GUEST BLOG: Jackie Foster – TRIAL BY PUBLIC OPINION!
It really is a sad day when personal issues are brought into politics, but naming and shaming seems to be what we do in today’s world.
I absolutely agree Kiri Allan made some bad choices in the last twenty-four hours, but what I saw yesterday is nothing short of a disgrace, kicking someone when they are obviously at the lowest point in their life.
Yes, I have written about politicians, ministers and political parties because of their underperforming or my opposition to their policies or government department, but I have never personally ridiculed them as a person and never will.
I have seen comments all over social media from keyboard warriors who just attack when a person is at their lowest.
I ask you all, what is this going to achieve? I say nothing but drive the target to despair and increase media website/social media viewing.
Yes, I hear a lot of you saying, “she is a public figure and should be held to account”, and I agree but a public crucifixion is simply showing the world that we are a nation of judgmental idiots that have a lot of free time.
Kiri, I wish you well in your journey and thank you for what you have done for Aotearoa, knowing that you will rise again and achieve what you are so capable of achieving.
Jackie Foster, CEO, Social Justice Aotearoa
Thank you for your intelligent blog, I deplore the vicious comments on Kiri. I am not a supporter of either of the main parties, I recall the support and gentle comments of Ardern’s when Todd Mueller’s world fell apart.
We love to bash people when they are down it is disgraceful.
Ardern has spades on Luxon and Seymour.
A great blog, Jackie. Social media can indeed be toxic, especially twitter. A voluble female commentator who goes on about all the ‘stand up for women’ stuff is really going to town on Kiri Allan. A lot of it just people scenting blood and piling on and going in for the kill because there’s no comeback.
100% correct
You are right and it is a worry. We need more Kiri Allans not fewer…
Absolutely.
I have full sympathy for Allen as her little incident (which is a carbon copy of such incidents nationwide/worldwide not sure which )
Amazing that a trivial motoring mishap could be used to deflect attention from the passage of the Therapeutics Remedies Act.
A woman crashes her car.
A nation is sold to big pharma….oh that’s just a small thing, pfft,
our society seems to be full of them.
Jackie lets be real here.
Firstly a wonderful blog, and one that shows Aotearoa who you are as a person and secondly if we went looking at every politicians history I’m sure we would all be amazed just what we have elected.
Personally I feel that the whole political system needs an overhaul so things like this do not happen and you are so right when you say we need to stop and think awhile and start understanding that mistakes are made by everyone but guess what everyone is redeemable.
Thank you Jackie for standing up for what’s right, you are an inspiration.
The Minister of Justice drives drunk, crashes and then resists arrest. Kiri Allan did that, no one else. We reap what we sow.
Too true, apart from the resistance piece. Wasn’t that later changed to refused to accompany a police officer or something? Which I don’t get if Allan was at the station for a few hours.
What a muppet.
Let’s be clear about the issue. Kiri was not drunk she committed no crime simply a breech of the land Transport Act exactly like speeding.
Yes she broke the law by failing to accompany a police officer to which she has apologised.
You make this sound like the crime of the century.
Like Jackie said “kick em when their down attitude needs to stop. It’s pathetic!!
That’s why there are no yetis now.
There was an interesting episode in space story The Orville where the actors end up in a place where everything is decided by whimsical yes or no vote to a simple question put over to the People as Democracy in Action. They were all encouraged to indicate their opinion to some fault that had been committed.
The judgment then resulted in discharge or some punishment to he person at fault.i It seemed awfully possible!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFM1yho775M
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6845666/reviews Majority Rule