The State of Debate.
Deja Vu (But Worse), and Luxon jumps the shark.
Good morning all, I hope you’re continuing to have a lovely long weekend without too many worries about the things we usually talk about. First things first, today is a special day in our family, the youngest member, our Matty, my Mister Man, turns 16.
I’ve mentioned Matty in this newsletter before, the recent premier of a short film he was in, winning a silver medal in Phoenix at the World Hip Hop champs. Some of you have even been around long enough to remember when he was younger and insisted he had to wear underpants, just underpants, to the cricket because it was “his destiny”.
Football was his sport, when your brother’s four years older you tend get pretty good. When I used to manage Johnny’s football team I’d often given Matty a run if we were short on players, despite him being at primary school where the team were high school kids - but when push came to shove, dance came first.
Matty also has the gift of the gab and an eye for an opportunity. His mum and I often joke that he’ll either end up a millionaire, or in jail - at least I think we’re joking. He’s as stubborn as either Fi or I in a discussion, funny that. He’s that kid at school who when the teacher asks why he’s not completing a task as per the prescribed method explains why his approach is better - and is generally right.
He likes to wind me up on politics, did I mention he has an older brother? The pair of them think it’s hilarious to regale me with stories about the Main Man Luxon or Big Davey Seymour. Hilarious. So today we celebrate the youngest member of our whānau, it’s funny to think he’s just turning 16, as the youngest he gets away with things the others never would’ve. The kid has charm.
At the other end of the charm scale is our Prime Minister. In what was largely a political free day yesterday I had a good laugh seeing reports of the crowd at the Warriors booing Luxon when he came on the screen. This ain’t your crowd Christopher - you’re not in Botany, Hawaii, Remuera or even Te Puke now, Prime Minister.
These are not your people. Rugby League is the game of West and South Auckland, and of other working class suburbs in New Zealand. Rugby isn’t a toffs game like it is in the UK, it’s more of an everyman game here, although you’d have to say your local rugby club is probably not a hotbed of socialist talk. It’s hard to imagine a place less woke.
But a league crowd is solidly working class, and diverse. The sort of people Luxon might have referred to at another time as “bottom feeders”.
Apparently it occurs 10 minutes into the first half when Luxon appears on the big screen. While people who were at the game reported resounding booing the good folks at Sky know which side their bread is buttered on and cut to a commercial.
I’d been thinking about writing something on the US presidential debate and the mention of Luxon had me recalling our own election debates and they way they have deteriorated over recent elections.
The great art of debate. Ideas and alternatives, the to and fro of point and counter argument. The lifeblood of political discourse. Social conservative or liberal, the state or private enterprise, society or the primacy of the individual. Great orations, ad-libs, and tradition.
A tradition of respect, of hearing, perhaps even acknowledging the merit in, an opponent’s position. Do you remember that? Because it surely isn’t like that now, and I’m not just talking about the sorry spectacle we’ve seen in the US. Could it be that the great political debate has had it’s day?
Now, as in all facets of politics - be it interviews or interactions in the house, the default position seems to be to ignore all of that tradition. To speak over the top of, rather than listen to, an opponent. But most of all to lie, and lie, and lie, and lie. Without shame or fear of consequence.
As I say I’m not just talking about the US, look at what we had in Aotearoa last year. There are parallels. One man willing to win at all costs, happy to bend the truth out of all semblance of reality. The other honest but seen as less strong through retaining some of those old values.
The moderators hardly helped. Especially Jessica Mutch McKay from TVNZ who seemed more interest in highlighting herself than in fact-checking or calling out Christopher Luxon for the things that he should’ve been pulled up on.
Sure the National leader wasn’t lying as blatantly as we’ve just seen from Trump - to be fair Trump’s was an impressive effort, with fact checkers pointing out that everything he said was untrue, but the principle remains the same.
Hipkins was more able than Biden to rebut such obvious lies. I don’t mean that as a criticism of the US President, those are to come, but the reality is that Chippy is a machine when it comes to facts. Whatever you might think of the policies he ran with, or anything else, there is no question that he is a man of detail.
The guy is a machine, seriously, the only other MP that springs to mind as being so well prepared and in command of the facts, in out current parliament, is Chlöe.
But the problem is unless fact checking is happening in real time it doesn’t fix the problem. Many of the people who see a debate, or the “highlights” from one, are not going to read analysis going through the statements made and verifying them - they just aren’t.
