Dirty Politics - Chapter 5 - Simon Lusk's Plan

Simon Lusk who was very familiar with American politics wanted to bring some of the tactics used in America to New Zealand.  The plan was to get young right wingers involved in politics and because right wingers have more money, it would be much easier to spread the message.  Part of this relied on the number of right wing blogs in New Zealand and the fact that New Zealand journalists tend to rely on blogs for information.

I have to laugh here because this actually shows that the right wing is manipulating the New Zealand mainstream media who don't know how to do proper journalism.  The fact they didn't delve into the book in this much detail is just one example from a long list, but that's not what I'm here to discuss today, this chapter is really about Simon Lusk, an party strategist relying on the stupidity and poor journalistic standards of the New Zealand media.

The discussions between Slater and Lusk are somewhat disturbing.  They don't care about the country, all they actually care about is, is, "fucking up the left" and sabotaging their enemies.  The pair have no ethics at all, and why the National Party would associate with such vindictive nasty people is actually beyond me.  It's one thing to want to win, but it's another to play fair and another to fight dirty and that's what Slater does.  He doesn't have a moral bone in his body.

They turned their attention to Rodney and Slater blogged about the unethical behaviour of Brent Robinson, well that's rich based on the previous five chapters, all that springs to mind is, pot kettle black.  Slater is known for trying to reveal truthful and honest information but in this chapter it becomes clear that a significant number of his political posts are actually made up lies intended to suit his own agenda.  How he was labelled a journalist today by the NZ High Court is confusing given he doesn't report facts, just manufactures them and manipulates his associates to do what he wants.  Lusk is of a similar breed telling Slater he "gets off on wrecking people and gets a major buzz, and I've done it three times".