Bennie bashing and redneck hatred
No Bennett apology to beneficiaries
Social Development Minister Paula Bennett refuses to back down over the release of personal information about two beneficiaries, despite saying she regrets the outcry it has caused. Bennett tried to soothe the waters yesterday after a public row with several domestic purposes beneficiaries who took her to task for axing an allowance to help those on welfare into tertiary study.
Bennie bashing is as traditional to NZ as rugby, alcoholism and domestic violence – WE LOVE TO BASH THE BENNIE – so much so that you get to see the real color of people’s necks and the vitriol Paula Bennett has vomited up by breaching privacy laws is a new low from the right wing in this country.
I have been astounded by the corporate media’s ability to turn a blind eye to the outright abuse of power Paula Bennett proudly adopted to unleash a level of Bennie bashing the likes we haven’t seen since National were last in power.
The ‘Right’ – that includes Not PC – the corporate media – even David over at Kiwiblogh (who pretends to be enlightened) are all effectively arguing that the beneficiary is somehow inferior to the rest of us and as such don’t have the same rights to privacy and are open to this of type of abuse because it creates ‘better understanding of the debate’. What a load of absolute bullshit – complaining about a training allowance doesn’t ‘imply consent’ that you can now have all your personal details sent out to the media openly by the Minister you are complaining about! And that so many NZers are blind to this fact in their rush to bash a Bennie is about as ugly as our country gets.
It is jaw dropping to see this abuse occur justified in the manner in which many anonymous posters here, the corporate media, talkback hosts and the online right wing mafia have been defending it as, that the beneficiary is beneath others in society and as such have a much lower threshold of rights and as such deserve whatever Paula throws at them, it is sickening Tory class hate as my co-blogger brilliantly points out in the blog posting below mine.
Incredible isn’t it – John Key lies about the 3700 jobs created by his bike lane when really it’s only 160 jobs, Nick Smith lied about the actual cost of 40% emission cuts to combat climate change and it all gets smothered by Paula Bennett breaching privacy laws to unleash a vicious round of benefit bashing and denigration of fellow NZers who just happen to be receiving aid from the Government, all done with the compliance of the corporate news media.
Oh and the fact that Big Sister was once a solo mother and that she would do this to women walking the same road she herself once walked, minus of course the help Paula herself received, is a hypocrisy so disgusting she deserves nothing but contempt for the rest of her time in Parliament, the exact same way Don Brash deserves nothing but contempt for his ‘Maaaaaaaaaaaori get too much’ racially divisive hatred.
What a sickening sight from fellow NZers and what a sickening sight from the corporate media. What they are all saying is that Beneficiaries have less rights than us ‘proper NZers’, and as such have no right to be protected by the abuse of power from any Minister. The threat to beneficiaries is blatant and the celebration of them as lesser citizens is caste system-esk.
New Zealand, you are embarrassing yourself in an ugly, ugly way.
posted by Bomber @ 6:39 am
23 comments
23 Comments:
Your "fellow NZ'ers" are nowadays not much more than a pack of braying reactionary lunkheads, led by their idols the squawkback hosts ( overpaid, over rated and ill-informed ).
There isn't a shred of the old Kiwi left these days, they watch shit tv, read New Idea, listen to talkback all day, they happily lay down while Govt kicks them in the guts and they'll be right because they're really only interested in buying a BIG screen tv, a TINY yapping dog, voting on "dancing with the stars" and watching V8 racing all day sunday.
Their news intake is limited to the two infotainment shows Samesbury and Campbell "live" - they don't bother to find out what is REALLY going on - although they would probably spend hours researching what REALLY happened to Lady Di and Michael Jackson.
Welcome to the shallow, STUPID world of NZ in the 21st Century
Hear hear
The 'libertarian' reaction to this is rather odd, but not surprising.
Politicians have a huge amount of private information at their finger tips. We should be able to trust our elected officials to keep our personal information private.
The welfare issue is another argument entirely.
And welcome to the nations first equal sport with rugby - reverting to meaningless name calling such as "redneck" (there isn't enough sun in NZ to have a red neck), "racist" and alleging beneficiary bashing when all people are doing is holding others to account for their hard earned tax dollars.
Don’t embarrass yourself Kate, I hold you in such high regard. I think the quote of the moment belongs to my co-blogger, Mr Tim Selwyn...
That sickening Tory class hate and fascist abandonment of the rule of law and of legal protections and rights is what the Herald epitomises. The editorial on Wednesday is the very definition of "The Man". The man is a cunt - upholding cuntiness at it's most cunty. This is precisely why people lose faith in "the system" and figure that anything goes. The editorial printed the confidential material FFS. I hope they sue those fucking scumbags. Would they print the tax records of someone who complained about tax policy in their editorial? Of course not - they are a different class of person. Everyone who published those private details - that are obviously confidential - should be ashamed. If they are claiming that "Paula said it was OK" as a defence then let them offer it in court. If David Farrar thinks it is OK for him to publish these confidential dealings with the Crown (and he has and I've got an image of it) then it must be alright for me to publish all his confidential dealings with the Crown - I guess he'd be OK with that. In fact he never stops talking about Parliamentary Services and party funding etc. let's open his book's up, eh? I'll just email the ministers... fucking Tory, arsehole hypocrites.
This defines the "Right" - when the Libertarians instinctively side against a class of person or a status of person rather than follow the principles of justice and fairness then that makes them reactionary conservative Tories; and if we add the laissez-faire economics to it we have a conventionally understood 'Right wing' person. They are highly prejudiced. The fact they can't admit it or claim to see it is probably why they worship a humourless author as a cult and then claim religion is stupid... oh, that's right, they too are fucking Tory, arsehole hypocrites.
