Is John Key's accusation that Labour and the Greens are the 'Devil-Beast' just a continuation of the obscene throat-slitting gesture he directed toward Phil Goff in the House and what do those two things say about our Prime Minister?
His 'you're dead' action and 'you're evil' claim cast Key as either very nasty or perhaps un-hinged in my view.
I wonder what everyone/anyone else thinks about this?
16 comments:
When your answer to the opposition is to call them the devil beast, then it shows you have no credible argument. The Nats yelling communist, economic terrorists and now devil beast shows they've lost the plot.
Nah, corokia, I reckon it was quite deliberate and National have a firm grasp on "the plot".
It's an appeal to the section of the electorate who believe and like that devil-beast rubbish. He is wary of the threat posed by the Judith Collins faction and wants to shore up his support. Quite revealing, really, those rumblings about internal turmoil had stayed relatively quiet recently. And it sounded weird coming from someone who is supposedly not overly religious.
What I like about it is that it strays into the territory of National's most viable coalition partner, the conservatives, diminishing their chances of crossing the 5% threshold.
I too believe it's a calculated ploy and will be based on its successful employment somewhere else - in the world that is, as there doesn't seem to be a precedent here in New Zealand. The phrase dips into a primal-fear pool in the sub-conscious (I hope it's subconscious) of many people and while it seems outrageous to the liberal thinker, it was probably greeted by a guttural 'yeah!' by those cut from a rougher, bluer cloth. The "Devil Beast" call is different from the throat-slitting, I now think, as the latter was supposed not to have been noticed by the general population, whereas the most recent was deliberately overt. Such is the confidence of those who prescribed it. Have people in the street been talking about the words of the PM? No. It's going in at a low-level and lodging there.
Have you added a sign-in Rob for comments?
The reason I asked was this
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-19052013/#comment-635153
It probably is imported, Robert. The USA, perhaps?
Where is less interesting than why. Why would Key use such language? Why would Ele be posting about being rational, and positive? There are plenty of explanations, but in the absence of a better one I'm picking "internal jostling/turmoil".
Thanks marty. That's interesting. Sign in? I think it's free and easy here but I've disabled anonymous comments as I was getting a load of spam under that umbrella, mostly infesting posts from the middle past.
Hi Jenny!
Internal jostling, AC? Sad to think that the downfall could only come from within. Are we so unable?
Why not, Robert? Key won't be PM forever, he's quite fallible. Someone has to replace him.
Sure, it could be a coincidence that a bloke who all but confessed to being an agnostic would talk about devil-beasts. Or it could be something else, but I'm yet to see a better explanation.
National's downfall will inevitably come from within, it's their nature. Michael Laws once pointed out that National's founding purpose was to defeat Labour and that pales in comparison with loftier goals like life, liberty and the right to pursue happiness. In any case, their ideology is not self-perpetuating any more, and that is the main reason for their downfall.
I'm not sad that the opposition won't play a significant part in the latest phase of National's decline.
The opposition is fractured, and Labour are lost and incoherent. They have some talented individuals, but can't work together. It's ironic, given that working together is a fundamental principle of the labour movement.
The Greens are too young, as a political movement, to have the experience necessary to help National in their decline.
Re Judith Collins a threat to Key I heard Nathan Guy was interested in the leadership.What would he be like another Key clone or a interesting prospect as a National leader.
Clone.
Prospect, Rg
A prospect who is a clone. Sad, Fred.
On reflection, I was thinking of Simon Bridges, sad clone-prospect. Nathan Guy hasn't a hope. He's not nimble enough in his thinking (polite version).
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