Political analysis and commentary shaping the progressive debate in Aotearoa New Zealand, focused on power, policy, and accountability.
How are Bill English and Steven Joyce supposed to defeat a young woman who can set the cold, cold heart of Paddy Gower aflame? How do a couple of guys on the wrong side of 50 fight a social-media phenomenon? Sure, they can say that elections are about policies – not personalities – but, after ten years of relying on John Key’s winning personality, who’s going to believe them?
The silence from Israeli politicians over settler attacks on the Zionist state’s armed forces is but one aspect of profound historic developments that Israel and its founding ideology now face.
The hypocrisy, vindictiveness and viciousness of the far right was stunning if not surprising. They think they own the poor, that those on a benefit must account to them, and they cannot tolerate the poor retaining any dignity. And that is why they pounced so hard on Metiria.
I’m utterly dismayed that Metiria Turei has been forced out of the co-leadership of the Greens by a vile media pack determined to seize the opportunity of Metiria’s personal struggle to drive down the Greens.
IT WAS SHORTLY AFTER MARAMA DAVIDSON’S impassioned appeal to Metiria Turei’s devastated supporters, that the “Avenge Metiria” meme made its first appearance. No one’s entirely sure who started it, but pretty soon it was all over social media. Then the ideas for action started pouring in to the Green Party HQ. Though expressed in a multitude of ways, the message was clear: “If Metiria is to be avenged, then we have to get her supporters to the polls!”
As a Socialist, I say Thank you Metiria for being on our side fighting when it counts.
In the coming days, as the vultures of various news outlets attempt to pick clean the carcass of a once-indomitable…
I really wonder what sort of advice is being given the leaders of the Labour Party and the Greens.
THE JACOBINS, along with “Madame Guillotine” and Robespierre’s Reign of Terror, will forever be associated with political extremism. So, the mere suggestion that our very own Green Party might be entering its Jacobin Phase is unlikely to be well received – especially by the Greens!
The mainstream media – or at least one clever journalist working for Mediaworks/Newshub – has finally caught up with a story broken by this blogger last year that unemployment data from Statistics NZ was no longer reliable;