2006 in politics - too depressing to think about. We started the year with a struggling leftie Govt plus a resurgent right-wing opposition...
...and ended up with two left-wing parties. Initially, I was excited about National's new leader - younger, fresher, handsomer, with a rags-to-riches resume. I'd hoped his plain, flat, nasal accent (less alienating than Don's cultured dulcet tones) would resonate in the ears of mainstream kiwis. Until he opened his mouth. Our new look 'conservative' party is anti-nuclear, Treaty-hugging, wimmin-friendly, environmentally-sound and hesitant about tax cuts.
I fear we've become Europe, whose parliamentary spectrums comprise parties such as: Democratic Socialists, Christian Socialists, Green Socialists, Progressive Socialists... (and let's not forget the left-wing parties, either). The wrapping changes but it's the same old stale sausage inside. And so it is with Labour & National. Crikey! How do you tell them apart? Where's the differentiation? I feel like a befuddled Afro-American character in a Spike Lee movie:
Tariana Turia
Exhorts economic independence while advocating the further entrenchment of welfare. Parliament's cosy affluence has insulated her against plebeian hardships of those she champions. Only a comfortable, cosseted kuia could envision a world without violence or crime, especially amongst society's scum. As such, her sniffy high-horse denigration of our 'bellicose' police & military forces is inexcusable.
Personally, I liked her better when scaring people with old-style rabble-rousing race rhetoric.
Pita Sharples
Lionised as the new Maori Moses, our msm are prepared to overlook his own domestic demons. Traumatised by the Kahui murders & under media glare without so much as a soundbite to solve social ills, blames everybody else for the faults of a few. Mistakenly believes banning parents from smacking kids will eliminate child abuse.
Personally, I liked him better on stage, brandishing clubs & thrusting spears, as dynamic leader of performance troupe, Te Roopu Manutaki.
Te Ururoa Flavell
Sacrificed testicles on the altar of PC feminism. Suffers 1980's identity-politics hangover. His regular misquoting of Maori oratory, e.g. evoking Tawhirimatea (the weather God) as support for global-warming nonsense, amounts to cultural vandalism. Or at least, expedient dishonesty. As a former educator, his deliberate attempts to mislead and misinform are the gravest of ethical lapses.
Personally, I liked him better as stern yet smothering school principal. Students may enjoy babying and bossying, the adult electorate does not.
Hone Harawira
Refusing to help Maori outside the Maori roll, and quite partial tocash gifts koha from his constituents, he shows that tribal cronyism, bribery and nepotism are enjoying a renaissance. His hardline stance against tobacco shocked even the most ardent nico-nazis. Proved that Maori truly can excel... at nanny-state thuggery. A bullying zealot, he's Sue Bradford in a grass skirt and feather cloak.
Personally, I never liked him in the first place.
...and ended up with two left-wing parties. Initially, I was excited about National's new leader - younger, fresher, handsomer, with a rags-to-riches resume. I'd hoped his plain, flat, nasal accent (less alienating than Don's cultured dulcet tones) would resonate in the ears of mainstream kiwis. Until he opened his mouth. Our new look 'conservative' party is anti-nuclear, Treaty-hugging, wimmin-friendly, environmentally-sound and hesitant about tax cuts.
I fear we've become Europe, whose parliamentary spectrums comprise parties such as: Democratic Socialists, Christian Socialists, Green Socialists, Progressive Socialists... (and let's not forget the left-wing parties, either). The wrapping changes but it's the same old stale sausage inside. And so it is with Labour & National. Crikey! How do you tell them apart? Where's the differentiation? I feel like a befuddled Afro-American character in a Spike Lee movie:
"You white people all look the same to me."Not that The Maori Party provided any respite. They are my biggest disappoinment and proof that totalitarianism comes in all flavours and ethnicities.
Tariana Turia
Exhorts economic independence while advocating the further entrenchment of welfare. Parliament's cosy affluence has insulated her against plebeian hardships of those she champions. Only a comfortable, cosseted kuia could envision a world without violence or crime, especially amongst society's scum. As such, her sniffy high-horse denigration of our 'bellicose' police & military forces is inexcusable.
Personally, I liked her better when scaring people with old-style rabble-rousing race rhetoric.
Pita Sharples
Lionised as the new Maori Moses, our msm are prepared to overlook his own domestic demons. Traumatised by the Kahui murders & under media glare without so much as a soundbite to solve social ills, blames everybody else for the faults of a few. Mistakenly believes banning parents from smacking kids will eliminate child abuse.
Personally, I liked him better on stage, brandishing clubs & thrusting spears, as dynamic leader of performance troupe, Te Roopu Manutaki.
Te Ururoa Flavell
Sacrificed testicles on the altar of PC feminism. Suffers 1980's identity-politics hangover. His regular misquoting of Maori oratory, e.g. evoking Tawhirimatea (the weather God) as support for global-warming nonsense, amounts to cultural vandalism. Or at least, expedient dishonesty. As a former educator, his deliberate attempts to mislead and misinform are the gravest of ethical lapses.
Personally, I liked him better as stern yet smothering school principal. Students may enjoy babying and bossying, the adult electorate does not.
Hone Harawira
Refusing to help Maori outside the Maori roll, and quite partial to
Personally, I never liked him in the first place.
1 comment:
Um. I've been waiting for Adolf to call you a 'mindless hori' or worse, seeing as I was a 'brainless honky' for similar comments about Pita Sharples. He is indeed the new Messiah for some. Many have come before.
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