Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: Go Us

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  • dc_red,

    __"I'm a bit like Obama": says John Key.__

    I think he's quite right on one sense - not so long ago, the convention wisdom was both men had the proverbial snowball's chance of reaching the top of their respective food chains. Other ways, not so much.

    Well, they're both male and human, so in that respect they have tons in common, at least in DNA.

    But, Craig, wasn't Key picked out as potential leadership material as soon as the new broom swept him into the candidacy for Helensville in 2002 (and swept out useless time-server Neeson)?

    Oil Patch, Alberta • Since Nov 2006 • 706 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    Fair enough, although how this is suddenly any of our business, I'll never know.

    I know, I know. But she is being sold to the evangelical base as the pro-life super-mama on the basis of this pregnancy (as Jolisa said, it makes her the pro-life poster girl), while she seems to have actually done some oddly risky things.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Danielle,

    Speaking of Top Chef, Craig, is a 'filobuster' an overfilled spanakopita? :)

    Nemo me impune lacessit

    Bwah! Does threatening me in Latin make it more classy, or just more dorky? It's hard to say...

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

  • Graeme Edgeler,

    One popular theory is that McCain wanted Lieberman and Rove wanted Romney, and McCain chose Palin to piss Rove off ...

    If that was the aim, wouldn't he just choose Lieberman?

    Wellington, New Zealand • Since Nov 2006 • 3215 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    But, Craig, wasn't Key picked out as potential leadership material as soon as the new broom swept him into the candidacy for Helensville in 2002 (and swept out useless time-server Neeson)?

    So was Winnie back in the day. And being the media-appointed great brown hope of Parliament (Peters again, Delamare, Tamihere, Chauvel and Jones etc.) seems to be the kiss of death. Though the inflamed senses of entitlement of all of the above may have been the real killer.

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

  • giovanni tiso,

    But she is being sold to the evangelical base as the pro-life super-mama on the basis of this pregnancy (as Jolisa said, it makes her the pro-life poster girl), while she seems to have actually done some oddly risky things.

    My inquisitive little brain wonders: did she even know the child had DS? You can't very well make a positive diagnosis in utero without an amniocentesis, and why would you subject yourself to an amniocentesis if you knew you were going to keep the child anyhow? Except if you claim to have known the child had a disability, then you do become the poster girl for having resisted the "abortion pressure" and you end up on Lifenews.com.

    If she didn't know, on the other hand, the choice of flying during early labour seems a lot less problematic.

    Having followed the line of argument, I can't really be too sanctimonious, but of course being pro-choice means also accepting that this person doesn't owe us her health or that of her unborn baby, regardless of her political persuasions. It's a bit like when anti-gay senator Larry Craig was arrested in that airport toilet a couple of years ago. Nobody deserves that treatment, and where the hell was the outrage against the police?

    Of course I didn't feel that way about Haggard the Horrible. That was a moment of pure glee.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    Does threatening me in Latin make it more classy, or just more dorky? It's hard to say...

    I wouldn't accept Amontillado from the guy. Just saying.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    If that was the aim, wouldn't he just choose Lieberman?

    Only if both McCain and Lieberman (who is still formally part of the Senate Democratic Caucus) wanted to get lynched on live television.

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

  • Craig Ranapia,

    BTW, Graeme you are aware of Leiberman's voting record? He might well be hawkish on defence and Iraq, but on gay rights, gun control and abortion he's still the anti-Christ to the Republican "base". And they know it. If McCain really wanted a social moderate, why not go for one who's a Republican? I don't believe they've all been hunted down and slaughtered by Darth Rove. :)

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

  • Isabel Hitchings,

    I've read up a little on birth issues with Down's babies (yes, alright, I can't help myself). I'm a bit more shocked than I was. Nearly half of Down's babies have heart defects, and some require heart surgery immediately after birth.

    A mum at my kid's Playcentre recently had a baby with Downs. She was not a well baby at all to start with and had several days in NICU with a lot of tubes in her.

    I'm seeing Palin getting some flack for choosing to carry a Downs baby to term rather than aborting which, as a pro-choicer, I find appalling. Surely we should be able to rise above our opinions of her stance on abortion and allow the woman her own choice in the matter.

    Is it known for sure that she knew the diagnosis before the baby was born - Downs isn't always picked up before birth (the above mentioned baby's condition was a complete shock to her family) especially if the mother chooses not to test for it.

    Christchurch • Since Jul 2007 • 719 posts Report Reply

  • JohnAmiria,

    One popular theory is that McCain wanted Lieberman and Rove wanted Romney, and McCain chose Palin to piss Rove off ...

    It would seem that Bill Kristol was pushing her last June:

    hither and yon • Since Aug 2008 • 215 posts Report Reply

  • JohnAmiria,

    Is it known for sure that she knew the diagnosis before the baby was born -

    Yes, she said she knew, and decided there was no option regardless. That's how she earned her wings ...

    hither and yon • Since Aug 2008 • 215 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    It would seem that Bill Kristol was pushing her last June:

    I think Kristol was given a New York Times column to make the other conservative, David Brooks (who actually has working brain cells and doesn't need to be on anti-psychotics), look good by comparison. Or Kristol is a cunning mole who isn't really that stupid after all, but trying to lull the liberals into a false sense of security.

    Speaking of medication-free Republicans, someone else over at National Review goes off message:

    Palin will also be assigned to pacify conservatives. On the evidence of the numerous emails reprinted here, that will be easily done. Reader after reader said that the base was now energized. You would have thought the base was energized by being in a war. If not, perhaps we need a new base.

