Sunday 9 November 2008

Post-election reflections, 1

Liberty Scott has letters of advice and "support" to the incoming National Socialist regime and their coalition partners and sell-outs, to Jeanette Fitzsimons and to the departing Winston Peters, Helen Clark.  Read them all here.

He says it all really -- at least, pretty much all that I'd like to say.

Except these few points:  Maybe New Zealanders are more sensible than they're often given credit for. Despite the near wall-to-wall support for the Maori Party from the Maori (taxpayer-funded) media and loud if not stentorious backing for the racist Maori seats, the racist party only managed five seats in an electorate that only represents half New Zealand's Maori population.

Looks like there's more common sense out there than we might think.

And despite the years of indoctrination from schools, politicians and the media about the the bullshit of "sustainability and the "urgency" of environmental action -- all the mass hysteria and all the wall-to-wall fawning about the Green Party "Vote for your neighbours' children to be poor" campaign (and the polling that suggested they'd do wonders instead of barely survive), the Greens themselves only managed to grab seven seats, and rather than cementing their place in Parliament they've shown they could easily be the next minor party to lose their place.

That's another really encouraging signal showing the rude common sense of most New Zealanders.

It's heartening.

Oh, and two last things.  Last night there was a massive 11% swing to the Libertarianz.  Very heartening indeed.  ;^)

And is anyone else looking forward to seeing Rodney Hide being made Minister of Jails?

UPDATE 1:  Is anyone else heartily sick of the drivel about how the media and the politicians drove Winston out of Parliament?  IN the end it was his own lies and crookedness that did him in. And rather than doing him damage, the last few months of near-constant media and political attention dragged out of irrelevance and almost got him over the line on the night.

The media and Rodney Hide were not his nemeses; they were almost his saviours.

UPDATE 2: Some difficult choices now for John Boy, not least finding competent ministers inside the National Socialist caucus. He'll obviously play off the Maori Party and ACT in negotiations, but he'll need to resolve one potential thorn in the side now before it causes sepsis.  With the worst economic calamity in decades upon us, what does he do with Roger Douglas -- the only finance minister now in Parliament who's dealt with a crisis before. Better, John Boy will surely be thinking, to have Douglas inside the tent pissing out, that outside the tent pissing in -- because as the crisis gets worse, that will become awfully corrosive.

I quite like the idea floated by The Hive, that if Helen is given the Ambassador's job to Washington (she'd have no problems cosying up to Obama to protect our trading relationship against his protectionist instincts, and whatever else you may think about her, her free trade credentials are moderately sound) then perhaps Don Brash's unique skills could be put to good use here in an economic advisory cabinet.  A team of Roger Douglas, Roger Kerr and Don Brash would be a team of formidable talent, not to say credibility, in providing the sort of advice a responsible government would need.

UPDATE 3:  Oh, and I can't fail to point out the country's most principled electorate.  :-)

UPDATE 4: Former Libertarianz deputy Deborah Coddington suggests in today's Herald that the only ones who will be "ungraciously" dancing on the grave of Helen Clark will be "organisations such as the Business Roundtable and parties like the Libertarianz."  How ungracious of her. Here's the tune the Wellington Libertarianz were dancing to last night.  And here's what we were dancing to in Auckland.

15 comments:

Oswald Bastable said...

I'm ungracious- damned right!

All those years of their clutching hands in my pockets paying for other useless bastards.

The endless erosion of our rights.

The trashing of the concept of private property.

The brainwashing in our childrens prisons (aka schools)

The coddling of recidivist criminals.

The flawed science of the green agenda.

The contempt for referendums- and our opinions in general.

Gracious be fucked!

Peter Cresswell said...

Although to be fair, Oswald, which of that litany is going to change?

Anonymous said...

well now, is that what you gotta say to get an invite to Paul Holme's Christmas party?

seems Deborah has forgotten all about resorce consents

Anonymous said...

