Duncan Garner is brutal about Jacinda Ardern’s “smiling drivel” or her pledge for Labour to be transparent and truthful with election campaigning this year.
So the PM wants to be relentlessly positive in a factual campaign run by Facebook’s rules. Pass me a giant sick bag and send me a second one just in case.
Is this the same sort of promise that saw Jacinda Ardern promise to be the most open and transparent Government, yet when it came time to practise the preaching they failed and flopped and then some. You bet it is.
It’s the same mistake as promising the year of delivery which by the way was made up on the spot but not knowing what was in the pipeline of the Beehive.
In other words, it is just a slogan. Jacinda Ardern is nothing but slogans. She has a grab bag of bumper sticker slogans that she slaps onto any passing issue. There is no depth or rigour to any of those slogans. They are as empty as her head. But as Duncan Garner says, “Can you hear the people sing?”
We have no homeless and families are no longer struggling we have houses for all and and an abundance of wealth and love for each other. It was never like this before this Government. Why can’t you all see what they see and be ever so thankful for their presence.
More waffle. Homelessness has worsened, affordable houses aren’t, and child poverty is worse. But hey, the PM says they will be factual…and transparent. Tell that to Stuart Nash who told someone recently, “Go hard re your OIA as you will get nothing.”
So come on, National, sign up to Labour’s new principles, which are actually not their principles but Facebook’s guide to the truth. Help! Facebook now is the mediator when it comes to the truth. Can’t Labour write its own pledge card around trust and truth. Did someone mention pledge card. Google it and add in circa 1999. Big mistake.
So smile and sign up to Facebook. Tell her no thanks, Simon. But be sure to be smiling along the way.
Sure National will sign up to that. Just after the pig flying around Simon Bridges’ office takes a seat to hear the rules.
Relentlessly positive. Say it again and again until you’re happy and you know it clap your hands.
Graeme Edgeler destroys the claims by Ardern about Facebook’s transparency rules:
He then outlines why Ardern’s claims are pure unadulterated spin and a complete nonsense.
So, Ardern’s great commitment mostly doesn’t apply to New Zealand or is already covered by existing laws. Nothing but a bumper sticker slogan. Duncan Garner continues:
It’s patronising and controlling and no-one should buy it.
Such super spin and, yes, it could be genuinely quite clever but no-one is this gullible. It’s an attempt to crush debate and force those who push for answers to look like negative nellies.
It sounds like Takapuna Library after 2pm each Sunday during silent sessions when the local geriatrics meet to swap rare marbles and books before heading home wondering how many marbles they lost in the transaction.
No election has ever been that benign and nor should it be. It should be a genuine and at times fiery debate of ideas and approaches. Every party has its dogs and devils and long may we see them in public fighting over the rotten carcass. At least we know who they are and what they’re doing.
In every election I have covered since 1993 it’s been nasty, dirty, full of lies, hatred and anger. Good, fair and nice people are left watching from the sidelines shaking their heads as the feral beasts turn on each other with a mix of fact, fiction and utter bile at times.
Duncan Garner is right and he echoes exactly what Cameron Slater once said, that “Politics is a nasty despicable game and it’s played by nasty despicable people.” This coming election will be no different. From what I am hearing it is going to be unbelievably dirty. I can hardly wait, and neither can Duncan Garner.
These guys are fighting to run the country it’s not hug-a-tree day with James Shaw as MC for the festivities.
Few people are nice in politics and many put their families second, third and last in their desperate pursuit to run the world. So much is at stake and this power play from Ardern is nothing but an attempt to limit debate and write some tight rules about the election discourse.
Truth is this is not the most open and honest government ever. Actually when the time has come for that they locked all the doors and pulled the curtains. I expect it to get worse this year before it gets better.
I think debate will be limited. That’s the way Ardern wants it. She wants it controlled and measured and she wants to know what lurks around the corner.
The element of surprise is not her strength. She likes to publicly clean up someone’s mess. She has that gig locked and loaded and been awarded the life service medal for empathy in spades at Olympics for the Relentlessly Positive sponsored by Prozac and friends.
This Government doesn’t want to be tested and scrutinised too heavily. Because mostly it’s hard to find success on all the things they claimed to care about and promised to fix.
Ardern wanting to fight an election on truth is going to find her own party wanting. Ardern’s promises of last election haunt her, particularly on housing and light rail.
How can anyone expect a warm Milo of a debate when this Government has refused to measure itself properly at a public service level. Truth is, a factual debate is the last thing Jacinda Ardern should be calling for.
Facts will show it never closed the poverty gap and it struggled to build houses. It never increased any quality or standard of living or made your ride to work easier. It largely spent billions more achieving lower economic growth than the last guys but it sent out hordes of media releases saying what it was spending the money on.
It seemed mightily impressive at the time. Can someone show me the results please. Then I can be relentlessly positive. Until then the gloves are off and the game is on. Now let’s all do a group selfie, smile and say happy times please after me!
Stuff
No, let’s bring back the biff. Blood and guts is far more entertaining. Cameron Slater was right, “Politics is a nasty despicable game and it’s played by nasty despicable people.” Let’s at least be honest about that, shall we?
Ardern is the Queen of Hugs and the Duchess of Slogans. A truth based election campaign will see her exposed for the shallow, vacuous person she is, but only if National grows some stones and finds their spine.
