It took me a while to realise the true blue popularity that John Key has, it seems no matter what he does the public will worship the ground he walks on.
Talking to people for the last couple of years about what it is that they like about our dear Optimus Prime I keep hearing the same set of words thrown at me, "He's just such a nice guy."
That's fucking bullshit, he's a goddamn greedy merchant banker scumbag who wants nothing more than to sell us down the fucking river and get famous along the way.
Does he have the gift of the gab? Hell no, put him in front of a journalist who actually wants to talk policy and doesn't fall for his nice guy act and then you'll see Key on the back foot, if he hasn't got a script or someone talking into his ear he's fucked.
The problem with this is twofold; firstly our TV media are too gutless to ask him the hard questions and the owners of the media won't let them because National love corporate welfare and tax cuts for the rich and secondly Key's handlers have him on such a tight leash that he doesn't do anywhere near the amount of interviews he should and when he does do them it's only with the one's who will ask him softball questions. Now you might be saying to yourself, "But I see John Key on TV all the time," Yes you do, but don't be fooled a post cabinet press conference or staged photo-op do not mean a leader is being held to account for his actions.
I do not believe that John Key operates ideologically, he spent time on Wall Street, if you're not willing to put personal views aside the big deals will slip by. I think he knows that there are some things he has to do to stay in power and get the bill through that he (and by he I mean Bill English and most of National's front bench) wants, for example 90 day right to sack was pushed through against Kate Wilkinson's advice but was done to ensure that National would have ACT's vote when it needed it, the foreshore and seabed bill is the same.
What we have is a public that doesn't want to be challenged, to sacrifice or be told the truth, that is why Key won.
Key refuses to give bad news, he let's his ministers do that, this is a (somewhat) clever way to allow the government to give the bad news and then have nice old Uncle John there to say, "Don't worry every thing's alright. Hey hey look at me I'm on a catwalk. Aren't I funny."
While he is distracting you with his cavorting in front of the media his cabinet are pushing through hard line policy that will fuck us all (and by "us" I mean anyone earning less than $70,000 a year).
We now have a Labour leader who has been unable to rise to the challenge, he fucked up the Darren Hughes issue, how could he think the media wouldn't pick up on that story, it's got everything that makes a front page headline.
Phil Goff has now become your other grumpy uncle who can't really get his shit together.
You know what, we only have ourselves to blame, it's our obsession with making the news infotainment and celebrity, I don't give a fuck what John Key's wife is wearing to William and Kate's fucking wedding.
It's time to grow up New Zealand, the news and politics are not there purely for your entertainment, it's the fucking news not where you go to see stories about the cat with the worlds loudest purr.
Until we say to our politicians, "Sit down and tell us the fucking truth, no more of this doublespeak and no more photo ops."
In the immortal words of Howard Beale, "I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore."
It's up to us New Zealand, we have to ask the hard questions and be prepared to hear the brutal unpleasant truth, we're not heading in the right direction politically, socially or morally and it's time for this to end.
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