Ah yes - always one of my theme songs 'Wont Get Fooled Again' :o) In fact here is another version spotlighting the formidable John Entwistle - greatest rock bassist ever, may he rest in peace.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfDE-ZvfOwU

Peter Cresswell said...

We used to say that once someone has been through the 'Libertarianz Party Finishing School' that they're all the better for it.

Deborah, unfortunately, is proof that isn't always true.

Although we'll never know how bad she would have been without her four or five years with the Libz.

I would put it down to her simple lack of honesty, and an overweening hankering for respectability.

Oswald Bastable said...

How much things will change remains to be seen, but based on past efforts- I'm not holding my breath.

Sturminator said...

DC writes: "Roundtable, and parties like the Libertarianz, will dance on her grave but such ungraciousness is as popular as unsalted porridge."

As always, the popularity of an action is always the relevant criterion.

Anyway, I don't like salt in my porridge.

Anonymous said...

I cannot believe what Deborah Coddington just wrote.

The term "two-faced" springs to mind.

Libertyscott said...

Well Deborah achieved volumes with her term in Parliament too, but dear me, what a hissing cat those comments seem like. Two groups she once gladly cheered on, but that's up to her.

I'm waiting to see what Key and co do, maybe it will be like 1984 and 1990, though I expect it will be more like 1960 or 1949.

Anonymous said...

"overweening hankering for respectability."

Is respectability what she was hankering after while being allegedly chased through the grounds of Parliament one night by an amorous, married, Business Round Table suitor?

Anonymous said...

No. Not respectability on that occasion.

Still, it aptly demonstrates that some people have such bad taste.

LGM

Anonymous said...

I noted David Farrar's blog posts is a bit slowing down, ie, not many posts since Saturday night.

Is this a sign that he is switching to be on the defensive mode that now National is taking over?

Go & Get them PC. Hit them hard with reason as you always do here. Point out their socialists agenda. There have been useful idiots in country who voted for John Keys Labour equivalent. National is not Labour-lite at all, they are Labour with a different name, dub National.

I hope that Rodney and his team will pull National away from Socialism and big government.

Peter Cresswell said...

"I hope that Rodney and his team will pull National away from Socialism and big government."

I hope so too, but I'm not optimistic. I expect Key will use the Maori Party to trade away whatever advantage you might like ACT to have.

But yes, I'll keep hitting them hard. :-)

"Is respectability what she was hankering after while being allegedly chased through the grounds of Parliament one night by an amorous, married, Business Round Table suitor?"

Don't think that the chasing was all on one side -- nor that chasing was all that happened. That moonlit Parliament flit was not the start of a relationship but the end of one.

Anonymous said...

How does it feel to have been rejected so categorically by the electorate of New Zealand? To get just over one thousand party votes - only 0.05% of those cast - must be hard. People aren't buying what you are selling.

Anonymous said...

"People aren't buying what you are selling."

Anonymous comments irritate me. Gutlessness always did, as personifed by the kid who spoke about you behind your back at school, but would never have had the guts to do so face-to-face. But silly comments posted anonymously take the cake.

Did you really think the numbers would be different? I didn't and I'm honest enough to say so. The Libz will always struggle while the red & green left's in power. That's common knowledge. People opposed to Clark & Co just wanted to be rid of them, first & foremost. It was difficult to argue, in spite of all we know about the Nats not being too different in essentials.

I'm delighted to be rid of the Labour/Greens govt. I'm even more delighted to be rid of NZF period. But I cannot delight in the election of a socialist-centrist who seems determined to ignore (for the most part) any real input from Roger Douglas, nor one who is happy, apparently, with the current size of the state.

Re what we're "selling": I'm looking forward to pointing out the deficiencies of blue socialism from this week forward. If you read this & similar blogs regularly, you'll know that this is about the spread of ideas.

Rodney Hide describes himself as a libertarian. He likes Parliament. I look forward to the day that the ACT party decides to be the liberal party it proclaims to be & then I, for one, can go home, job done.