Cracker by Damian Christie

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Cracker: Spotted

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  • Damian Christie,

    I'm not 'freaked out by Winston'. Nor is my mind closed. But every time I open it to what he has to say (most recently last Saturday on 'The Nation'), he re-affirms fairly quickly the opinion I've devised of my own making through 15 or so years of working in and around the political media and Winston Peters himself. It's condescending in the extreme to assume I'm simply following some agreed narrative.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1164 posts Report Reply

  • Danielle,

    Hmm. I think Winston's a pandering racist douche myself, but I must say the "old people are stupid amirite?" thing does seem a bit much around here on occasion...

    Charo World. Cuchi-cuchi!… • Since Nov 2006 • 3828 posts Report Reply

  • Caleb D'Anvers,

    I know what we can do to stop Winston! We can distract him with a full-length mirror!

    London SE16 • Since Mar 2008 • 482 posts Report Reply

  • Kumara Republic,

    I suppose a Winston-led NZ First would still be miles better than a Lhaws-led NZ First. The latter would probably take the party down an even more blatantly BNP/EDL/FN-style direction.

    The southernmost capital … • Since Nov 2006 • 5446 posts Report Reply

  • richard, in reply to Gareth Ward,

    That's just the plural of Libertarian

    Not a word one often needs to pluralize, I would have thought.

    Not looking for New Engla… • Since Nov 2006 • 268 posts Report Reply

  • Lucy Telfar Barnard,

    I recall taking some quiz at the last election (might have been the pundit one, can't be sure now - is there anything similar this time round?) which suggested NZ First's policies best matched my political and social views. So I read their manifesto, and I could see why the quiz turned out the way it did. The problem was that Winston's comments about immigrants and refugees were so poisonous that I was never going to vote for a party that was happy to have him in it, let alone leading it. Not ever. So sure, I appreciate the fact my Mum gets to use a Gold Card, but I don't think that even comes close to making up for all his racism-enabling.

    As for the Libertarianz, snore. I wish I could find them funny, but they're just irritating, like a five-day old mosquito bite that you can't be bothered scratching any more, but you know is still there, though you only notice it being itchy when you're bored.

    Where's McGillicuddy Serious when you need them, eh? (And no, the Bill and Ben Party doesn't come even close).

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 585 posts Report Reply

  • JacksonP,

    I'm just trying to work out how I managed to become part of a clique in 83 posts. It's like I was on some sort of clique fast-track oar summit.

    <nudge/wink>

    Auckland • Since Mar 2011 • 2450 posts Report Reply

  • Lucy Stewart, in reply to richard,

    Not a word one often needs to pluralize, I would have thought.

    Well, it's not a word one often wants to need to pluralize.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 2105 posts Report Reply

  • andin,

    Apologies for my outburst to Damian and Russell. But....

    Did I say stare him down?

    Ok pendant look him in the eye.
    It a rare "privilege" to be lied to by someone as you "look them in the eye" or as they perhaps see it "telling their truth". Something I hope you get to experience and savour one day. I have in my "more than most" years on the planet had to endure being told someone else's truth on more than one occasion knowing there is little I can do about it, except not have much to do with that person again, by design or choice, as they, seemingly delighted, with themselves for this "truth telling" just carry on. And such rancid behaviour is spreading to unlikely places as work environments.

    Try listening to people with an open mind. Don’t assume you know what they really mean. Don’t judge them on appearances. You might be surprised. You don’t actually know it all. No-one does. However, everyone has something of value to contribute. If you let them.

    The cosy consensus makes things easier but it is wrong.

    Reading that I feel like I'm back in some not too distant past era(the bad bit)
    I'd much rather use my critical faculties (as faulty as they may be & faults I hope I'm aware of) when I listen to someone thanks, and I assume nothing. You seem to making all the presumptions.

    raglan • Since Mar 2007 • 1891 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha, in reply to richard,

    Not a word one often needs to pluralize, I would have thought.

    gold

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha, in reply to JacksonP,

    some sort of clique fast-track

    dynamic, even

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Ian Dalziel, in reply to Caleb D'Anvers,

    I know what we can do to stop Winston!
    We can distract him with a full-length mirror!

    He shows up in mirrors?!!

    I’m just trying to work out how I managed to become part of a clique in 83 posts. It’s like I was on some sort of clique fast-track oar summit.

