I believe the last election was decided by voters embittered post Covid who had gone from being the team of 5 million into a cult hating on Jacinda.
The disinformation, misinformation and naked misogyny that infected our debate still carries the scars today.
One of the reasons I was so vocal against using excessive force against the Dumb Lives Matter protests on Parliament’s lawns was because if you don’t allow disgruntled people their opportunity to speak, it turns into a dark treacle of hate and all those protestors we beat up went home with a terrible anger.
50% of those on Parliaments lawns voted Green and Labour, (a fact the middle class Wellington Woke never wanted ย to acknowledge), and we permanently lost 5% of the vote for the Left by refusing them their right to be heard.
We should have enabled immediate access to benefits for those who lost their jobs because of their refusal to take the vaccine rather than the 13 weeks stand down period and most importantly, Labour needed to thank and reward Auckland for holding the line as long as we did so that the rest of the country could get vaccinated.
Instead all Labour offered us was GST off fruit and vegetables which felt like a massive slap in the face to every Aucklander who sacrificed for the good of the nation.
But those issues aside, Jacinda saved this country from 20 000 needless deaths, admittedly most of those saved 20 000 were boomers who promptly rewarded her by spitefully voting for NZFirst.
No good deed goes unpunished.
The documentary Prime Minister is a powerful reminder of how bloody hard Jacinda worked to protect us all from a once in a century pandemic and reminds us just how well she did despite the tsunami of rage that swept her away…
New Zealandโs royal commission on lessons learned from the pandemic published its first report this summer and in comparison with the British Covid inquiryโs withering โtoo little, too lateโ verdict on the Johnson governmentโs handling of the pandemic, Ardern emerges practically glowing. Her โbe strong and be kindโ strategy, which involved sealing borders early to keep the virus at bay, was judged effective in public health terms, holding back infections until a vaccine was ready and allowing the country to spend less time in strict lockdowns than others around the world.
…we forget the successes of Jacinda’s handling of the pandemic by focussing on the mistakes and this myopic fury allowed voters to elect National, ACT and NZF without comprehending what those 3 Parties would do.
We now have a hard right anti-Mฤori, anti-Treaty, anti-disabled, anti-beneficiary, anti-worker, anti-renter and anti-environment Government who are strangling the common good for their donors interests.
We have allowed Crony Capitalism to replace the common ground between us as citizens all because hating Jacinda has become a cult on the right.
It’s heartbreaking that she will never be able to liven NZ with her family without security again because so many feral anti-vaxxers wish her harm.
She is hated for having the temerity to save 20 000 lives and for putting public health before private profit.
This is who we is, this is what we have become.
Hate is the new black.
Increasingly having independent opinion in a mainstream media environment which mostly echo one another has become more important than ever, soย if you value having an independent voice โ please donate here.
Best PM since Norman Kirk.
Worst PM since John Key.
She did a good job under the circumstances but was replaced by captain’s call Hipkins, who is still there. We are crying out for a principled minor party with socialist values to hold Labour to account, but it does not exist. Governments consider the poll results more important than real people, so it’s unlikely that any major party will make the required changes to restore an economy that provides incentives and rewards to all classes of society anytime soon.
Crony Capitalism is the issue. Where she eventually settles, among us Kiwis, warts and all, or rubbing shoulders with the capitalist elites and their NGO’s, will ultimately be the true tale of this story
You don’t think she’d prefer to raise her child in NZ?She’s had to take the safest option.
This sort of sneering does you no credit. Especially when we all know where Luxon will end up. NZ won’t be his first choice either. Or Seymour’s or van Veldan. Their shares are extremely low here and will remain so for decades.
Can’t say I know what sneering is. But then again, I was, until reading PG’s comment below, unaware of the bluster around Jacinda. As if ZB represents even a remote slice of NZ, let alone a remote slice of the so-called dumb arses crowd. As for Luxon and Co, they represent money so who gives a fcuk where they end up whereas Jacinda, like Helen before her, was meant to represent me, was meant to represent the people. But just like Helen jumped a sinking ship when we really needed her to stay on, then so too has Jacinda. But whereas I didn’t know why Helen left, back then, to see her rubbing shoulders with Bill Gates n Co these days is a clear indicator of what awaits Jacinda in the near future.
Is Helen rubbing shoulders or getting him to open his wallet?
They weren’t retiring AO. They both had plenty more of their working lives to go. Many people work abroad for years. Why shouldn’t they?
If they have earned a place in elite circles, not by splashing cash around but by sheer hard work, their expertise is both needed and welcomed.
How could either have stayed on here in this little country without needing constant security. Not because they’d done anything to provoke that anger and danger but because sadly, we appear to have too many mad people who think nothing of threatening others.
Yes, we needed Helen, but she was being hounded out of office after 9 years, with petty accusations of all sorts, so she went. Jacinda was being threatened as was her child, why should she stay and put up with that?
