Hard News: The Disingenuous Press
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I wonder if journalists have generally come down fairly hard on Norman because two of their number have just been hit very hard by the Speaker for doing what he is said to have done after he picked up his flag -- pursuing someone through Parliament, shouting at them.
My understanding is that they breached a ban on filming in Parliament's stairwells, which is enough for the Speaker to discipline them regardless of the rest of their behaviour.
Norman on the other hand, as I said upthread, ought to have registered his protest with the Speaker according to protocol and as a known quantity should anyway have been the subject of risk assessment briefings by DPS to the Chinese.
In any case, as a Member of our Parliament it would be a bit ridiculous if he was not allowed to be on its grounds. Perhaps whispering deferentially on behalf of the people would be acceptable? The future restrictions that the Speaker has been asked by the Prime Minister to implement will be interesting to compare with other bastions of democracy like Fiji, Zimbabwe.. and China.
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a matter that requires the House to be put under urgency. Again.
I understand from Idiot/Savant's previous posts about this that it silences the opposition by eliminating a Members Day (on Wednesdays) where MPs other than the government ones might get to put forward legislation. And this lot have done it about half the time so far, which is many times more than any previous government.
It undermines the whole concept of "urgency" and of parliamentary representation of diverse views. It also says a lot about their character that they fear anyone else having a say. Cowardly bullies in charge.
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Cowardly bullies in charge.
Absolutely which is why Trev wanted to make his point.He knew what the outcome would be, but it would piss Gerry off. :)
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I think it's not at all important, in terms of what has arisen out of it. The right to protest should not be dependent on making perfect sense, or dealing with the complexity of the issues.
Hmm, how do I do this without saying 'but'?
Seems to me Norman is more than capable of 'dealing with the complexity of the issues', and therefore this was a wasted opportunity. Is it that hard to imagine a better use of his privileged access than this?
I'm not speaking about protesting in general, just Norman in particular.
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Can you suggest something "complex" a protestor with individual access to that area could do, that would also attract TV and other media attention during the 60 seconds of the visitor's entrance?
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Can you suggest something "complex" a protestor with individual access to that area could do, that would also attract TV and other media attention during the 60 seconds of the visitor's entrance?
Actually, yes.
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Would you tell us what it might be?
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It involves mayonnaise, a whole lot of radishes and an old copy of Popular Mechanics. You don't want to know.
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Would you tell us what it might be?
Sure.
Stand out there with your whole caucus. This is a longstanding Green Party policy -- why weren't they all there?
Stand back a metre. You'll still be in shot, along with your signs/flags/whatever. It would be quite a powerful statement to have the whole party standing there in vigil. Much more so than Norman doing his yappy-dog thing --which, as I noted, seems to have alienated a lot of people who would normally be sympathetic to the Greens -- eg, Brian Rudman.
Find a story for the lazy media. Get a real person who has been hurt by China's Tibet policy to stand with you. Tee up that person to tell their heartbreaking story. You know this is going to happen a long time before it does -- so get your fucking media shit together.
Have a coherent position, backed up with facts and numbers. "Free Tibet now!" is not a coherent position.
Attempt, by whatever means, a motion in the House, expressing your party's regret that our government is dealing with the Chinese ogres.
I really cannot emphasise how many apparent lefties I've spoken to who thought Norman behaved poorly. Protest is not only about visbility, it's about winning sympathy for your cause. Out there in the real world, he didn't achieve that. It looked like he was trying to harness the event for his personal profile.
None of this relates to the unacceptable behaviour of the Chinese security officer, or the apology. I just think it was poor strategy on the part of the Greens, and that it has backfired for them.
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It involves mayonnaise, a whole lot of radishes and an old copy of Popular Mechanics. You don't want to know.
I actually did recently obtain some old copies of Popular Mechanics. They're choice as.
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Can you suggest something "complex" a protestor with individual access to that area could do, that would also attract TV and other media attention during the 60 seconds of the visitor's entrance?
Culture-jamming in some form or another.
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Seems to me Norman is more than capable of 'dealing with the complexity of the issues', and therefore this was a wasted opportunity. Is it that hard to imagine a better use of his privileged access than this?
