Archive for the ‘Politics’ Category
Do your opinions invalidate your reporting? – continued
I can see both sides of this conflict, which is rarely spelt out so plainly. Honolulu mayoral candidate tries to get Civil Beat reporter thrown off campaign by Andrew Beaujon Published Feb. 17, 2012 11:38 am Poynter Institute Former Hawaii Gov. Ben Cayetano is running for mayor in Honolulu. And he does not like what […]
Paying for results
Congratulations (whether they’re deserved or not) to spin doctor Matthew Hooton (last discussed in Matthew Hooton and the exquisite agony of being a paid shill). Look: Oh. Read Patrick Gower’s column here. – P
Rupert Murdoch on politicians … and truth
Wow. So ‘truth‘? That’s what News International and News Corporation are aiming for? *cough* Fox News *cough* – P
Governor Chris Christie
Gay marriage vote in NJ faces sure veto from Gov. Chris Christie, who prefers the issue be settled by the voters via pie eating contests Pure genius from whoever runs the parody Twitter account for New York Times public editor. I laughed.
Radio station referred to police over pre-election ‘Prime Minister’s hour’
Not a great look for RadioLIVE just as their excellent TV spots boosting their ‘breaking news’ brand get under way. Ouch. Breaching the Broadcasting Act. I preferred the Broadcasting Standards Authority’s description of John Key’s (let’s-face-it:-pretty-entertaining-but-maybe-for-the-wrong-reasons) ‘politics free’ radio show as ‘light flim-flam and frivolity‘. No doubt the legal advice RadioLIVE sought prior to the broadcast […]
Study: Right-wingers are dumber. Preposterous!
From the RadioLIVE website: A paper, published in Psychological Science, claims that people with ring-wing views tend to be less intelligent than those on the left. It claims that people of lower-intelligence tend towards right-wing views as they make them feel ‘safe’. …. Children on the study were assessed for innate intelligence aged 10 or […]
Hollaback girl Fran O’Sullivan
I generally like business writer Fran O’Sullivan’s work, which can be wide-ranging and interesting and often evinces a robust, seen-it-all-before, how-stupid-do-they-think-we-are? tone. Fran doesn’t often mince words (except for when she does) and she gets points in my book for taking a position, and saying what she thinks — or how the landscape looks from […]
Justifying the dodgy
Mitt Romney seems to be indulging in the “I hit him first but it wuz self defence because I could see he was gunna hit me” justification I expect of a six year old. After reportedly outspending Gingrich five-to-one with ads that were overwhelmingly negative, and explaining his philosophy as “when you’re attacked you’ve got […]
Matthew Hooton and the exquisite agony of being a paid shill
I’ve referred to spin doctor Matthew Hooton before — I positively delight in the shabby transparency of his gums-for-hire faux agitprop and the way he marshals an argument. He’s almost always accessible, usually very much in control of himself, except when overtaken by passion or appetite of some sort, and well, I find him just […]
Whacking ‘da media’ media is a simple formula
Following the upset win in South Carolina, TIME magazine on Newt Gingrinch’s strategy: For Gingrich, this was not just a victory but also a validation. When his staff ditched him last summer amid an imbroglio over the campaign’s direction, Gingrich committed to running a lean, nimble operation that relied heavily on free media (he had […]
Mitt Romney: Arranged marriage?
There’s some typically solid and insightful analysis of the US Republican race on Politico. A good article on the dual nature of Newt Gingrich’s relationship with the ‘working press’ in Newt’s secret press pals by Ginger Gibson is worth a read: The same candidate who on Thursday decried “the destructive, vicious, negative nature of much […]
Attacking Mitt Romney
Look at this attack ad aimed at US Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney (below the fold) with NO mention of who its producers and publishers actually support. It’s just a smear of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth (vomit) ilk. We don’t have a lot of this type of political advertising in NZ … do we? […]
Guest post: poormastery hearts Ron Paul
On the subject of US politics, this is who poormastery is supporting to be the next President: I believe that Ron Paul was the only person who voted against the so-called “Patriot Act”. Ha. Love it. Many of his views I disagree with, but he is the best Republican candidate – by miles. “And I […]
Hitchens on Clinton
He’ll say anything. He’ll try anything. He’s a complete solipsist and completely without scruple. Christopher Hitchens RIP
Losing the shine? Maybe. We’ll see.
Post mortems don’t always render a conclusive or even useful diagnosis, especially when tackling multi-faceted puzzles like an election campaign, but I nodded as I read TV3 political editor Duncan Garner’s round up of the political year … in which he shares some of the same conclusions I expressed in my pre-election post Teflon John […]
