is actually far better than this on free Speech, right up until someone says something he doesn’t like.”
I’ve been censored several times on du Fresne’s blog to the point where I’ve given up commenting. He freely admitted to me that he gives his toadies a lot more latitude than his critics. So his free-speech credentials are pretty shaky to be honest.
Perhaps you are the one who needs ‘to get a life’? Caring about humanity, caring about the populace is never ‘uckt in the head’. But it is possible, Luxon has had a change of heart and turning his luxury Waiheke pad into a place of respite for teens….
One like Johhny going out of their way in telling another to get a life is fucking hilarious. Go , go, go, go Johnny go, go, go!
“superstitions as social policy“
And what are “te mana o te wai” policies then? No superstition involved in Mātauranga Māori either huh?
Unaddressed white guilt dies hard.
ummm, who has lost the plot here? where does he say Luxon is a fascist? woke fools making up shit and projecting their insecurities, again. Get a life, indeed.
“ummm, who has lost the plot here? where does he say Luxon is a fascist? ”
Actually he doesn’t say the word “fascist” so maybe your own woke comment comes from someone who lost the plot.
As an aside what are national doing about ramraids?
They campaigned on this loud and proud yet they have done absolutely nothing to support businesses…
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/waikato-news/news/ram-raid-in-whangamata-overnight/L7TMHEJSFFFRTDD5G4VWOI6YHU/
I ain’t signing up to some blue review – I mean these big “C” Conservitives spell conservatism C-H-R-O-N-Y C-A-P-I-T-A-L-I-S-M. National wouldn’t know a Nationalist movement if they fell in front of one. I’d vote for a conservative environmental party in a heartbeat. Fuck GreenPeace – I want GreenWar.
I guess someone at TVNZ has to balance out the tepid Conservatism of Jessica and the insipid Centrism of Maiki and Benedict.
I can see it now. Health (especially Maori health), education, the economy, child poverty, the govt books, CO2 emissions, and more will be getting dramatically better in NZ, but the Left will continue to be mind-numbingly hyperbolic about this govt. “Oh, they make ministries use English words (instead of words only 5% of the population know)? Welp, then they are racist fascists! Sure, NZ families are doing dramatically better, but that doesn’t matter! That basically no one knows the names of the different ministries is what matters!”
Seriously, it never ends. It’s truly comical.
Also: “Less people voted than in 2017.”
The total numbers were higher in 2023. But in terms of turnout, the drop was 1.7%. About 23k votes. Even if all of them went to Labour, that wouldn’t have changed anything. Heck, many of the close races where Labour lost were to TPM. It was always only gonna be a question of whether Winnie got in or not. That’s all.
Let’s face it: Lots of previously centrist Labour supporters turned to National, much much more than this “swath” who just didn’t vote.
All you say will get better under National was created by National. Health, child poverty etc. Population explosion meant more deficit in those areas under Labour but the fact can’t be denied this was a right wing construct.
Let’s face it, it is clear and obvious the voters voted for change, they did not vote for National to fix the issues they created. You would be extremely naive and mind-numbingly hyperbolic to think otherwise.
It’s just silly to say they were created by National, when they improved under National. They just so happen to improve dramatically under National, then start failing the moment Labour came in? You are that big on coincidences?
Let’s take just one example: Immunisation rates.
In 2009, Maori 24 month immunisation rates were under 75%. That’s what the Key govt took over from Clarke’s Labour govt. By 2012, it was at over 90% and stayed over 90% for the rest of the time National was in power, almost reaching 95% by 2016. Labour comes in and by 2018, it’s dropped under 90% and never goes back. It then just totally collapses in 2020 and is now under 70%.
Another example: Child poverty
In 2012, the number of children living in material hardship was almost 200,000. In 5 years, they reduced this down to about 140,000. Labour takes over, and over the last 5 years, they only reduced child poverty down to about 120,000. That drop only started after covid BTW. And remember, this is supposedly why Jacinda got in to politics. It was supposedly their main focus and they couldn’t even do better than National, who Lefties constantly claim don’t care.
People need to stop voting and supporting parties based on how well that party can LARP as if they are for the people and start looking at what they actually achieve. And guess what? That seems to be exactly what people.
I’m angry now and scared, I can tell you.
What I can’t grasp is how people, who I thought were reasonably level-headed, were so blind to the obvious signs that they were electing cruel and un-hinged people, or as it was, just allowing them to walk into office without trying.
What did they have to be angry about, really? It doesn’t take much it seems, to offend people when they really want to be offended.
Someone legislated to save their lives, someone legislated to save their businesses (without much oversight sadly). But someone cared whether they lived or died and yet they are angry.
We accepted the draconian covid measures, at the time, considering it worthwhile to protect the already over-burdened health system (not entirely Labour’s fault) and to protect ourselves. We did so on the understanding that those measures would be lifted asap. We KNEW they would be. We didn’t think Labour were really trying to be dictators at the time.
I still don’t but some people found it a convenient thing to get worked up about. They lost patience. The fact that it was mainly Aucklanders who were restricted most, didn’t sink in with a lot of them.
Those are the same people who don’t think they need safety equipment on themselves or their quad bikes and tractors or their children, or seat belts. They love to buck against the ‘nanny state’. Yet if they were so smart as to not have unnecessary accidents the state wouldn’t have been nannying them. Therefore, they aren’t that smart it seems.
These angry people have let this cruel and secretive govt. get in. Luxon’s self-confidence about getting the best deal in negotiations has been shown to be over-hyped nonsense born of vast inexperience and we’re left with the exact crowd that MB has described.
it’s interesting how many groups and individuals are required to support the right. Those r/w protest groups noted by MB, are just the most obvious ones.
I’m very glad the left is now taking action and leaders are emerging who have much more mana and reputation than that ill-educated, over-confident, raggle-taggle lot on the right.
Our problems are far beyond their petty, self-serving understanding.
Is it so bad to put peoples’ welfare and our precious planet above profit-making, dependent on exploitation of poor people and our one Earth? Why should we even have to ask that question?
Bob is right Joy in agreeing with you.
Like you Joy, only a few of us get what you say.
NZ hasn’t been progressive since its treacherous leaders embraced neo-liberalism.
Fauxgressive is what we’ve got.
Kiwis voted out of frustration and rage and fear. Lockdowns and Three Waters and the Cost of Living and Crime were the issues at hand. The electorate has a short memory and National will make all of the above materially worse. Except their Covid response will be nonexistent and another outbreak is just gathering steam as the Nats get rid of all the free RATs and jabs.
Kiwis will learn the hard way that Nats never change. But the MSM spin machine will work double time to convince us that a) everything is wonderful b) Labour is horrible c) TINA to corrupt crony capitalism, deep cuts to public services, and asset sales to NAF’s rich mates.
Once a bully always a bully.
In this case another example of “Don’t you know who I am”!
https://www.thepost.co.nz/nz-news/350142368/maggie-barry-claims-misunderstanding-after-police-called-board-flight#cxrecs_s
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