Hard News: The March for Democracy
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Colin Craig seems to want to be seen as mainstream and as MOR as possible - he's almost scared to be seen in the same light as his more extreme right-wing allies. Either he woke up one morning and said to himself "I think I'll blow a few hundred grand" or he's tied to the right wing orgs he promotes. It's like they want him to be the "friendly" face of facism or something. I saw Jack Tame interview him and thought "what does he want then?" It's like he wasn't at all sure himself other than expressing his unhappiness that John Key wasn't as Anti-Helengrad as voters were led to believe before the last election. This is of course the same John Key that helped pass the anti-smacking law in the first place. What a waste of money... but then I suppose "property managers" are still doing well so maybe Mr Craig will turn his expensive party into an annual event.
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A fool and his money are soon parted.
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It's like they want him to be the "friendly" face of facism or something.
It took minutes and a whole seventy two words for this thread to get F-bombed. A heartbreaking work of staggering genius, Andre.
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The marchers are now demanding a meeting with John Key.
Perhaps they ought to have been a bit more careful about what they let go on in the march, then. We can imagine how Helen Clark would have responded, but I expect Key might indulge them and apply a bit of charm. Good luck to him.
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Not sure that's fair Craig, as the JFK sign already went there.
There must have been some real human tops spinning on their own axis. Part of why I like protests.
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There must have been some real human tops spinning on their own axis. Part of why I like protests.
I thought the cops did well with the intoxicated older man who tried to take the stage -- and was subsequently helped into a police car declaring "This country is a dictatorship!"
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Not sure that's fair Craig, as the JFK sign already went there.
Still, I did just write a post lamenting political hyperbole ...
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True
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The thing that seemed staggeringly obvious with the pro-smacking referendum, especially once more people started to climb on, was how there was no way it could ever be binding, simply because it proposed no specific change. The pro-smackers then couldn't agree on where the border of reasonableness was, let alone propose any sort of resolution.
The same is true of this "Pro Democracy" movement (which I suspect is really just the pro-smacking one with a little extra stuff to broaden appeal) - they can't agree on what they want, and certainly can't provide the means to fix it.
And that's fundamentally the problem with referenda - they can't be verbose enough to really be binding. Unless we're to require voters to read draft legislation and vote on that - I think the turnout will be a lot smaller then (so of course the motivated-minority will win)
Inherantly a referendum is likely to be sucessful for the organiser I think. As those content with the status quo are much less likely to get involved, which is a massive argument against making them binding.
Can they all shut up now?
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A broad-church approach to grievance and the vilification of elected leaders are also, of course, hallmarks of the "tea party" movement in the US. That group has repeatedly crossed the boundaries of human decency with comparisons of an elected US president with Hitler, and even demeaned the images of Dachau.
And not to mention wielding loaded assault rifles at said tea party rallies. Why fight them when they can fight themselves?
And they want dictatorship? Then a visit to Belarus or Myanmar might give them something to think about. If they even think at all.
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"We DEMAND that you" is hardly a nice way to ask init?
Looks like 15 seconds of fame is not quite enough for the punch drunk pushy ... protesters.
I think I would be fairly disgusted if that is worthy of an audience. There has been so much that was far more worthy of shall we say Key's sincere attention which in itself has affected the entire country and has entered into legislation.As much as I dislike this lot in power now, I would always want the law of the land upheld. We cannot have Democracy by Demand! -
Looks like 15 seconds of fame
I read this as '15 seconds of lame', which seemed appropriate.
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A better description might be March for Demagoguery
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I read this as '15 seconds of lame', which seemed appropriate.
That kind of reminds me - were there any of those crosses with the little
cheat wheels? They usually seem to pop up at these kind of events. -
marching for anything just doesnt cut it these days, unless you start chucking shit through shop windows to show how serious you are...
...heres an idea :)
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An embarrassing march for er...er... anything.