They didn’t leave sinking ships. It’s the voter’s fault the ships started sinking. They wanted a change and that’s what they got. No-one said it would a change for the better. But people are stupid and need constant excitement. They aren’t happy with steady as she goes.
You’d hope our experience with this CoC will have convinced people of the idiocy of thinking such people are in it for us, to represent us. But they will still vote for the goons and then complain, like ‘rump’s magas, vote against their own interests.
Didn’t say anything about anyone retiring, Joy. Helen had a shyt ton left to offer us, as evidenced by the fact that she’s still working, but she put her career ahead of us, and off she went. Helen did leave a sinking ship because instead of staying on to lead a fightback, she left, thus we had nothing to challenge the Natz with, for ages. Jacinda’s doing the same, burnt out my rear end.
Politics is harsh, I betcha Winnie’s taken a beating in all of his time yet he’s still here and he’s still going, to my disbelief. So, harshness – political fallout – is no excuse to fluck off.
So, why did they go. With Helen, I had no idea. Back then my politics was local, international affairs rarely interested me. But with Jacinda, I do know, because my point of view has reversed, I am far more interested in world affairs than local affairs, now, simply because, at the local level, we, the people still have the power to create change whereas with international issues, issues that often impact upon us – we have zero say on these issues. Case in point being Palestine, try as we may, protest as we do, our politicians listen to Washington, not us. And neoliberal economic policy is the mac daddy of international policy that none of our politicians care to talk about let alone try to do something about.
So, Jacinda presided over thee most important international measures of our time, to date. To many people, including the unelected gnomes that created all of the measures, she was/is, indeed, a rockstar politician. To others, well, the fallout has been mentioned here already. Therefore, clearly, she has caught the eye of the movers and shakers of the world. No wonder she’s moving on, or more likely, in my view, this is why she will leave rather than political fall out being the reason for leaving.
My understanding is that Helen has whipped the UN organization into fine shape. No doubts the elites are excited about where Jacinda may eventually choose to work within one of their NGO’s.
And I shall finish with my usual – the political system is broken, bought and paid for out of Washington, first and foremost. And all NGO’s are equally compromised. The world today reflects my view – we live in a warring world where genocide is being normalized, economic inequality continues to rise, and life expectancy in the USA has been on the decline for several years now (the USA sets the trends for the rest of the world).
Crony Capitalism is indeed the issue!
I think most regular callers here know more than you do AO so you are welcome to put up short comments as you learn things or question matters. Then we can all learn along with you, ‘the rising tide’ situation. And with your new knowledge you can declaim observations and thoughts truly illuminating.
You are right, I know fluck all about far, far too many things, let alone politics! Still, I always value your input Grey, as I may have said before, your wealth of knowledge on local politics is one of the reasons why I’m largely silent on local issues, the likes of you say it all, far better and with far greater knowledge and understanding than I possess. So much to learn, so much to understand…we muddle on.
An absolute tragedy, brought about by unadulterated SPITE, SELFISHNESS and MISOGYNY. That an ex PM, who is revered in the world, can no longer return to live in her home country because of extreme, undeserved vitriole, is appalling. What in the hell are some of you thinking of? And while I am here, thanks ZB for the large part you and your Trolls played in this. She should never have had to put up with threats to her family after giving so much of herself. If you were part of this spitefest then shame on you โ your day will come! I will say again and again – โJacinda will go on to be remembered as one of our very, very best PM’s โ while the likes of Bolger, Shipley, English, Key, Luxon et al will be long forgottenโ. Our current lot wouldn’t recognise the emotions empathy, kindness and respect. NZ should have had, and still should have, a Commisison of Inquiry to pinpoint the ring-leader[s] โ it’s not too late to expose them.
“can no longer return to live in her home country because of extreme, undeserved vitriole”
Where the yuck did all this shyte come from? OH, ZB, as if. For your information, the real threats ( to the powerful) get censored, at the very least. Billy TK and Vinny Eastwood spring to mind. This all sounds like an excuse for her to rub shoulders with the types that she served with ‘rockstar’ prowess rather than stay here among us plebs.
Well said.
‘We are not worthy, we are not worthy of Jacinda….’
Repeat that to infinity.
Ada-da-da–ga-ga … repeat to infinity.
Sadly with the hate rhetoric that has entered the world via Trump entered NZ at a time when people were divided over Ardern. The threats on both her and her daughters life drove her out of NZ. The arrest of an individual at Picton who had threatened to kill Ardern was potentially the catalyst for the decision to move. That would drive me overseas too AO.
Turned virtue signaling into an artform and once the spell was broken went looking for a new audience.
That was John Key JB, not Ardern.
The anti-vaxxers are still out there, drip-feeding their nonsense into vulnerable communities.
This is the price we pay for generations of real cuts to education.
