Hard News: If you can't say something nice ...
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Josh said:
"Really? Legally? Bugger, I'm a hard core repeat offender -- and all because I was too lazy to come up with some new vocabulary. (The people I really pity are the guests who had to find a suitable card for the occasion. There's money to be made there...)".
I'm sure I just gave you money in an envelope which you probably spent on German hookers.
Fuck semantics.
Or else you will have more of a relationship with the woman who helps your 'partner' deliver your child.
Namely the midwife.
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What a lovely post, Russell. Most apt, I thought. It has struck me in the last week or so that the election commentary around here was becoming somewhat reminiscent of post Melbourne Cup conversation- mine won, your's didn't sort of thing. But it's not a horse race - these are people who enter the field, in general, to do some sort of good. They often work very long hours, and very diligently because they believe in what they're doing. If, along the way, they become hardened and cynical, and stop being about principles, then maybe it's time to get out of it. I don't believe you could say that about Judith. I don't know her personally, and I never lived in central Auckland when she was the MP, but either way, you can't deny that she still seemed to enjoy what she was doing, and honestly believed in her principles.
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He has a sharp intellect, was always on top of the issues whatever they were, but also knew and acknowledged that others in the particular gathering had lived experience that gave them expertise on the issues under discussion that he didn't and couldn't have.
He's a Dunedin man and apparently a very good electorate MP.
I'm not sure what Hodgson is like in Wellington and in the trenches, but he's an OK electorate MP - always has lots of time for the students assocation and is on campus regularly, which is pretty good given his Ministerial responsibilities.
I remember once when he took over the portfolios of another minister who had been stood down, and I was talking to him at a party a few days later. His biggest complaint was that his diary had just been mashed together with another minister's diary. He was at that time I think running 7 or 8 portfolios, a couple of them major ones. He's also a major party strategist and has played a big role in the past 9 years.
Not a great speaker, but a fairly encyclopedic mind.
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I do remember asking Hodgson a question after a meeting on campus during the 99 campaign in Dunedin (dammed if I remember what it was about), but his manner left a lot to be desired and we were left with an overwhelming sense of having just met an unhelpful jerk. He certainly lost any chance at my vote over the incident
He might well be quite personable in a time of less stress or pressure but since I no longer live in Dunedin North I don't really care to find out.
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I dare someone to try to think of something nice to say about Roger Douglas.
You're never going to die waiting to know what he really thinks, and agree with him or not (I assume around here it's usually the latter) he's at least willing to back it up with an argument. Not quite as common as it should be. "Just because," is the best way to deal with obstinate children; adults not so much.
No call for squalid eh Craig :)
Dear, I can be as rank as a portaloo at the end of a long, hot Big Day Out but I have limits. I'm rather mit zaftig myself, so snarking about Judith's weigh is somewhat unseemly. And do I care who she -- or any other politician past, present or future fucks? Hetero, homo, bi or neuter as long as they're doing it with consenting adult humans in private, not at all.
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I remember once when he took over the portfolios of another minister who had been stood down, and I was talking to him at a party a few days later. His biggest complaint was that his diary had just been mashed together with another minister's diary. He was at that time I think running 7 or 8 portfolios, a couple of them major ones. He's also a major party strategist and has played a big role in the past 9 years.
Speaking as someone who often struggles with more than one duty at any one time, I was amazed at how Hodgson managed to juggle all those ministerial roles and still find time for electorate duties. And the few times I had to deal with him he seemed friendly and personable. And he's clearly been one of the "go-to" guys within the party.
You do wonder how exhausted he must be though, has he mentioned anything about sticking it out over the next three years?
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Speaking as someone who often struggles with more than one duty at any one time, I was amazed at how Hodgson managed to juggle all those ministerial roles and still find time for electorate duties.
I don't mean to harsh the general amity, but that's his frigging job -- you stand for an electorate, you should bloody know what that entails if you win. Constituency clinics and going to various events are not some optional extra you "find time for", it's your damn job.
And if you can't do that, as well as ministerial duties, you can always decline to accept the warrant. Or you shouldn't be offered it in the first place.
Also, as far as constituency duties are concerned, perhaps it's time to pay tribute to all the electorate agents -- who, regardless of party, do a damn fine job and don't get anywhere near the credit they deserve. It's the nature of the beast that very few people drop in just to say life is fine. When living in Palmerston North, I was helping a friend who had some seriously bad shit going on in her life. Never saw Steve Maharey, but the woman in his office was the very model of sensitivity and managed to offer practical advice that really helped. Bitch rocked and rolled.