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Demo-crazy comes to New Zealand
It will be Tea Parties next, you mark my words. -
I kinda feel for them. I know how hard it is to organise a march that gets hundreds of people, let alone thousands. The key is utilising networks of people, or having a topical issue with a clear goal in sight (eg stopping a war, the moratorium on GE release).
These people had neither. They also wasted money advertising to the nation rather than their base. This was not only stupid, it also suggests that they believe that the depth of feeling in the community is much greater than it is.
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These people had neither. They also wasted money advertising to the nation rather than their base. This was not only stupid, it also suggests that they believe that the depth of feeling in the community is much greater than it is.
As I said, they even wanted to throw some money at us and Scoop. I'm normally fairly agnostic about advertising but this one didn't feel right.
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This was not only stupid, it also suggests that they believe that the depth of feeling in the community is much greater than it is.
Yeah but nah. A bunch of ill informed "stoopid is as stoopid does" people with nothing better to do that day, and Leighton and Holmes or Laws wasn't on the radio. Pathetic. I'll stick with the other 4.+ million NZers thanks
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Nailed it Russell.
We seem to have here on the whole very well meaning citizens who seem to have no real knowlegde of how their government works and an inconsitency in attributing blame when talking of the historical and current political right/ left slugfest.
Under that their is an underbelly of whatever "the kiwi way" is supposed to be.
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Not sure that's fair Craig, as the JFK sign already went there.
Just Thinking: Both here and elsewhere, I've taken the piss out of people who have problems grasping what the words "non-binding" mean. And I'll defend to the death the rights of anyone -- even people I consider vintage château-bottled idiots whose single issue fanaticism fries any sense of proportion or taste -- to engage in lawful, peaceful protests.
But calling them "fascists"? Oh, please...
"We DEMAND that you" is hardly a nice way to ask init?
And the rhetoric that gets thrown in Key's direction around here gets the Miss Manners Seal of Approval? :) He's a big boy, I doubt he's losing any sleep. In the end, every politician has to accept that it's a good thing nobody has to pass an IQ test to enjoy all the privileges of citizenship. It's just a shame they're not always exercised in way that inspires much -- if any -- respect.
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Just been looking at their website.
I think they did get advice -- it's a blend of the canny and professional and the slightly looney.
There are downloadable flyer PDFs, banner examples ...
Kiwis Have Big Feet: BOOT THE BOSS
What a con, John
I want to grow up in a democracy
Democracy NOT Dictatorship
... an instructional video for making banners, a Facebook link, near-daily news updates, sections inviting people to volunteer and network with friends, etc. Even a little interactive "leave a footprint" application. The main flaw is that you can't link anywhere but the top page.
But then there are the articles. Craig's begins thus:
Help, Citizens in Trouble
By Colin Craig (Organizer, The March for Democracy)
Lend me your eyes and ears for a moment. Right now set aside any reason why you might think less of yourself. Forget rejection and the lie that you don’t matter. I want to tell you the truth.The first truth is that you do matter.
There is no one just like you. There is no single person in this world now, nor has there ever been anyone just like you. You belong to this country and we need you. In fact we need you now more than we have ever needed you.
I know this because you are reading these words and that means that you care. Please, please, please never give up caring. Never stop being a responsible citizen, never stop voting, never stop raising your voice and being heard.Etc. Just me or is there something odd about kicking off with a line like "set aside any reason why you might think less of yourself"?
But at any rate, it looks fairly sophisticated. They had clear strategies. I'm now thinking that perhaps it was that people didn't care enough about their message.
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Etc. Just me or is there something odd about kicking off with a line like "set aside any reason why you might think less of yourself"?
Godzone.
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Etc. Just me or is there something odd about kicking off with a line like "set aside any reason why you might think less of yourself"?
No, cue up the Act one finale of Les Mis, and you've got Demagoguery-A-Go-Go For Dummies. Now, go to the window and repeat after Howard...
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