Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: Dirty Politics

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  • Keir Leslie, in reply to Tom Barker,

    Exactly! It's not like Hager's hard to find --- people with incriminating emails seem to do it all the time.

    Since Jul 2008 • 1452 posts Report Reply

  • nzlemming, in reply to Steve Barnes,

    Isn’t she known as Cactus Kate because she is surrounded by pricks?.

    roflnui, to quote a certain Sacha

    Waikanae • Since Nov 2006 • 2937 posts Report Reply

  • Kumara Republic, in reply to Richard Aston,

    50 cent gang

    Oh shit now my paranoia is up

    Not just China, but also Israel, America, Russia, Britain...

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

  • Alfie, in reply to Kumara Republic,

    Not just China, but also Israel, America, Russia, Britain...

    The Israeli one is interesting... the Jewish Internet Defense Force. Is it possible that our Cam has popped over there for some training?

    Dunedin • Since May 2014 • 1440 posts Report Reply

  • stephen clover, in reply to Kumara Republic,

    ...shoot that’s probably not allowed...

    wgtn • Since Sep 2007 • 355 posts Report Reply

  • Grant McDougall,

    The guy who runs the Ruminator blog says that when he was a civil servant he was pressured to respond to Slater's OIO request ASAP

    Dunedin • Since Dec 2006 • 760 posts Report Reply

  • Richard Aston, in reply to william blake,

    Richard, yes my moral compass points to having a free and healthy fourth estate. if the PM is pre determining his response to a unknown written critique rather than a thoughtful and balanced response to the actual information, we do have a disconnect in this vital process.

    William you are a gentleman and a scholar .
    I may have been tempted to use much dirtier language to describe the circus of political manipulations before us but that would be to join them.

    Northland • Since Nov 2006 • 510 posts Report Reply

  • Andre Alessi, in reply to Grant McDougall,

    The guy who runs the Ruminator blog says that when he was a civil servant he was pressured to respond to Slater’s OIO request ASAP

    I'm disturbed but not surprised by that. Government departments game the OIA process all the time, and it's clearly not something being driven by the overworked and underpaid public servants who put their names to the emails.

    Devonport, New Zealand • Since Nov 2006 • 864 posts Report Reply

  • HORansome, in reply to Paul Campbell,

    Remember how Watergate went down, it wasn’t the break in that brought Nixon down, it was the cover up …… watch very carefully when Key’s lips move, what comes out and who’s pulling the strings, it’s what he does over the next few weeks that will damn him or let him go free

    I've bene thinking that myself: I think people often forget that the initial reports by Woodward and Bernstein were pooh-poohed by the major newspapers and TV news networks at the time. It took time before the claim of conspiracy was vindicated and become commonly acknowledged as being the best explanation of the event.

    Tāmaki Makaurau • Since Sep 2008 • 441 posts Report Reply

  • Rich of Observationz, in reply to Kumara Republic,

    There's a more subtle and insidious trick though than just hiring trolls and hackers. It was used by the CIA with Encounter magazine in the 50s - you just find a publication/blog/politician that broadly supports your approach and feed them money. They need not even know about it - it could be a semi-fake coffee roaster or internet business that suddenly wants to buy lots of advertising space.

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

  • Ian Dalziel, in reply to Rich of Observationz,

    Attachment

    It was used by the CIA

    this too...

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 7953 posts Report Reply

  • Lucy Telfar Barnard,

    I’ve been having an exchange with Fonterra on their facebook page asking about Hager’s allegations about their possible involvement with Carrick Graham, and pro-formula posts on Whaleoil. They’ve finally responded saying their head of communications has gone on record… behind the paywall at NBR. Does anyone here have a subscription and want to give a precis of whether or not they were involved with Graham?

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 585 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha, in reply to nzlemming,

    hey, the word is community property

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha, in reply to Andre Alessi,

    he has also heard from other public servants. This sort of pressure seems something relatively new.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    I'm delighted when agencies respond to OIA requests promptly but I'd rather it wasn't only the ones selected by their Minister for non-transparent reasons.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Aidan, in reply to HORansome,

    I’ve bene thinking that myself: I think people often forget that the initial reports by Woodward and Bernstein were pooh-poohed by the major newspapers and TV news networks at the time. It took time before the claim of conspiracy was vindicated and become commonly acknowledged as being the best explanation of the event.