    Once you've nailed your 95th theses doors will open...
    ...or maybe if you're being strung along you'll need to
    consult the Martin Luthiers to keep on song


    The view from a Libertarian logo's head

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 7953 posts Report Reply

  • Richard Aston,

    Damian - what changed your take on the Libertarians - aside from getting older and smarter? I remember the Ayn Rand wave - those people were scary, their shiny eyes and brutally cold logic turned me right off.

    Northland • Since Nov 2006 • 510 posts Report Reply

  • Hans Versluys,

    Libertarianz Party is running half hour election programmes on Stratos, weekly on Thursday at 8:00pm, starting 3 November.

    Auckland • Since Jul 2011 • 33 posts Report Reply

  • Rich of Observationz,

    “old people are stupid amirite?”

    Hey, I'm in my late 40's and I can *feel* my brain starting to decay. By 65, I doubt it'll be functional enough to make sensible voting decisions.

    Back in Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 5550 posts Report Reply

  • Hans Versluys, in reply to Richard Aston,

    Damian - what changed your take on the Libertarians

    Damian discovered girls.

    Auckland • Since Jul 2011 • 33 posts Report Reply

  • Richard Aston,

    Damian discovered girls.

    And perhaps drugs and rock and roll.

    Northland • Since Nov 2006 • 510 posts Report Reply

  • Kumara Republic, in reply to Ian Dalziel,

    The view from a Libertarian logo’s head

    Inscribed on the statue's plaque: "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free". Seemingly not if the "huddled masses" are from south of the border or from desert lands in the East.

    The southernmost capital … • Since Nov 2006 • 5446 posts Report Reply

  • Steve Barnes, in reply to Kumara Republic,

    “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free”

    And we will build a Nation of tired, poor huddled masses yearning to breath free and get them to work for us.

    Peria • Since Dec 2006 • 5521 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson, in reply to Richard Aston,

    I remember the Ayn Rand wave - those people were scary, their shiny eyes and brutally cold logic turned me right off.

    Yes, I was in there myself, and I wonder if it was profound moment of generational disconnect. "How the fuck did my son turn into a fascist?" would probably have been passing through my left wing parents' minds. And the silly thing about it all is that we little realized that by talking up neoliberalism we were actually talking our own parents out of feeling like they owed us anything, that of course neoliberalism plays into the hands of property owners.

    There has long been a saying along the lines of "if you're not left wing by the time you're 20 you've got no soul. If you're still left wing when you're 40 you've got no brain". To me, it's quite the opposite. I felt that the saying for my generation should be "If you haven't considered being right wing by the time you're 20 you've got no brain, and if you're still right wing by the time you're 40 you've got no soul".

    Perhaps that is because we're all having kids so much later now. Somehow I was so much more of a breadhead when I was a kid. I don't know if the times fostered that. It probably comes from having left wing parents. To choose the left was reflexive, required no thought. We really did flail around to find an alternative. Many chose environmentalism, but it turned many of us off precisely because it looked like being a hippy, something that had been cool in our parents time. It really did take the wisdom accrued over time to actually see what the traditional left was all about.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • Ian Dalziel, in reply to Richard Aston,

    Galt edged...

    I remember the Ayn Rand wave – those people were scary, their shiny eyes and brutally cold logic turned me right off.

    I hear them referred to as Randroids, or Ayndroids maybe,
    (never Rosenbaum-bots ) or are they just Greenspanners
    and Randumb Factors...

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 7953 posts Report Reply

  • Kyle Matthews,

    Anyone’s parents or grandparents use a gold card on the bus to get them places they couldn’t go to otherwise?

    My father finished his six year contract as a CEO for a large govt department, preceded by 5 years as a Commissioner of Police, preceded by a very healthy career in NZ police with associated superannuation.

    He happily uses his gold chance every chance he gets. Just sayin'.

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha, in reply to Kyle Matthews,

    preceded by 5 years as a Commissioner of Police

    aha, previous coinversations here making more sense :)

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    So, yeah, I’m over it too.

    Dude, at least you have an adorable baby bearing half your DNA (and with Klingon brow-ridges) to go home to. I taunt the neighbour's cat.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    I don't know about the cold dead eyes. What really frightens me about the Randroids is the kind of sectarian aggro that makes the Protestant Reformation look downright chummy.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

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