In a reshuffle the National leader has awarded Soimon the Foreign Affairs Shadow Ministerial role, replacing Gerry Brownlee. Gerry told the media he was happy about that. Where’s the Tui billboard when we need it with such rich pickings?
It’s known that Soimon sought it and was declined by Muller, because loyalist Brownlee, a former Foreign Minister doubtless wanted it. The job is hugely gratifying for obvious reasons.
So I suspect Soimon has threatened to resign, not a good look for the Nats following the highly publicised departure of Paula Bennett.
I first met Bridges at a Parliamentary function when he was a young MP. “Why do you talk like that?” I asked him. He laughed “Oivrewon soys that to moi,” he replied.
I suggested he take elocution lessons, failing which he’d become a laughing stock. He didn’t and duly become a butt of cartoonists and public jokes for his abominable speech.
I know died-in-the-wool National voters who say they couldn’t vote National, solely because of the embarrassment of Bridge’s enunciation, more so when dealing with foreign leaders.
What’s sad about this is first I’m told he finally did start elocution lessons, resulting in a dramatic improvement this year.
Second, I suspect he is perfectly competent to be Prime Minister. But there’s no doubt about it, chance is the biggest factor in human affairs. Just as the Nats were looking likely at the beginning of the year, along came the virus and in it’s wake, the deification of Jacinda.
Making political predictions in these unprecedented topsy-turvy times is nigh impossible. That said Bridges should keep on with the elocution lessons, indeed as I recall telling him he’ll find it much easier than he possibly thinks to fix the problem.
With his speech tidied, and also, abandonment of the hair oil and occasional inclination for Ruatorian luminous blue suits (he’s not the only culprit on that score), it’s not hard to envisage him coming again and one day achieving his Prime Ministerial ambition. He’s certainly young enough and I suspect, perfectly competent to fill the role. If he has a rival problem, the current leader plainly isn’t it, rather it’s Judith also poised in the wings.
16 Comments
Very pleased Simon’s back. Don’t care bout the way he speaks. It blows me away the “remember to be kind” lot decided to try and unsettle the man for the same reason. Once again showed them for how they really are.
I can say that as i’m not using sarcasm for once and my small mans disease hasn’t brought on my proud chauvinistic tendency.
Go Simon, your a great role model.
Most politicians are actually nerds. Nerds often have problems with anything physiological. Anyway, Simon has been saved from himself. Have anyone else noticed how rapidly Prime Minister’s age?
I was delighted to see him go , and can not believe he has the gall to not rule out having another go at being leader of the national party. Hes not liked , end of story He’s unpalatable to the general public If I was leader of the opposition for two years and never registered above 5 % approval ratings ,I would hope I would have the nous and grace , to resign
I happen to know someone very well who worked under him when was transport minister, and my friend hated , describing him as narcissistic, and totally unable to admit mistakes
Simon is one of those super bright people, that appear to have a personality disorder, which is hard to put your finger into. People will never warm to him ,and he will never understand why
Todd Muller comes across as solid and trustworthy, much like a Jim Bolger He won’t st the world on fire, but he’s very electable TV 3 news again made him look bad last night, when he was asked about accusing labour of new taxes , including a tax on dogs , which like clearly hadn’t heard about, making another embarrassing moment for him on screen I can’t help but feel this election is going to be a “ trial by media “ who are unashamedly left wing They will stop at nothing to have Jacinda re-elected,while claiming of course to be apolitical
And as for taxes ,labour will claim no new taxes , but in order to do a deal with the greens, a whole raft of wealth taxes will be introduced,next year, to pay for Covid and the ridiculous lockdown And truth be known, this is what Jacinda wanted all along , A national party slogan should be ! A vote for the labour is also a vote for the greens and huge taxes
Todd comes across as a plonker, set up to lose by national. They will then hope to chose a real leader after the election.
His stunned mullet look when questioned about the dog tax will become more common over the coming months.
People worried about taxes will never vote for Labour or the Greens in any circumstance, so they’re the last people National cares about (their vote is in the bag). National must go for the centre vote, and this is why they basically look like Labour, and why there is and won’t be any real difference between the two of them now or come election time.