Well possibly. But are we crticising him for not having thought out his protest as well as one might hope? Is that an essential part of his job?
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Norman could have stood there in a suit made of hemp woven in the Colours of the Tibetan flag whilst knitting said flag.
Edit catching up, RB has a goodie. I like it. I like it a lot -
OTOH, I thought it was appalling that Norman was denied leave to make a personal statement the following day.
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OTOH,
See, you're dammed if you do and you're dammed if you don't. Whatever he did, because Key didn't like it, the rest followed suit with condemnation, and it spreads real quick like.
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Good suggestions
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Out there in the real world, he didn't achieve that. It looked like he was trying to harness the event for his personal profile.
No point re-stating what Russell has said, which was all good, but yes, this is what I wanted to express.
But are we crticising him for not having thought out his protest as well as one might hope? Is that an essential part of his job?
Yes, and, maybe? Although he is not employed by the Tibetans.
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Absolutely which is why Trev wanted to make his point.He knew what the outcome would be, but it would piss Gerry off. :)
OMFG... and I've got to say this again, Russell Norman's the one being an irresponsible toss-pot not only "abusing" his position but bringing Parliament into disrepute? Hell, I'm finding unenlightened despotism more and more attractive.
But, hey, while Trevor's been having his little meta-jape his caucus are fully supportive of eroding the political neutrality of the Police for no good reason I can see, all without select committee scrutiny or public input.
Been kind of sad watching acting British Opposition leader Harriet Harman and her caucus acting as if what they do actually matters.
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I should note that I'm still not entirely sure what I think about it all ...
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I should note that I'm still not entirely sure what I think about it all ...
Neither am I, to be honest. Nice thing about PAS is that there's always an argument or two floating around you may ultimately find unconvincing, but can't dismiss out of hand.
Who knows -- perhaps Parliament and I are going through a rough patch, but things will work themselves out in the end.
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On PEDA, Simon Collins reports that JR Pereira denies National Party connections, and that there was an earlier proposal than the small one that has been cited.
JR Pereira said yesterday that the proposed "Pacific skilled employment programme", which stands to get the $4 million, dates back to a 43-page proposal developed by Mr Saitala in 2007.
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Mr Pereira said the proposal was presented to the Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs in late 2007, when he still worked at the ministry as a regional adviser for economic development.
He said he and others talked to Mr English about it in Auckland early last year and again this year. He also discussed it with Mrs te Heuheu this year.
But, he said, he was not and never had been a member of the National Party, and voted Labour in 2002 and 2005.
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I should note that I'm still not entirely sure what I think about it all ...
Neither am I, to be honest.
Me neither, but I do always expect a consequence for my actions especially if it goes against the grain.(hell one only need write something that pisses Craig off and and he fires write back :) Still he deserved his personal statement in the House, and he had the right to protest, and, an'...oh I'm going bak to watching the miserable pound.
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Think John Armstrong captures the feeling amongst the 2 parties rather well. Yesterday in the House
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Have a coherent position, backed up with facts and numbers. "Free Tibet now!" is not a coherent position.
Neither is "two, four, six, eight, we don't want your racist state" a particularly coherent statement of the slightly more complex arguments around sporting contact with apatheid-era South Africa. Think you could also argue that for all the sound and fury, the protests against the '81 Tour did not hasten the fall of apartheid by a single day, let alone stop The Tour.
And the anti-tour movement's "yappy dog" routine was massively divisive, to put it mildly. (Three decades later, you can still raise the blood pressure of a lot of people on all sides of that shit fight.)
Still not sure the likes of Trevor Mallard, Helen Clark and Phil Goff would agree that they were a counter-productive failure on the part of attention-seeking nutbars.
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Radio Live - a bait station?
Thank you possum. :) I will wait for you with bated breath
...not 1080 I hope...
(ok it was a stretch, works better aurally)
;- )The Norman Conquest...
I should note that I'm still not entirely sure what I think about it all ...
it has been an interesting exercise in witness reliability - so many people have seen different things from the same footage...
do we need McChrystal balls to see the future?
The American Gov't also seems to have an aversion to hearing the truth or dissenting views, they seem to be approaching a "The Emperor has no clothes" moment...
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