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I don't mean to harsh the general amity, but that's his frigging job -- you stand for an electorate, you should bloody know what that entails if you win. Constituency clinics and going to various events are not some optional extra you "find time for", it's your damn job.
Of course it is, Craig. I know that, I'm not that naive! :) Maybe I didn't word that correctly, but I was always pretty impressed (from a distance) at the sheer level of duties he managed to juggle, and the knowledge, application and courtesy he brought to him. Yes it was his frigging job, but he was one of the key links in the Labour Party's time in Govt over the last nine years. He was a machine.
Apologies if the original comment sounded glib, but it is early in the morning.
Also, as far as constituency duties are concerned, perhaps it's time to pay tribute to all the electorate agents -- who, regardless of party, do a damn fine job and don't get anywhere near the credit they deserve. It's the nature of the beast that very few people drop in just to say life is fine. When living in Palmerston North, I was helping a friend who had some seriously bad shit going on in her life. Never saw Steve Maharey, but the woman in his office was the very model of sensitivity and managed to offer practical advice that really helped. Bitch rocked and rolled.
Yeah, very, very true. And I'm sure that one anecdote was merely representative of dozens of people, incidents she had to deal with on any given week.
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Yes, there are blue penguins at Matiatia Wharf on Waiheke Island, but only in the dead of Winter when they arrive and stay awhile, to the great delight of the evening commuters who can see and hear then squawking just below the access way to the wharf.
Re Denise Roche and the Green vote, voting for Denise was not causing Labour to lose a seat - an electorate seat is really irrelevant except in cult towns like Epsom, Tauranga, Wigram and Ohariu. A few posts back somebody was speculating why urban liberal electorates were not better hunting grounds for Green electorate votes. I think Denise did spectacularly well by getting more than the average green vote. -
Gotta take exception to "Cult Towns".
The problem with Party votes is the gang affiliates, like Alamein Kopu, Gordon Copeland, Mark Alexander, Stephen Franks etc it drags out.
The voting for a specific candidate means that people like Stephen Franks are excluded from Parliment. Party vote for National split the candidate vote to Grant Robertson. -
In the general spirit of acknowledging the outgoing MPs, I would like to thank Hamilton's Martin Gallagher. He has a family member with autism and has been a staunch supporter of causes related to such issues, locally and nationally.
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It seems that the Kiwiblog Right do not have a monopoly on being foul and nasty. This just in from Paul Litterick at fundypost:
If anyone has high expectations of Ms Kaye, they will be disappointed. She is a moppet, who became the candidate because of an internal coup and is in politics for her CV, which to date has been largely fabricated.
It seems Labour are putting all sorts of spin on Auckland Central ("if we'd still had Pt Chev, we would have won"--conveniently forgetting the majority in Pt Chev was only 400 votes in Labour's favour last time). While I respect your friendship for Judith Tizard, Russell, she didn't run a hard-working campaign.
I've lived in Auckland Central for many years. In the last three years, I only saw her once--on the eve of the 2008 election, leading a crowd of about 100 Auckland-wide Labour Party activists down Ponsonby Road. Tizard wrote to me three days before the election, twice--both on the parliamentary frank: the first one saying I was one of only 1,000 people she was writing to in Auckland Central (funny, all of my neighbours got the same letter) to ask for my support. The second letter welcomed me as a voter in Auckland Central, and told me that she was the local MP and was available to assist any time I need.
That was a cynical use of parliamentary expenditure.
Tizard didn't help herself by going around patronising the Greens and telling people that the Greens were endorsing her, when they clearly weren't. There is some spin that Roche was upset that Tizard had lost--yet she has publicly, at least on Waiheke, warmly welcomed Kaye as the MP and said they will work closely together on environmental issues.
So here we have the contrast between an inactive, indolent, entitlement MP, and a hard-working candidate from the National Party. I understand that Judith Tizard no doubt had some responsibilities as a Minister--although to be fair Consumer Affairs isn't the most onerous in the world--but that doesn't explain how Kaye got to door-knock ten thousand doors, while Tizard managed the grand total of zero.
And perhaps Judith Tizard is a lovely and warm and gracious person. It's a shame that graciousness hasn't extended to wishing her successor well, or even conceding defeat. I realise that losing an electorate that you've held for so long is a cruel blow, but there is such a thing as good manners, which too often Judith Tizard failed to display.