It upsets me to read the vitriol on this web site and others re Jacinda. She did her best and while she didn’t always get it absolutely right-does anyone? – she was/is very human unlike our present PM. I hope she shifts back to NZ and would be happy to have her as my neighbour.
AO 3 out of 11. Most on the critical side. Those unequivocally critical of PM Jacinda are self-exposed as small-minded people. None of you critics would be capable of carrying the load of shit that NZ was then, festering with a number of events that were tragedies for our small country with big pretensions,.
It still is because you failed to get Jacnda’s message, and little understanding of how hard it is to get near to attaining better. So I give you thumbs down. But *Jung’s shadow passes over the world now, and part of having that is feeling discomfort, disappointment, blaming, even hate. Jews were the target set up to aim at in Germany in the 1930s, ours are more fluid and Jacinda did for a while. Who will be next??
* The Jungian Shadow and Self-Acceptance
Texas A&M Galveston
https://www.tamug.edu โบ nautilus โบ articles โบ The Jungia…
Our Shadows embody our inner darkness, the things about ourselves we hide, the damage we experience in our lives but never fully heal, desires we cannot satisfy ..
and.
JUng’s theory of the shadow about from http://www.tamug.edu
Embracing The Shadow – Carl Jung
Orion Philosophy https://orionphilosophy.com โบ the-shadow-carl-jung
29 Nov 2022 โ Jung explained that the shadow is a cognitive blind spot of our psyche, an undercurrent of who we are that we’re completely unaware of; it’s an ...
First off, were the measures adopted right or were they wrong! This is the key issue here. If only, if only, if only we had these discussions. Not then, of course, but time has well passed where we should be allowed to discuss these measures by now. But the measures all remain off limits. This, to me, says a lot.
Otherwise, what was Jacinda’s message? I know she championed teamwork for a time and then she kicked that to the curb without blinking an eye. I also know that the entire world followed the same playbook, differing only in small degrees, and this point – the political world acting in unison – this was the game-changer for me.
Oh fuck off you little wanker
Such is the nature of politics, the subject has a higher tendency than most subjects to bring out the niceness in us. Unfortunately, for me, I am porkier than I want to be.
“Instead all Labour offered us was GST off fruit and vegetables which felt like a massive slap in the face to every Aucklander who sacrificed for the good of the nation.”
Theres an election coming up, will Labour declare a winning universal tax cut! No gst on anything edible sold in a dairy or supermarket. Thats a test – can Labour start to shed its neo-liberal skin.
She never thinks of you either funnily enough.
REPLY TO AO: https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/300788291/jacinda-ardern-an-inspirational-role-model-and-victim-of-ingrained-misogyny. AO are you sure you are not AH? Do read the attached โ it’s just one article at that time. The joke is, Key also jumped ship but no-one is asking why he did. Most of us know, and had it been a LEFT PM they would have been โoutedโ horribly. Funny that! You can’t threaten the small child of a PM, but again nothing was done to protect her. So AH, whoops AO, pull your head in, do your research, and then shoot your mouth off if you can’t comprehend what actually happened. Jacinda was a 100 times better PM than ‘Conman Key.’ And ZB were up to their ugly armpits in the whole sorry saga. As I keep saying she will be revered when the rest of the ‘has-beens’ have been forgotten.
I don’t know who AH is, you should have written the name out in full. Otherwise, it seems the threats to Jacinda were so plentiful that I am sure you’ll be able to sling a link to the verifiable video or audio of the threats, or threat, in question. The link you have provided is just opinion, nothing concrete to substantiate the views expressed. Back to the main point – the real reason for Jacinda moving on, you say threats, I say she was shoulder tapped for bigger things because of her stellar performance during the most extraordinary period of our lives.
AH your narrow-minded, misogynistic opinion is of no interest to me whatsoever. If you truly don’t know the ‘real reason’ she is living in another country then you should say so! The more you write the sillier you look. Keep writing……. And hey, you didn’t comment on Key jumping ship. Again you don’t know do you? You don’t research properly. You can’t read between the lines! It’s easier to vomit up garbage than do the hard yards.
Yes, I didn’t know Jacinda was living elsewhere, but the jury is out as to why she really left, not that this really matters. What she does politics-wise is what matters. Heck, she may just jet off into the sunset, never to be heard again, that’ll surely prove my theory wrong, beyond a shadow of a doubt. As for Key, his departure left me happy, unlike the disappointment I felt when Helen left, and the belief I hold that the PM-ship turned out to be merely a steeping stone to bigger things for Jacinda. Still, it irks me that I have to yap about an out-of-office, right-side pollie. Otherwise, having a different take on a situation, even appealing for further, more concrete information, does not make me, this, that and some other chap, PG.
AO, let’s just agree to differ and respect each-other’s viewpoints. If I have offended you [I can get over-excited even at my age] then I apologise. Let’s move on. All the best. PG