Competitive Cruelty
Nicola Willis vs Ruth Richardson.
You’ve gotta be cruel to be kind in the right measure
Cruel to be kind, it’s a very good sign
Cruel to be kind means that I love you, baby
You’ve gotta be cruel to be kind
Songwriters: Nick Lowe, Ian Gomm.
“I must be cruel only to be kind.”
Writer: William Shakespeare.
1990 was the year I became an adult, the year I became a father, and also the year that Ruth Richardson took over as Finance Minister to continue Roger Douglas's dismantling of the egalitarian NZ of my childhood, leaving a future of inequality and greed.
Apparently, it is true what they say—that only the good die young—as Ruth is still kicking and as eager as ever to punch down. Based on that proverb, she may very well be immortal.
During her time in power, Ruth caused a lot of misery, and she seemed to wear that as a badge of honour, that you really did need to be cruel to be kind. Obscenely, she now wants to see Nicola Willis stop pussyfooting around and return to the policies that caused so much pain 35 years ago.
Richardson heads the lobbying group, the Taxpayers’ Union, which is pressuring the current Finance Minister to be more like her. Rather than wait for the attack to come, Nicola Willis surrendered faster than Christopher Luxon in a coalition negotiation.
Pre-emptive surrender.
Instead of hunkering down in the Luxon bunker, Willis essentially said, “Come at me” as she leapt into the trap laid for her.
I posted saying, “Forget Ruth, how about she debates Barbara, Craig, Grant, Shamubeel, or Bernard? Now that would be worth watching.”
I actually respect Willis taking things head-on rather than waiting for the TPU to launch an attack. But I have a massive issue with the prominence given to a lobbying group rather than the other alternatives, other people who would challenge what Willis is doing, beyond wanting her to bleed the stone faster.