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Tim appears to have a very low threshold for defining "foul and nasty",
as well as a deep-seated grudge against Judith Tizard.Nevertheless, the fundypost is perhaps on firmer ground in describing Kaye's CV as "underwhelming" as opposed to "largely fabricated" in the absence of evidence to support the latter.
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Hundreds of of people attended the US Embassy event at the Michael Fowler Centre on the evening of Nov 5. It was a big deal, and ministers would have been invited. No ministers fronting would probably have been written up as a snub.
I really doubt it; even if this were the case, a local MP with responsibilities in international relations who wasn't on the verge of losing their seat might have been a more appropriate choice. I don't think there's any way to put a positive spin on an embassy party three days out from the election although your loyalty in attempting to do so is admirable.
Every MP has friends and family who wishes that everybody would just leave their mate alone and go pick on someone else. But if you become an MP then the opposition IS going to have a go at you and if you're letting your own team down then you're going to come under fire from behind as well.
Judith Tizard lost, but not by a huge margin and its likely that if she'd stood down and let someone new, who would trouble themselves to actually campaign for the seat have a go then Labour would have an additional electorate MP with all the advantages that confers.
I find all this talk about voting for someone because they're cool and great to hang out with suspiciously similar to the 'I voted for Bush because he'd be fun to drink beer with' mentality that troubles American elections. Personally I vote on the basis of competence and ability - I might not posses either of those qualities myself but I like my politicians to be very unlike me in that respect.
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Nevertheless, the fundypost is perhaps on firmer ground in describing Kaye's CV as "underwhelming" as opposed to "largely fabricated" in the absence of evidence to support the latter.
Well, some people may find the CVs of equally youthful Labour MPs such as Chris Hipkins somewhat "underwhelming". Ditto for Darren Hughes. I knew both guys when I was Vic -- perfectly pleasant, not on the flaming dingbat fringes of politics, won't be a disgrace to the next (or any other) Parliament, but they've both awfully light on any experience in life not directly connected with scaling the greasy pole. But they both passed the one interview that really counts, so there we go. And here we are.
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There is some spin that Roche was upset that Tizard had lost--yet she has publicly
Sigh ... it's not "spin". I spoke to someone who spoke to Denise Roche on election night.
So here we have the contrast between an inactive, indolent, entitlement MP, and a hard-working candidate from the National Party.
And yes, Nikki Kaye ran a hard-working campaign and did a lot of doorknocking, but I gather campaigning was her job for eight months. I didn't see Helen Clark in our electorate either, but I am interested as to how many readers did see their candidates, without, say, going to a public meeting.
I'm unlikely to convince you differently, and it's not really my intention. I just wanted to write something nice about someone who is more often subjected to idiotic bitching like this from Rachel Glucina, where her crime is arriving in an official arts minister's role (ie: until a new government is formed it's her job to represent Helen Clark, who is the festival patron) in a ministerial car. Further outrage is summoned that road cones were moved so said car could park in the space allocated for it.
It's moronic:
"She pulled up looking like the bloody Queen Mother, but alive," observed one inside snitch. She certainly appeared to swan around the venue with some sort of semi-regal swagger.
Apparently she was supposed to display "feelings of embarrassment or humility".
Whaleoil then wrote a blog about Glucina's article which, for obvious reasons, I won't bother to link to.
The alternative view of this non-scandal is that she fronted up to an official function in the few days between losing her seat and the formation of a new government, when she might have preferred not to. But that would be a human view.
Both Sunday gossip columnists have been doing this sort of thing for a while. I'm not aware of any other MP it happens to.
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Agreed, Craig.
I think that, almost by definition, a late-20s candidate for political office is going to have an underwhelming CV. For two reasons: a) they're relatively young and haven't had time to accumulate much experience; and b) what experience they do have relates in large part to party politics and securing the nomination.
That's why I tendered that the fundypost was on firm ground characterizing Kaye's CV as "underwhelming".
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Apologies if the original comment sounded glib, but it is early in the morning.
Aw, I didn't mean to get on your case, Matthew. It's just this: I have enormous sympathy for the idea that -- unless you're a total oxygen thief -- when you enter politics you can pretty much forget about having anything resembling a life. The collateral damage on relationships and families are particularly sad.