    We have shown the same color-by-numbers mindset that liberals did when they rallied to Obama. Liberals love Obama because he is a Numinous Negro. Conservatives love Palin because she has a Downs baby and an M-16. For both sides, that is all on earth ye know and all ye need to know. You might call it mystical and childish.

    May I be so wrong that a hundred harpies will pluck my eyeballs.

    "Perhaps we need a new base"? I don't want to see what the electricity bill is like after Rick Brookhiser's had his gonads attached to the mains...

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

  • Che Tibby,

    Downs isn't always picked up before birth (the above mentioned baby's condition was a complete shock to her family) especially if the mother chooses not to test for it

    a 43-year old mum in a high income/gunernatorial family? there will be an obstetrician who will be demanding an amino

    the back of an envelope • Since Nov 2006 • 2042 posts Report Reply

  • Matthew Poole,

    I'm seeing Palin getting some flack for choosing to carry a Downs baby to term rather than aborting which, as a pro-choicer, I find appalling. Surely we should be able to rise above our opinions of her stance on abortion and allow the woman her own choice in the matter.

    Once again the pro-choice lobby demonstrating that "pro-choice" means "we won't support your choice unless it's to terminate." Honestly, the militants on both sides are equally abhorrent in the rigidity of their views. It's just that the pro-choice side don't bomb abortion clinics. Instead they decry anyone who chooses not to abort.

    Auckland • Since Mar 2007 • 4097 posts Report Reply

  • Che Tibby,

    heh. took me two days to work this out.

    the back of an envelope • Since Nov 2006 • 2042 posts Report Reply

  • James Francis,

    heh. took me two days to work this out.

    G'arn, gi'us a clue.

    It's eluding me.

    St John's, Newfoundland • Since Nov 2006 • 121 posts Report Reply

  • B Jones,

    Perhaps we could locate some sources before we apply such broad brush criticism to an entire political movement. I've certainly not seen any actual pro-choice advocates say such things.

    I do, however, suspect that Palin may have been criticised for having a really busy and important job as well as a special needs kid, in the sense that perhaps she might be better not to do that job and look after the kid instead. Not the same thing.

    Amnio (and I think there's another test) have high false positive rates and some risk of causing miscarriage. If I were staunchly pro-life, I wouldn't bother with the test.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 976 posts Report Reply

  • Danielle,

    Honestly, the militants on both sides are equally abhorrent in the rigidity of their views.

    I think that's a false equivalence you're drawing there. Bombing abortion clinics is several orders of magnitude worse than saying 'meh, why didn't she abort the Downs foetus?'

    (Of course, I support her choice to do whatever. That's what pro-choice means in non-crazyville.)

    (Giovanni, Amontillado! Hee!)

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

  • Danielle,

    James - Marcy from Married With Children...?

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

  • Thomas Johnson,

    I am actually fairly stunned by Russell's willingness to front and direct this discussion on such a personal issue. Don't you think that it is her business on how to manage her pregnancy, not yours?

    It amazes me that you are always making snide remarks and finger pointing at WhaleOil for such trashy reporting, but willingly undertake much the same behaviour when then target is a republican. What's up with that?

    Wellington • Since Oct 2007 • 98 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    I do, however, suspect that Palin may have been criticised for having a really busy and important job as well as a special needs kid, in the sense that perhaps she might be better not to do that job and look after the kid instead. Not the same thing.

    Indeed not, and I make no apologies for saying that if Palin was Obama's veep pick I sincerely believe that many of the people squeeing their pants over her now would be saying exactly the opposite -- what kind of monstrous, power-hungry non-woman would go back to work three days after giving birth to a severely disabled child, and mere months later abandon the poor wee bairn (and the rest of her family) to hit the campaign trail? And let's get real here -- the primaries and general campaigns are designed to grind the candidates to babbling, sleep-deprived zombies who've been eating shit at odd hours for months. And then, if you win, the real hard grind begins...

    I've nothing to say about a private matter between the Palins. But I've sure got a lot to say about politicians who use their children as campaign props; and Sarah Palin isn't campaigning for Mother of the Year but Vice-President of the United States of America.

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

  • James Francis,

    James - Marcy from Married With Children...?

    Ah! Gap in education due to not having television in those days.

    Thanks, Danielle.

    St John's, Newfoundland • Since Nov 2006 • 121 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    James - Marcy from Married With Children...?

    And the delicious joke was that uptight humourless yuppie feminist Marcy was played by Amanda Bearse -- who came out as a lesbian before it was fashionable. :)

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

  • Russell Brown,

    It amazes me that you are always making snide remarks and finger pointing at WhaleOil for such trashy reporting, but willingly undertake much the same behaviour when then target is a republican. What's up with that?

    I'm sorry you feel that way. I don't believe the "grandmother" conspiracy theory, but I did read the news stories, and for someone whose pro-life credentials are being very actively pitched to the electorate on the basis of this pregnancy, she did some odd and risky things.

    I have not had anything to say about her decision to continue a Down's pregnancy, but for the record, I think it's admirable. I know a young Down's guy and his mother and they're sweet. I also have two special-needs kids myself, and I'm on record as dreading the day that there's a screening test for autism.

    On the other hand, I'm mindful that this person would not only judge someone who made a different choice, but seek to remove their right in law to make that choice.

    So I'd be grateful if you didn't compare me to Whaleoil.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

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