Democracy giving you the government you deserve
Well, there are still the specials to come, though an extra seat to Labour or the Greens won't do much to stop the tide of lunacy. People will say that the electorate voted for Obama. Key himself publicly hoped that the mood for change from the US election would translate into a victory for him. He has successfully ridden the popular wave of discontent into power.
To be honest, I was genuinely surprised at the result. I thought New Zealanders would be more sensible than this.
What have you voted for, New Zealand?
- environment: A Prime Minister who has lied about his position on climate change (see his full quote), who will "put the economy ahead of the environment" (a compromise which shouldn't be required), and who is entering a coalition agreement with a confirmed climate science denier who has released laughable statements about climate science. And they're going to gut the RMA, so the people of New Zealand will no longer have a say in such matters. Our arguments would be "frivolous", apparently.
- warmongering: A Prime Minister who supported the Iraq War and when called up about this said he was "taken out of context". Another complete lie - the context and recording of his words are simply damning.
- liar: A Prime Minister who presented falsehoods and lies all the way through the election debates.
- traitor: A Prime Minister whose prior experience as a Merryl Lynch employee includes, it is alleged, involvement in a speculative attack on the NZ dollar, siphoning many millions from NZ exporters.
- ACC: A government who openly planned to privatise ACC, despite there being no public interest case for it.
- economy: A government with an economic plan harking from failed free market ideologies, who are instituting tax cuts for the rich at the expense of the poor, even middle class welfare
- employment relations: A government with a policy that people in probationary employment can now be sacked at will with no burden of proof on employers.
The road ahead is likely to be challenging - it involves the left keeping an eye on what these socialpaths are up to, and mobilizing action and petition against bills this government of obsolete ideas will attempt to ram through the house. It will involve building solid and rational arguments for the dumb ideas, while having the reserve to not attack every idea they will come up with.
World War III is not a war fought with tanks and troops, it is a war of information versus disinformation. And the beachhead is now in New Zealand.
Update: the joke's all wrong. As leader of the opposition, John Key already had unlimited access to the ministerial BMWs. And he's milked it. 5% more travel than the Prime Minister last year.
