Archive for the ‘Politics’ Category

Mitt Romney quoted out of context? Not really.

TELL MITT ROMNEY: CLIMATE CHANGE ISN’T A JOKE Much of the nation is reeling from Superstorm Sandy. As families rebuild from Sandy’s destruction, our thoughts are with the victims of this horrific, fossil-fueled storm. When Gov. Mitt Romney made climate change a punch line at the Republican National Convention, he mocked a real threat to […]

Ellsberg: Vote for Obama. Not because I support him but because I oppose the Republicans.

From a recent article by Pentagon Papers Whistleblower (and one of my heroes) Daniel Ellsberg: An activist colleague recently said to me: “I hear you’re supporting Obama.” I was startled, and took offense. “Supporting Obama? Me?!” “I lose no opportunity publicly,” I told him angrily, to identify Obama as a tool of Wall Street, a […]

John Banks standing by his earlier prediction

Obama and Romney: Two men, two visions

Here are the two parts of a BBC documentary about the US election, and the ‘tectonic plates’ of the partisanship being played out, which featured on the World Service this week. It’s instructive to hear an explanation for the death of public consensus, the rapid rise of the right wing extreme (and its effect on […]

Must read: Sympathy for the Plutocrat

Wonderful! Sympathy for the Plutocrat By Nick Hanauer Reuters It’s great to be what you people are now calling a plutocrat. I know. I am one. We plutocrats live incredible lives, surrounded by luxury and insulated from risk and discomfort. Things have gone very well for us over the last several years. Since George Bush […]

Debate #2

I’m sure how you saw today’s 2nd debate between the US presidential candidates depends on where you stand. I didn’t think it was even close. To me, Romney floundered and appeared untrustworthy, arrogant and somewhat entitled/spoilt-bratty. But I’m sure others judged the whole thing differently. Let me be clear: I want Obama to win. He […]

Paula Bennett has been egregiously let down

Say what you like about Paula Bennett’s [alleged] predilection for vindictively infringing other people’s privacy. Say what you like about her untenable denials and bullheaded refusal to acknowledge her transgressions (Privacy Commissioner findings notwithstanding). Say what you like about her perceived pulling-the-ladder-up-behind-her with respect to changes to training allowances for solo mums. Say what you […]

Amazing pic of Biden & Ryan

Photographer Jon Passantino got a shot.

Conservatives vs Liberals: a Fox News fan’s view

This is a case of the Reticular Activating System in action. As regular readers will know, here at ThePaepae.com we’re in the middle of a long-running (or on-going?) discussion about political labels, self-identification, partisanship, and fear & loathing of ‘The Other Side’ … In the middle of a (I would have thought unrelated) comment stream […]

Lying liars

Wow. Trying to be as big a liar as their candidate? … Florida Republican Volunteer Tells Senior Citizens: Obama Is A ‘Muslim’ Who Will ‘Get Rid Of Your Medicare’ “Well think really hard, you all sound like senior citizens, right? …. Yea, you don’t want Obama, you don’t want Obama because he’ll get rid of […]

Liberal. One definition.

I stumbled across this on Pinterest today … “If by a ‘Liberal’ they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people — their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, and their civil liberties — […]

Everybody knows the boat is leaking …

From Dan News … VIDEO: Small error in new NZ Herald TV commercial I really like the new TV commercials for the New Zealand Herald. One small problem though. In 1981…. and this … (With apologies to Leonard Cohen.)

Romney

I haven’t got much to say about the debate yesterday. (I watched it.) Romney, as discussed, it seems to me, will say anything, whether he believes it, or whether it will stand scrutiny or not, The ‘Etch-a-sketch’ illustration his campaign organiser Eric Fehrnstrom forecast in March (wherein Romney could pretend to be a ‘conservative Republican’ […]

Conservatism with an open mind

Here’s a link to an excellent Andrew Sullivan article Conservatism And Extreme Inequality which discuss the challenge conservatism faces when responding to changed economic times. Part of it made sense. (Not just the part about ‘The good thing about having a blog is that I can go back and read my first impression …’) I […]

‘The Nation’ on the disintegration of the ACT Party

I watched this report on TV3’s The Nation this morning. It contains some interesting comments about the ACT Party and the toxicity of John Banks’ involvement, or, as the piece says, ACT’s narrowed focus in winning Epsom as their only hope of ‘survival’ and Banks’ ability to resemble a team player while ‘looking out for […]