But another (and, yes, much less generous) voice at the back of my head says nobody who will be sworn into Parliament -- or receive a ministerial warrant -- is going to be there because a gun was held to their heads. So, step up and do the damn job or go away. And despite some rather graceless carping from the usual suspects, I actually have a lot of respect for people like Katherine Rich and Steve Maharey who could have gone through the motions, and been well rewarded for it, but decided they wanted their lives back. How many of us have gotten stuck in places where we're desperately unhappy, but we're too chicken-shit to move on?
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dc and Craig, I happen to agree with you that there are few people under the age of 30 who do have an exceptional CV for public office. To be fair, Judith Tizard and Helen Clark both had pretty scant CVs when they entered office. That was clearly one of the obstacles that Nikki Kaye faced when she was campaigning--that she was only 28, and didn't have a lot of life experience. She overcame that obstacle.
It is another thing entirely to allege, as Paul Litterick, a close associate of Judith, has done on his blog, that Kaye "fabricated" her CV. That is disgraceful and defamatory.
Sigh ... it's not "spin". I spoke to someone who spoke to Denise Roche on election night.
Sigh, Russell. I've heard someone who spoke to Roche who said that Kaye was going to be a better MP for Auckland Central. I've also heard that several sitting Labour MPs believe Kaye will be a far more effective MP than Tizard was.
And yes, Nikki Kaye ran a hard-working campaign and did a lot of doorknocking campaign, but I gather campaigning was her job for eight months.
And it's been Tizard's job for twelve years to keep in touch with her constituents. I don't go to the art openings or the opera, but I just haven't seen Tizard around. Comparing Tizard's workload to Clark's is just silly. Tizard should have known that her seat was under threat, and should have put more time into defending it. You know when Jordan Carter comes into your electorate to erect hoardings on a Saturday morning, rather than campaign in his own electorate of Hunua, that you should be out there working harder.
I don't hold any ill will towards Judith Tizard. But I do think Auckland Central deserves a far more active and harder-working MP, and I do believe that Kaye will be that person.
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I didn't see Helen Clark in our electorate either, but I am interested as to how many readers did see their candidates, without, say, going to a public meeting.
Sighted Jonathan Coleman (Nat) many times here in Northcote, for instance standing on Onewa Rd with his campaigners having littered the sides with billboards (arggh).
Hamish McCracken? Don't even know what he looks like. His profile is 404 on labour.org.nz.
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__Hundreds of of people attended the US Embassy event at the Michael Fowler Centre on the evening of Nov 5. It was a big deal, and ministers would have been invited. No ministers fronting would probably have been written up as a snub.__
I really doubt it; even if this were the case, a local MP with responsibilities in international relations who wasn't on the verge of losing their seat might have been a more appropriate choice. I don't think there's any way to put a positive spin on an embassy party three days out from the election although your loyalty in attempting to do so is admirable.
Okay, Danyl: I checked.
You were pretty much completely wrong about everything.
Tizard wasn't in Wellington. She wasn't at the US Embassy party. And she didn't have champagne -- or any other drink -- in her hand on TV3's coverage.
It would be an easy mistake to make, I guess, but the report shows her in an office at the US Consulate in Auckland Central, politely applauding something on the television. She has a party rosette on.
So yeah, not exactly boozing it up in Wellington while Auckland Central burns.
I think this tends to underline my point about the the way she is oddly vilified.
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Hamish McCraken rates very highly in my books for the feat of almost knocking the vile Murray McCully out of East Coast Bays in 2002.
Ahhh, happier days.
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Both Sunday gossip columnists have been doing this sort of thing for a while. I'm not aware of any other MP it happens to.
That's why I don't go there because frankly if they can't say something nice.....:) Also the cones would have been put there for her so they could get their facts right before they mouth off with their collagen bloated lips. And if that isn't true, they can see how it feels. Good wishes for Judith.
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I think this tends to underline my point about the the way she is oddly vilified.
Soooo... any truth to the much passed around notion that she went around saying that Roche had conceded to her, when it wasn't the case? If true, I'd find that a lot more damning that any other charge against the woman.
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I find all this talk about voting for someone because they're cool and great to hang out with suspiciously similar to the 'I voted for Bush because he'd be fun to drink beer with' mentality that troubles American elections.
That's really quite patronising, and I said nothing like that, but whatever. My point was that she seems to represent a free hit for a lot of people, but that her workrate and ability to network are underrated, and that she's a kind and decent person.
I described that view as personal, rather than political, and perhaps I haven't kept enough to the former. But I do remain surprised by the vitriol. Anyway, I think that's enough from me.
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