The deep problem for National is that they have no effective coalition partner to confuse the voter. If only David Seymour could attract a greater vote, National could comfortably move closer to the centre as ACT collects more of their Right. In parliament, National could then blame ACT for doing what they actually need to do (like Labour does with NZ First).
I’m afraid this election National is f*d. (Ah those subsidies. People are feeling not enough pain, too close to the election).
I asked my mother what she thought of Mr Bridges. She said that he talked funny. I always thought he was okay, but politics is a tough business. Basically, in an advanced democracy, the citizens have the right to throw monkey poo at politicians, deserved or not. This right distinguishes the USA or the UK from North Korea.
And throw faeces they do. When Mrs Thatcher died, the lefties tried to get “Ding Dong, The Witch is Dead” (from The Wizard of Oz) to number one in the charts. As usual, they failed, but it did hit number two.
https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-22145306
As a fan of Mrs T, I thought this was poor form, but I nonetheless believe that this behaviour should be allowed. Politicians are out there, and have to wear public abuse sometimes, for the democratic good.
Every Prime Minister in the UK, or President in the USA, has for decades faced huge personal abuse. Going back as far as the democratic Greek city States, brutal personal abuse – an adversarial, confrontational approach – has been adopted. Democracies are stronger for it.
NZ does not have solid democratic institutions, so here, this approach is frowned upon, or at least applied inconsistently.
It is fine to say Mr Bridges speaks funny. It is verboten to suggest that the Prime Minister resembles Ronald McDonald. And so it goes…
The Prime Minister has been able to frame every debate in her terms. When criticised about the probability she will close the borders forever, she replies that it would be “dangerous” to open them. This neatly sidesteps the issue of how dangerous it will be to NZ’s economy and people generally if the borders remain shut forever. Indeed, she didn’t even address how long the borders will remain shut for. Her passive aggressive style is extremely good at limiting the debate. The bogus “kindness” mantra has been further weaponized to stifle debate.
In collusion with are useless media (they all look like 12-year-olds to me), all criticism of the Prime Minister is censored. The cult of personality for the Prime Minister resembles North Korea. I’m not having it.
Personally, I liked the comments by David George in the comments here:
“Go fast and go hard on her and her appalling legacy of failure I say.”
Spot on.
In 1990, I voted Labour. I had been impressed by the Labour government 1984 – 1990. Labour lost by a landslide.
In 1993, I again voted Labour. Mike Moore gave me a book, where he where he wrote “1993, Our year!”. It wasn’t. Labour lost again.
In 1996, I met Mr Prebble, and voted for his ACT Party (the Association of Crooks and Thieves). They got above the threshold, but went into opposition.
CAKE FACE, the three-time loser, hasn’t voted in NZ since.
Next election, I’ll vote for ACT again.
It’s hard to believe now, looking at the collection of deadbeats and misfits in the current Labour Party cabinet, that back in the day 1984 – 1990 the Labour Party had quite a large number of impressive Ministers. Quite why and how this changed so dramatically, I don’t know.
The Labour Party drift to the far left of the political spectrum is concerning.
Three years of far left spending may take a generation to repay. Ouch.
I had hoped Todd Muller was the right person to give the Nats some chance of governing, but he showed today his woke credentials re hamish walker comments. Comments that were not rascist, and distorted by media, yet Todd didn’t have the balls to stand by his man. He is cut from same cloth as Jacinda. He has turned me off voting for national, he is a waste of time,,and really disappointing not having a sensible credible opposition to labour. I was firmly behind National but this guy is disingenuous. What do you stand for Todd.? What people want to hear is what it looks like. Act is probably the only option.
…how do we feel about another three?…that gives the spine a tickle
So pleased to read another person anathematises blue suits, to which should be added brown shoes and the no-tie look (mandatory for certain ANZ/BNZ bank officers). The provincial lawyer prosecutor’s uniform.
It’s Sunday – which means that its time for the Sunday sermon by CAKE FACE.
Today, I will discuss my last overseas holiday.
Given that Fortress NZ has now closed the border until a magic potion is concocted, to stop unclean outsiders bringing us the plague, you can’t travel anymore. However, I give you the chance to vicariously enjoy my last travels.
