These last days past I have been contemplating the leadership election for the New Zealand Labour Party. And I have been looking for historical parallels to sum it up. There are a few. Romes Year of the Four Emperors AD69 or the Death of Commodus in AD192. Perhaps the ostracism of Themistocles or even that of ol Alcibiades. And I have come to this conclusion and the video from the fall of the Roman Empire says it. Particularly the last two minutes when Livius is offered the throne of Caesar. No amount of money will entice him to put his neck on the block and his first official act wil to have all cruxified. He had been Romes senior general hroughout, friend of the prince and then Emperor. He stood by him even when he was crushed by his friends cruelty. It is interesting because the story is a story of friends. Even at the end he carries Commoduss body off despite having just killed him. Sound familiar? Caucus or senate? Cosgrove or Pertinax? Dann or Cleander? Now, currently there are now four contenders for the leadership. David Cunliffe, Grant Robertson, Andrew Little and now David Parker. If this doesnt illustrate how stupid things have gotten within the party then I am utterly miffed what will. None have a clear understanding of what the party actually stands for now and its reason for being. Each candidate seeking to imprress upon the party their own interpretation of the gospel. Though I suspect Cunliffe is the more left-leaning than the rest despite Little being a former union boss. You have to be likeable to people such as Savage, Kirk and Lange. Thats what they are revered for - their humanity and humility. Michael Joseph Savage, Fraser, Nash and Kirk would be rolling in their graves if they saw the level of self-centredness now being exhibited by ALL the candidates. Everyone just seems to think they have the answer but really have little or nothing to say at all of meaning. Labour is more than just a party; it is an ideal; a working ethic that helped build not only this country but others. The very fact that no current Labour MP can defend the party against the accustion of being Communist just goes to show how little they understand its founding principles. Now it has become infected with the disease of Neo-Liberalism. It isnt hard to sell the Labour brand. It is if you compromise it for government for governments sake. Diluted to compete with a government that sells us out, makes most of us vote against our economic commonsense, acts arbitrarily without parliamentary consent, treats workers as numbers, derides those in positions of economic and social difficulty regardless of why they are there, priroitises things that are trivial, denigrates those that arent and a government that ultimately shows a lack of contrition, caring and compassion. My advice to all the candidates is that if you want to be labour leader, stop meddling with the ideas of the Centre of politics, sort out your policy and learn to translate the Labour ethic of caring and sharing into the modern workplace, economic forums and household dinner tables. Until you can do that, forget being government for a very long time. All you are doing s acting in your own selfish political interests. And quite frankly my dears, nobody gives a damn. And yes, I will be voting to Keep Cunliffe as Labour Leader. Firstly, because he is a friend whom I have helped over the past few years. Secondly, he has acknowledged his mistakes, seeks to learn from them and has genuine Labour values as his concern for our country. Thirdly, he has acted with honour and dignity by resigning to seek a fresh mandate. And lastly, it is clearly obvious that he never enjoyed the full support of the caucus or the fair appraisal of the media. And you know who you are. Youve said as much to my face.
Posted on: Sun, 12 Oct 2014 04:08:24 +0000
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