    This is Robert Redford’s take on Watergate.

    https://soundcloud.com/aidanh-1/robert-redford-on-watergate

    Same old same old – cynical “in” journos who are are just too smart for their own goddamn good.

    Woodward and Bernstein were the outliers, the ones prepared to really take it to the powerful. Rest too scared, too "savvy", as Jay Rosen might say.

    Canberra, Australia • Since Feb 2007 • 154 posts Report Reply

  • Michael Homer, in reply to Lucy Telfar Barnard,

    They deny it:

    However, Fonterra’s group director of communications Kerry Underhill says the dairy cooperative has never, directly or indirectly, requested or paid for posts on the Whale Oil blog and has never discussed the matter with Carrick Graham.

    ... He says Fonterra hasn't worked with that public relations agency since he has been with the company [since August 2013], and that to his knowledge Fonterra has never worked with the agency or ever requested or paid for posts on any blogs, either in New Zealand or overseas.

    ... “These things can take on a life of their own, and this is absolutely without any truth or foundation.”

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 85 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown, in reply to Keir Leslie,

    Yeah I think the Law Society needs to ask serious questions about her behaviour there.

    Note that Jordan Williams is also a lawyer. In New Zealand.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Lucy Telfar Barnard,

    since August 2013 is only last year, so that's not really very long; and saying it's "never discussed the matter with Carrick Graham" is still not the categorical denial I'm looking for. It would be very easy to say "please manage our social media presence however you think best" without discussing how that was going to be achieved. Most importantly, they haven't offered any explanation for why Carrick Graham was tweeting positive statements about them, which I somehow don't think he'd just do out of the goodness of his heart. (He works for Big Tobacco, therefore he has no heart, let alone one with any goodness in it).

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 585 posts Report Reply

  • Kumara Republic, in reply to SHG,

    Seriously, do you realise how laughably bizarro-world implausible that is? It couldn't get any nuttier if you introduced the Illuminati or TEH MOLE MEN.

    Sometimes the truth can kick people in the balls. Denial is the last refuge of the red-handed.

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

  • simon g,

    For the Watergate comparisons to work, we'll need ...

    - a newspaper proprietor and a strong editor who are committed to investigative journalism

    - members of the governing party who see what is wrong and break ranks to speak out

    - independent legal authorities who put the law above politics, even if it means getting fired by political masters

    We certainly don't have the first two (yet), the third remains to be seen.

    And Nixon got 61% of the vote after Watergate.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1333 posts Report Reply

  • pohutukawa tree, in reply to Richard Grevers,

    When you have a low-traffic website on shared hosting ...

    Slater strikes me as a technological novice, which leads to a whole range of other possibilities:
    - he inadvertently revealed his Gmail password to somebody
    - somebody bought his old computer with the data just "deleted" (not wiped)
    - somebody socially engineered their way into his computer(s)
    - he lost his Time Machine backup drive, or sold it without having wiped it properly
    - he inadvertently made his dropbox/google drive publicly available
    - his IT support are convincing actors with some sense of fairness/moral fibre
    - (millions of other possibilities here)

    Since Jul 2014 • 11 posts Report Reply

  • Paul Campbell,

    - his password was "whaileoil" or "IloveJudith"

    Dunedin • Since Nov 2006 • 2623 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    Danyl has been polarised by reading Dirty Politics.

    There’s no one comparable to Slater on the left of politics, or blogging. He is a phenomenon unique to the National Party. Key can insist that this is all just a lie, just a conspiracy story, but people who read the book know that this is simply documentation from Slater’s emails and that the Prime Minister is lying to their faces.
    ...

    Whatever the wider implications, the book has had a profound effect on me, personally. Something that doesn’t come across in the news coverage about Dirty Politics, and Cameron Slater, Jason Ede, Jordan Williams, Simon Lusk et al is just how fucking awful these people are. They spend their lives trying to poison and contaminate our politics. They enjoy seeing people suffer. They get excited by the idea of breaking up the marriages of their political enemies and ruining their lives. And John Key stands up and bleats about how everything they do is fine, and the people on the left are the nasty ones. Fuck him.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • pohutukawa tree, in reply to Paul Campbell,

    - his password was "whaileoil" or "IloveJudith"

    This is probable more likely than people would believe.

    Since Jul 2014 • 11 posts Report Reply

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