Is John Key the man to lead NZ?
He’s a cracker bloke with a hot missus, a great smile and he made a shitload of money as a currency trader (those people we used to call yuppies). And best of all, he drinks beer from the bottle, so he’s almost the perfect Prime Minister. Almost.
Then came Cuppagate. He wanted to let John Banks show him how much he loves him (but only in a very manly and heterosexual way) and to tell the good people of Epsom that it’s OK for them to vote for good old Banksy, so a cuppa tea was set up. They invited EVERYONE in the media along to watch, and made sure they were sitting by the window so people could see how close they were (again, in a very manly way).
And that’s where clever stopped.
They had a big media audience, and the media are well known for looking for vulnerabilities, so they should have made sure they said NOTHING that could be taken out of context. They should have discussed the weather, the RWC and how important it is to have National back in government, that way if (inevitably) some scurrilous journo had taped the chat, a lip reader by the window had written down what they said or a cafe staff member had listened; nobody would care.
Then the word came out that a tape had been made. If they had chatted about the weather and how good National are, Key could have said “go ahead, publish it. I’m all about honesty and transparency” and that would have been it. But he hasn’t. He has tried to shut it up and make it go away by painting it as a News of the World paparazzi stunt that will lead to no privacy for anyone. He has tried changing the subject, walking out on a press conference and even calling in the cops - in Winston speak, he has lost his his rag. That suggests to a cynical old fuck such as myself that he can’t afford to let anyone know what he and Banksy said.
Aside from the morality of taping conversations, which I don’t have a problem with given it was a media stunt with a highly public setting, he has shown a massive lack of judgement in what he said and how he handled it. He has lost control of the situation and now the media are focussing on him ducking and diving, not on his policies. He is coming across as arrogant and even a bully, not as the strong, decisive and intelligent leader with a vision for the future that NZ needs right now. And he has attacked the media and their freedom to operate, and as Mark Twain once said, "never pick a fight with a man who buys ink by the barrel" because they can make his next 3 years hard for him.
NZ is facing an increasingly difficult period, so can we afford a PM who may be slick and smart, but lacks judgement and the ability to handle a crisis under pressure?
Don't blame me, I voted Green.
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Originally Posted by imdying
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