So people like Christopher Luxon, who lies predominantly by omission, or blind optimism in the face of the facts, or Donald Trump who apparently just says whatever comes into his head, get away with it. There’s no deterrent to them benefiting from telling lies, with little repercussion if the truth is highlighted.
Unfortunately the main talking point from the first debate between Trump and Biden wasn’t about Trump lying, it was sadly, as you’re probably aware, about the impact of aging on Joe Biden. If you’re old-fashioned, and interested in the facts, you can find some analysis of what was mis-said here.
It brings me no joy at all to say what anyone witnessing that presidential debate will have thought. It’s time Joe. This one is a bridge too far. For your own reputation, and for the sake of your country, which needs a candidate who can beat that revolting excuse for a human being, you need to stand down.
If you haven’t seen it, if you perhaps imagine this is just repetition of the same argument that Biden’s too old - I wish it was. But it’s not, and honestly the people saying it wasn’t that bad, making excuses, or highlighting that he seemed much better the next day, are missing the point. No matter how bad Trump is you can’t expect people to be enthusiastic about voting for someone who loses track of what he’s talking about, and appears at time to be scarcely present, during an interview for the most powerful role in the world.
If you haven’t seen this clip do check it out, it certainly didn’t bring Jon Stewart any pleasure pointing out what everyone could see.
The fact that Biden, even with age visibly taking its toll, would still be a better option than Trump is all well and good. But even the most ardent Democrat supporter, or leftie from around the planet who abhors Trump, can see that he can’t be elected. People will simply stay at home.
Needless to say the Trump camp have been delighted with the debate. It was the prefect night for them, Biden looking incoherent and distant while Trump looked relatively young by comparison - I can’t believe I’m writing this about a man whose blood must course as freely as yesterday’s gravy.
Trump lied, about everything, but by his own precedent looked less unhinged that he might. He didn’t threaten his opponents or offer red flags in terms of respecting the outcome, so that’s always a good start when standing for office.
Do you reckon we can go back through the looking glass at some point? Because topsy turvy land, while initially amusing, has long lost it’s appeal. We just need to get back to some kind of normality.
The calls for Biden to step aside have reached a point where I don’t think there is anyway the Democrats can continue with him as their candidate.
It’s time for Biden to do the brave thing and step aside. As our own Andrew Little did, putting his country ahead of his own personal ambitions. Or this is going to be a disaster. With everything going on in the world right now the last thing we need is another term of President Trump.
Young people are disillusioned with Biden over his inaction on Gaza and no doubt the same frustrations exist in the important swing states that elected Trump eight years ago. We do need to remember these contests are not decided in California or New York, they’re fought in the “fly-over” states, places that should be bread and butter to someone like Biden.
These are his people, the US of Bruce Springsteen and Bon Jovi songs. Of hard working, blue collar, honest people and a system that doesn’t care about them. So we have the situation where an entitled billionaire who doesn’t give a rat’s ass about anyone but himself, is proclaimed as the saviour of the people. Sound familiar?
It makes you wonder, couldn’t someone like Tom Hanks, Brad Pitt, or George Clooney put their hand up and take one for the team by becoming President. If the voting public want a TV star - let’s give them a real one.
If you’re going to read anything else about this I’d highly recommend this excellent article. A letter from an old neighbour of Joe’s, who sums the reality of things up tenderly but truthfully.
Because let’s not forget in all of this that Biden hasn’t done anything wrong, he has simply grown old. That is the sad truth of this, where we should be talking about how insane it would be to elect Trump, how completely unsuited for the role he is, instead we’re talking about his opponent. The hope of decent people around the world, as being unsuitable to be President for the next four years.
It’s a sad situation, but it will be a damn site worse if Biden stays in the contest and hands the presidency back to Trump. I hope those close to Biden do the right thing for the country, and for Joe.
I wonder what Bernie is doing?
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Sadly, the idea of political debate as the cut and thrust of ideas is long dead. Listening to The Rest Is Politics (US Edition), they pointed out that the main objective for candidates now is to look like a leader, and get in enough talking points that can be cut up for later sound bites…. The debate yesterday was a shit show… At the last election NZ, the debates were a bit better, but far from a reasoned discussion of policy and ideas. Go back and watch some of the debates of decades past, what we have now is not that.
Happy birthday Matty, pity he is too young to be US president! Debates will not be useful until viewers/voters value substance over style and sadly that ain’t going to happen anytime soon.