No, I won't be joining the chorus of back slapping and standing ovations for former Prime Minister and handbrake on the nation, Helen Clark, as she heads off to more exalted climes.
Yes, she's got to the top of her own particular greasy pole, but it's not a climb I've admired nor a 'pole' I respect.
There is nothing good to say about the United Nations, which she now joins, and very little good to say about the career that got her there.
I can admire her intelligence, but I deplore what she's done with it.
Unlike those faux opponents who are once berated but are now glad-handing her -- and who in doing so reveal themselves as having fundamentally similar values -- I regard her as a cancerous and corrosive individual (and I use those words intentionally) whose life's work has made government bigger, and New Zealanders demonstrably less free.
New Zealand is all the better for her departure.
12 comments:
Indeed!
Yup. And yes 'handbrake on the nation' is the legacy.
- Sam P
And congrats to David Garrett for his protest....
David Garrett is a nutter.
Anonymous said...
David Garrett is a nutter."
How so....? Or are you just spouting out your arse again?
I don't have a great deal of time for David Garrett either, Anon, but objectivity demands giving credit where due. And I acknowledge his not being hypocritical in this instance.
"But it's just bad manners!" goes the cry from many.
To whom? Helen Clark? The woman who stole money to buy an election, lied about doing so and then changed the law when she was found out.
And then initiated another law to try and win the next election and every one thereafter.
Ignoring her UN "success" is toddler's play in comparison with her behaviour.
So I'm on a roll. I popped into undp.org (God help me) to find the photo accompanying the news of her appointment to be .. yep, that attractive airbrushed one that first appeared in Brian Edwards' book (yes?) and plastered everywhere during the last couple of elections. You know, the one that bears about as much resemblance to her as I do.
It gets worse. The blurb spouts her bringing "fresh thinking" and "an impetus for change". Wouldn't have been surprised to see "brings hope" as well, a la Obama.
Her being Minister for Arts, Culture & Heritage gets a special mention, (well it would, wouldn't it), but I bet you're not prepared for this one: that she "prioritised affordable housing" during her tenure!! Well, I'll be. :)
"I'm committed to tackling poverty & injustice" she's quoted, right out of the Book of Barack.
She was lauded for her local commitment to policies concerning "sustainability and climate change" and .. wait for it .. her "development of an inclusive multicultural and multi-faith society".
All too much for this little black duck, I'm afraid ...
Oh, and if you believe she spotted "the ad (for the job) in the paper", give me a ring, quick. I've got a Harbour Bridge going cheap ..
John Key's praise of Clark was sickening.
Anonymous Sus said...
I don't have a great deal of time for David Garrett either, Anon, but objectivity demands giving credit where due. And I acknowledge his not being hypocritical in this instance."
Well said Sus...Much of the crap surronding Garrett is just that crap....supplied by lefty media pulling quotes out of context which sadly have been seized upon by some on our side of the fence to beat him with.
Davids new...he was dropped into ACT fresh having not gleened the finer points of Liberal thought by the usual "apprenticship" process others go through and this had lead to some friction with the more polished old hands amoung us...hes open to learning and changing and Im working away on him with good results.....hes a work in progress but coming along nicely.Meet him over a drink and I think you would like him Sus....;-)
Ooooooohhh - I think you are being set up here Sus ;)
I see no reason to cheer Helen Clark.
She has left New Zealand in a terrible mess and now she is running away from the damage.
Ooooooohhh - I think you are being set up here Sus ;)
Davids a lad...but a married lad.
;-)
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