I went to Belarus. On the plane, it was clear we were the only non-locals visiting this socialist paradise. At customs, this became clearer still. The plane load of locals passed through in less than 10 minutes. We were treated to 2.5 hours of interrogation and checks. Groups of officers inspected the passports with incredible attention, shining light detectors, and examining every innocuous scratch. Via translation, it seemed that customs was having trouble believing anyone would want to visit their socialist utopia for tourist purposes…
It was mid-Summer. The sky was grey. The buildings were grey. The people were grey. Everything was shades of grey. For the entire holiday, the experience was like having your nose pressed against a black and white TV. Except there was no white. Just grey.
Initially, we were in Minsk. Joseph Stalin inspired architecture adorned the landscape. My friend, who had had lived a couple of decades there, explained that Minsk had six satellite cities, within 40 miles or so.
Me – I want to go to one.
Her – No.
Me – What are they like?
Her – I don’t know, I never visited them.
Me – Never visited any of them in 25 years?
Her – Why would I? They’re worse than here.
Me – Worse than here? How can they be?
Her – People there want to come here.
Me – People there want to come here??? Why?
Her – Why do you repeat everything I say?
And so it went on. Unfortunately, I never was able to convince her to go on this magical mystery tour.
It just seemed curious to me. A person born and bred in Wellington would sometime in their life visit Lower Hutt, Porirua, Upper Hutt, Waikanae etc.
The landscape in the countryside was bleak – marshland as far as the eyes could see; a nightmare for agoraphobics.
This socialist paradise seemed safe. My friend explained that in this socialist paradise the government had a monopoly on crime, especially extortion, corruption and graft.
The people seemed quite smart, but of course the country is poor. The men die in the 50’s of alcoholism. The women are hot, but smile with teeth of steel. You can feel the fatalism, and see the weight of history and circumstances on the people faces when you pass them on the street.
In totalitarian states, you can feel the guilt, violence and pain, just under the surface.
When our Prime Minister states with huge pride that she is a socialist, with that winning smile, I must confess that I am offended. To me, saying you are a socialist is similar to saying that you’re a neo-Nazi fascist.
I’m a keen student of history. I spent years reading about Chairman Mao’s murderous purges, or the killing fields of Pol Pot. I’ve visited quite a number of former socialist countries as well. This failed philosophy has generated so much pain in history. I don’t believe it is acceptable to promote it.
Of course, the Prime Minister believes her socialism is different. For her, socialism is all about dancing around fires, hugging bunnies and baking cakes.
Okay. But the thing is, I’ve been to Belarus.
“If you want a picture of the future, imagine Ronald McDonald’s boot stamping on your face – forever.” (Apologies to Eric Blair)
Dear Cake Face
God I love your Sunday sermons. I see your post and just get excited about what is before me. THANK YOU for being so informative and entertaining.
Keep up the GREAT work!
CAKE FACE was about to write “Thank you very much for your kind comments”, when I realised that the word “kind” now has unsavoury connotations for me, due to our glorious leader!
Anyway, thanks very much for your appreciation.
It is nice to be able to vent somewhere, in these troubled times.
CAKE FACE has a confession to make.
I hoped the elimination strategy would fail.
I didn’t have this hope because I wanted people to die. Rather, I knew that Dr Raymond Bloomfield is a remorseless logician. Starting from an incorrect premise that Fortress NZ was a viable approach, success in his elimination strategy would result in him closing our borders forever. This, I immediately realised, would be more damaging to the country in the medium to long term than this nasty flu.
I accept that my views represent a small minority of dissidents. So be it.
Ms Ardern babbles about the huge sunk costs from the most extreme lockdown in the world, to justify future bad decisions. They don’t.
What enrages me most is the Prime Ministers rhetoric about her “team of five million”. I never signed up to be part of this “team”, and I object vociferously to my inclusion in it. Unanimity has NOT been achieved.
If she said her “team of 4,999,999, with CAKE FACE standing alone disagreeing vehemently”, then I might be okay with it. But she doesn’t.
The “team of five million” might seem harmless, but it is actually sinister. Totalitarian regimes have employed this approach throughout history – claiming they speak for everyone.
It would be nice if one of the twelve-year olds working in our media challenged the Prime Minister on this point. Of course, they won’t.
I am with you 100% on that. There’s no “I” in team and I’m ok with that.
But there is “me”