Posts Tagged ‘spin’
‘a good way to divert attention from the uproar over the N.S.A.’s data-collection programs’
It’s really hard not to see this, from the New York Times in the context of my posts Justifying mass surveillance with ‘terror threat’ is a right wing talking point Qaeda Messages Prompt U.S. Terror Warning WASHINGTON — The United States intercepted electronic communications this week among senior operatives of Al Qaeda, in which the […]
John Key’s changing narrative on al-Qaeda threat in NZ
PM justifies spy bill: Kiwis trained by al-Qaeda NZ Herald 1 August 2013 Kiwi with al Qaeda links ‘no threat’ NZ Herald 31 August 2011 Yeah, this can pretty much be seen in the context we discussed on Saturday: Justifying mass surveillance with ‘terror threat’ is a right wing talking point. Also interesting: SIS spying […]
What is this @3NewsEditor? Pravda?
I was surprised to see 3News ‘back-announce’ a report from the first day of The Greens annual conference last night with a pure propaganda statement from the Prime Minister. Whoever was running the newsroom at the weekend made a really odd decision. Reading Mr Key’s statement — which had nothing whatsoever to do with Russel […]
In the service of the 9th floor
I’m clearly not the first nor only observer to be struck by the extraordinary alacrity with which the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) fulfilled recent Official Information Act (OIA) requests for dirt on Aaron Gilmore. Is anyone asking how political reporters came to ask for details of the disgraced National MP Aaron Gilmore’s […]
Trying to pin a ‘con artist’ tag on Teflon John Key. Yeah, good luck with that.
I heard the NZ Prime Minister John Key (right) waxing lyrical about the (according to him) ‘rort’ that was the Opposition’s Stop Asset Sales petition. If I hadn’t known better I’d have said Mr Key was a glass or two off being refused wine service himself. His response seemed a politically desperate overreaction to news […]
So, what would get you marching in the streets?
Political activism is carried out for all sorts of reasons, by all sorts of people, in a variety of guises. The 1981 Springbok Rugby Tour divided families, households, workplaces … and the nation. Our current Prime Minister John Key “can’t even remember” whether he was for or against the tour, or the anti-Apartheid civil disobedience […]
Matthew Hooton on John Key’s GCSB ‘recall problems’ and repeated failures to ‘come clean’
Interesting discussion on Radio NZ’s political panel with Kathryn Ryan this morning. I heard it in the car and thought I heard spin doctor Matthew Hooton suggest John Key’s ‘recall problems’ and his trail of repeated failures to ‘come clean’ has seen him lose the trust of the Press Gallery — trust he’d built up over […]
Steven Joyce’s hyperbolic response to an Opposition policy announcement
Wow. I heard and saw some response from NZ government figures to the joint Labour/Green announcement of policy concerned with electricity market reform. Ministers Steven Joyce and Simon Bridges apparently couldn’t wait to slam the policy vociferously, taking the opportunity of ‘stand-ups’ in Parliament’s hallways to foam at the mouth issue a comment. Having paid no […]
Evoking the spectre of external threat to justify spying on your citizens
The NZ prime minister has evoked ‘Reds under the bed’ style threats to national security to justify extending the already broad powers of the nation’s spy agencies, and aiding co-operation between them. Read the paragraph below and tell me it’s not redolent of the vacuous and deceitful ‘sexed-up dossier’ that Tony Blair used to justify […]
Judith Collins promotes her tame attack blogger
In a cold, lonely world, it’s good to know there are some things you can rely on. Like the visceral partisan loyalty of National Party attack blogger Cameron Slater. Cameron demonstrates his earnest support for his pick for next leader of the National Party: Papakura MP Judith Collins. Strictly speaking, Ms Collins is only his […]
Cameron Slater is social media “beef lasagne”
Oh dear. In another example of his near-pathological ‘I-can-dish-it-out-but-can’t-take-it’ mindset, Pakuranga’s social media thug Cameron Slater is emoting ‘upset’ about comments on Twitter. (sigh) This loutish, heavy-handed propagandist makes a habit of cyberstalking, goading and abusing public figures and those whom he perceives as the National Party’s political enemies … and some within the Party […]
Flacks will always try this on. Resist.
The New York Times reports in a vaguely-nauseating article ‘Latest Word on the Trail? I Take It Back‘ on the increasing use of ‘quote approval’ by the US presidential campaigns as a condition of interviews with people associated with the campaigns. I’ve never agreed to that request when asked by ‘newsmakers’ at all levels, or […]
Taking the pfiss out of John Key
Wow. The honeymoon is well-and-truly over: Here’s open comment that the NZ Prime Minister is routinely observed “fibbing, hiding something or not totally convinced by [his] own argument”. ‘How are the mighty fallen!’1 This is just as devastating, in a different way, as what a former NZ Herald editor said in John Key’s media whack-a-mole […]
Deploying his establishment charms
Andrew Gimson, writing in The Guardian, displays a decent, honourable amount of cynicism (in my opinion) describing the efforts British Tory PM David Cameron exerted to try to ‘hose down’ his obviously-cosy-to-the-point-of-symbiotic relationship with News International’s Rebekah Brooks standing in for Murdoch. Her text (SMS message) with words to the effect of ‘professionally we’re in […]
Blind trust? Hang on, isn’t that a ruse?
I was part of a brief Twitter conversation about the use of trusts to keep assets out of the clutches of creditors which included this … @badtom “I want to slap their tax-dodging babyboomer snobfaces.” Fine epithet. There are less foul reasons to establish a trust @keith_ng — Peter Aranyi (@onThePaepae) June 11, 2012 “I […]