If the neck is stinging Kate perhaps you need to do something about that.
Cactus Kate - or may I call you Craptus?
So any "meaningless name calling" that emanates from your squat corner of the political debate is thoroughly informed and enlightened?
I think you need to huff more Cameron Slater fart vapours - it will make your voice even more shrill than it normally is.
I struggle with how caustically divided our thinking is for a population of only slightly less than 5,000,000 people; a great many number of issues are polarized, and I hasten to add, loaded, to the bloody point of, your with us, or, your against us - where is the affable middle ground where considered nuance resides? Too much of what we have to say comes across as either extreme or combative: '...don't argue with me, I'm right and your stupid, now get out of my way!' FFFUCK!!
I struggle with a Minister who can openly do this, get a standing ovation from mainstream news whipped along with bennie bashing talkback hate and then read complaints of how tense the tone of debate is.
This is a pretty pathetic whinge, even by this site's usual standards
The rates for DPB beneficiaries are shown on Work and Income's website, they are obscene. Beneficiaries are actually lesser people, in terms of what they contribute. Its also ironic you're calling the opponents of these obscene benefit rates 'rednecks' a cliche term indeed. The cliche view of a 'redneck' is someone who lives in a trailer park, and collects welfare...
http://www.winz.govt.nz/manuals-and-procedures/deskfile/main_benefits_rates/domestic_purposes_benefit_sole_parent_tables.htm
This is the bit I love...
Beneficiaries are actually lesser people, in terms of what they contribute.
...wow. And you have the audacity to get shrill about being called a redneck?
Wow.
Sir. Tell us who the better citizens are - the shitwipes who embezzle people's money, go into receivership and then throw themselves champagne parties to celebrate a job well done or some poor bastard on the bones of his/her arse and who hates themselves because they can barely make ends meet?
What contribution does the former actually make apart from spreading the misery and pain as the result of their greed?
What is most fascinating is the sheer hypocrisy coming from the left. What was it Trevor Mallard called Erin Leigh under parliamentary privilage ("lazy and incompetent"). In my opinion that is slandering a persons reputation which is a hell of a lot worse than what Bennett has done.
Sir. Tell us who the better citizens are - the shitwipes who embezzle people's money, go into receivership and then throw themselves champagne parties to celebrate a job well done or some poor bastard on the bones of his/her arse and who hates themselves because they can barely make ends meet?
I challenge you to show us ONE right wing blog, commentator, in fact anybody - who has defended the fraudulent finance company directors. Just one.
Yeah, cultural entrenchment of unintelligent, quasi-informative news-media, with vain reporters (or compromising journalists) is a major obstacle to learning what the fuck is going on in NZ. You can put the knife away Anonymous, I care about equitably dignified social outcomes too; but I struggle with, and get frustrated by, insultingly mind-numbing, polarizing group-think - a severe case of cultural cringe then, I admit it; my comment was not a complaint that sought to shut-down or limit healthy kick-ass debate, on the contrary, I just get so fucking tired of mediocre, stock, canned, and parroted paradigms. Remember there are no mediocre minds, there are only mediocre imaginations. That's all.
newstalkzb.co.nz
audio archive week in demand
245 am today
radiolive.co.nz
audio on demand
thursday
1.30pm (ish)
student union policy statement/press release
if ya cross danger dan with rick rowling do ya get dick dastardley?
Bomber : C'mon mate, I was only commenting on the irony of you using the term "redneck" in the sense you did. I don't care what you wish to call me and I fail to see the point you try to make in the earlier rebuttal.
Aaron: You're not a post-grad student are you? ;P
Sorry lover of love, you can make all the claims you want about this large shadowy mass of collectively acting people who you like to call "the Right" - I don't care.
Just please back up your assertion that any one for the right is or has apologised for the directors of these failed finance companies.
You can't do it can you? That's because no one on the right is apologising for them.
Anonymous - "if ya cross danger dan with rick rowling do ya get dick dastardley?"
That should be "Danger Dave" shouldn't it? And to answer your question - No, actually you get dicked by dasterdly Dave!
Dave S...
All of the right wing are apologists for economic and environmental skullduggery - it's only just a matter of degree and/or inflection.
"Your "fellow NZ'ers" are nowadays not much more than a pack of braying reactionary lunkheads, led by their idols the squawkback hosts"
Piss off to Australia then. There are hundreds of thousands of highly educated migrants waiting for a chance here so you can easily be replaced by someone of greater value to NZ. Sounds like a zero sum game to me.
Socialist Aotearoa has organised a protest against Paula Bennett’s beneficiary bashing this Saturday.
1st August at 1pm to say
“Paula Bennett must go”
429 Great North Road in Henderson
See
http://socialistaotearoa.blogspot.com/2009/07/paula-bennett-must-go-protest-this.html for more details
Love to see you all there!
Piss off to Australia then. There are hundreds of thousands of highly educated migrants waiting for a chance here so you can easily be replaced by someone of greater value to NZ. Sounds like a zero sum game to me.
So tell us Anon, who would you like to start forcing out of NZ? Is that the next threat if we continue pointing out how outragous an abuse of power Paula's actions were? That you believe her highlighting solo mother benefits excuses her and the rage you feel justifies asking those who don't share that opinion to leave the country?
Tell us more gentle national party supporter, we are all ears...
Howdy Sir, from, 30.07.09 at, 14:03
No, I don't hold a degree.
"That you believe her highlighting solo mother benefits excuses her and the rage you feel justifies asking those who don't share that opinion to leave the country?"
Asumptions Bomber which you got wrong. The post was directed at someone who makes a gros generalisation about NZers. Where the fuck did I say anything regarding bebficiaries? Nowhere.
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