… and the resulting explosion is nothing short of spectacular.
Tara Te Heke is one of David’s four guest posters holding the reins while he’s on holiday. She is a single mum on the DPB who had three kids with a violent partner who left her in the lurch. Her story illuminates one of the problems with the bootstraps bootstraps bootstraps ideology commonly espoused on David’s side of the fence: not everyone can be on the top of the pile. Achieving the status Paula Bennett has may be something to strive toward, but those who fail to achieve such status aren’t necessarily failures – after all, there are only a few hundred such jobs in the country. Holding Paula up as an example is one thing; it’s quite another to say ‘Paula did it – there’s no reason you can’t too’. It just isn’t so. Markets are stratified by nature: there are some to whom the whole market is open; many more who may only access the lower reaches.
Perhaps it’s Tara’s awareness of the KBR culture, her status as an outsider to it, and her ironic adoption of the its lexicon (‘rorting the taxpayer’ to describe her drawing the DPB, etc) which has stimulated responses from the laudatory to the self-congratulatory, to the defensive, the typically heartless to the genuinely compassionate and understanding, and even questioning whether she’s a Hone Carter-esque ringer. It’s a rare beast, the second thread, and worth reading in its crazy two-hundred-plus-comment entirety.
Update: But wait, there’s more! Watch, as (when they don’t suit your argument) stereotypes are declared, well, stereotypical. Or just plain made up.
L
Yes it has been very interesting watching the debate/posts over there. i thought we could have a hone carter episode but DPF did do a te reo blog without translation last week, and he also wrote some compliments about Mark Solomon Kaiwhakahaere for Ngai Tahu, and his contention that Maori are natural partners of government with PPP’s. (which I agree with)
Perhaps his blog will move closer to a multi-posting blog like here :) You’re leading the way in terms of quality, sometimes so much quality I can barely get my head around it.
Sorry, have had to revise my opinion back to what it was, re dpf, after reading his very unfunny abortion/greens post. Bullies come in all shapes and sizes.
Lew, reading Kiwiblog so I don’t have to.
(To borrow from Danyl)
But to try to address the substantive point all of Tara te Heke’s posts are saturated with victim framing, I would’ve thought that was very attractive to the KBR.
I jusr went over and had a look at Kiwiblog.
Thanks, guys. That’s 15 minutes of my life I can’t get back.
Scott, I say that to myself every day. Yet for some reason I do keep going back.
What’s wrong with me?
I know DPF and Kiwiblog gets a bad rep and surely some of that criticism is fair. But as someone who reads a lot of the top blogs in New Zealand. I really don’t think many of them are better. DPF and Kiwiblog are just more blatant about things. Not as blatant as Whaleoil (which can be disgusting at times but on occasions there are some very good reads by him). But sometimes I read Tumeke and even The Standard and I shudder at some of the things they write.
The New Zealand political blogosphere consists of far too many bloggers with holier-than-thou attitudes. For the majority of them they don’t warrant having such views.
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I just wish Farrar would write more political analysis rather than relying on media articles. When he writes that type of stuff there are very few bloggers that come anywhere near the intellectual level Farrar is capable of.
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Kudos btw to this site that always keeps a high standard that other blogs should follow.
Farrar has done many excellent posts in the past. However, it seems like the general quality of his posting has declined recently. Hanging around with Whaleoil too much perhaps?
It’s interesting to see blogosphere developing over time. For example, the lack of moderation of Frogblog has completely ruined it in the past few months – as there’s the same bunch of people having the same argument over climate change again and again and again. Even though it’s an issue I’m passionately interested in, the place bores me to tears.
I’m already on record saying that I think a lot of what DPF does is of a high standard, and almost all of it is worth reading because of his strong involvement in the media-political agenda. He has the trifecta – the ability to break stories, a wide readership, and credibility. Most bloggers have none of those three. A few have one. A handful have two. No other blogger in NZ has the trifecta.
On the other hand, his comments are, with rare exceptions, good for nothing other than to remind readers of what lurks beneath.
I agree, though, that life in government isn’t treating him so well as life in opposition did. Fewer things to get the knives properly sharpened for. Perhaps this’ll change over time, but as Cactus says, he goes easy on his own team.
I’m fascinated by this guest blogger malarkey, though. Three out of four revealed, and it’s an odd bunch to be sure. Severe conniptions among the commentariat, and some marvelous rhetorical contortions to boot.
L
Ha, Ha – He’s playing with you guys as much as his commentors. All this ‘hold your nose while you have a look’ bull is just that, bull. Sanctimonious crap which just makes you look small and bitter ( check out eddies post on the Standard).
DPF manages a perfect mix that has the essence of internet chat boards finely ensconced. When you go to a site that has totally suppressed the ‘trolls'(as in people of differing views) it is boring and you are slow to return. When you go to a site that is a free for all you get what Jarbury said above about the Greens blog and again are slow to return.
DPF manages the mix of the two and so has created the best blog in NZ. You may not like it but he does it with consummate skill.
Remember too that everyone is a caricature on the interwebs, you have none of the other communication signals to decide on whether you like or dislike the person or what they’re saying. Sure people like Redbaiter and PhilU are annoying, anal little shits repetitively spinning the same line but thats what the scroll wheel is for.
Why people think the interwebs is a civilised place is beyond me.
I also think DPF’s work is of a generally high standard, but there’s no skill in allowing the comments section to be a free-for-all.
If he just booted out half a dozen constant trouble-makers and flamers, and made sure personal abuse was stamped on, he’d have a better site, and a lot of people would go back to it.
But I’m sure many people like Kiwiblog because the comments contain so much personal abuse and trolling. I do occasionally comment there, but don’t enjoy the unpleasantness, and usually leave quickly once I’ve made my point. I just don’t see why anyone should be subjected to vicious personal attacks just because they want to express an idea.
I’m not going back there after the abortion/miscarriage = satire post.