Bridges fights losing twitter battle with Nigel Latta
Simon Bridges’s twitter account has chosen to celebrate Christmas by engaging in a twitter spat with well known Media personality Nigel Latta. And has not fared well.
spin
you couldn’t make this shit up
The freedom to lie during an election campaign
Two recent National advertisements involving drastically inaccurate graphics have attracted attention. And at the same time National is opposing changes to the Electoral Law that would extend the time that it is an offence to publish a false and misleading advertisement during an election period.
Crash ‘n Burn
A chuttering PM and…well, I guess being left speechless.
Right wing lies
New Zealand and the United Kingdom are both cursed with the right wing parties having the same advisors and similar means of campaigning
Why some MPs should not tweet
National MP Joanne Hayes has provided a textbook example of the perils of Twitter.
National’s Youth lauranorda rhetoric
National is proposing changes to the Youth Court system that show not only a disregard for working in the interests of young people but disturbingly show a complete lack of understanding about how the Youth Court works.
Just another typical week in US politics
The last week in US politics has seen the Trump Impeachment Hearing go public, Trump confidant Roger Stone convicted of lying to Congress, Alex Jones ask for the Presidential pardon to be used to free him, and details revealed of multiple meetings between Trump and Igor Fruman and Lev Parnas who are charged with campaign rule violations. Trump says he does not know them. Just another week in the Trump Presidency …
UK Conservative’s social media is remarkably similar to National’s social media
The British Conservative Party and the New Zealand National Party appear to be using very similar twitter strategies involving the setting of highly edited video to naff music and the making of patently ridiculous claims.
Unapologetic populism?
A Wall Street broker has accused Democratic nominee Elizabeth Warren of unapologetic populism in her desire to help workers, the environment, those with lower incomes, and women and minorities as if these are bad things.
Truth, boomer memes and the next election campaign
Thanks to Facebook’s lax attitude to fact checking it appears that the next election campaign is going to be a rough one.
National’s plans to torment poor people leaked
National’s plans to torment poor people for political gain have been leaked.
National’s faux outrage
The National Party has described as “censorship at the extreme” a rule in Parliament’s standing orders the latest version of which was enacted under the last National Government. Updated with Simon Bridges opposing the relaxation of the rule in 2017
Every day New Zealanders
Simon Bridges thinks that Jacinda Ardern’s international campaign to change the way that social media handles hate speech and terrorism a big talkfest that will achieve nothing, even though Facebook has as a result announced significant changes to its platform.
National advertisements ruled misleading
National has recently had two different advertisements ruled misleading by the Advertising Standards Authority.
The biggest loser
Boris Johnson has lost a sixth Parliamentary vote in six days as Britain lurches into a constitutional crisis.
Toxic masculinity
As the Amazon burns and the world looks on aghast as our lungs go up in flames Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has chosen to respond to an offer of help from the G7 by picking a fight with French leader Emmanuel Macron.
Cmon Aussie …
In the last week Australia has insulted Pacific nations by refusing to commit to a 1.5 degree maximum increase in global temperatures and by claiming that Pacific Islands will be fine because they can pick Australia’s fruit. And Alan Jones has almost lost his job through misogynist attacks on Jacinda Ardern.
National still does not get MMP
National has shown that it does not understand MMP by being overly concerned that some electorates may be slightly bigger or smaller than other electorates.
Do poor people and women exist in right wing economics land?
David Seymour has written a critique of Deborah Russel’s review of the hard right economic tome “Economics in one lesson”. And totally missed the point of what she was saying.
Five days is a long time in politics
Five days ago Simon Bridges predicted that unemployment had gone up. The latest figures show that the unemployment rate is at its lowest rate for the past eleven years. Update: My enthusiasm was too high. It has been pointed out to me that the Bridges tweet was from last year. My apologies to Simon …
Memo from Crosby Textor – fake news
The Standard has obtained an internal memo from CTF Partners (formerly Crosby Textor) where it responds to allegations that it is a kindergarden for the rich children of Conservative Party donors, has engaged in misogynist behavior and ran anti and pro cycle astroturf campaigns to get a cycleway moved from near a client’s business premises to near an opponent’s premises.
Later Whaleoil
The Whaleoil blog has announced that there will be no new blog posts on the site.
The unbelievable lightness of Simon Bridges
Simon Bridges has insulted women and Tokelauans at the same time with a thinly veiled attack on Jacinda Ardern.
When your Comms team goes rogue
Former UK Labour MP Jared O’Mara must be regretting not treating his staff better as his Comms adviser has announced his resignation via O’Mara’s own twitter account.
Sometimes explaining is not losing
Stacey Kirk thinks that Julie Anne Genter should not have criticised National’s spin on the Government’s fuel efficient importation policy but forgets to do her basic job of analysing National’s spin.
Make America white again
Donald Trump has attacked a group of young female Democrat politicians and has claimed they should go back to the country they were born in. Even though they were actually born in the United States.
Is POTUS up to the job?
A senior Psychologist thinks that POTUS Donald Trump is not up to doing the job. And the UK Ambassador to the US says that the Trump White House is uniquely dysfunctional and inept.
National supports 47% tax rate for top income bracket *
* this is one possible interpretation for National’s praise of the Morrisonn Government’s change to Australian tax system.
National offers to help with housing crisis
On behalf of the National Party Judith Collins has offered to help Labour deal with the housing crisis, the one that National is responsible for.
The strange case of the missing Oregon Republican State senators
Republican State Senators in the state of Oregon have headed for the hills and are being protected by a local nut job militia in an effort to thwart the democratically elected majority from doing passing a law to address climate change.
Flact Tax
Act has proposed a tax increase for the bottom 64% of all tax payers.
What have Unions ever done for freeloaders?
Two teachers who support individual contracts and performance pay are upset that they are not going to immediately get the benefit the Teachers Unions negotiated for their members.
The freedom to insult
David Seymour is proposing a law change that would protect neo nazis from the effects of their hate speech unless the speech also incited or threatened violence.
Mark Richardson wants to be a Nat MP
Mark Richardson thinks he may have a future career and will be able to transform from overpaid TV personality to overpaid public representative.
Deranged Jacinda syndrome
Mike Hosking has chosen to criticise Jacinda Ardern for touring the country and speaking to communities about the Wellbeing budget rather than flying across the world to take part in a photo opportunity.
Death tax fake news
Social media was responsible for the repeated broadcasting of the claim that Labor in Australia intended to bring in a death tax. What should happen when claims that are clearly wrong are made?