Carfuffle Can't Conceal Character Cracks or "Another Saturday Night And We Ain't Got No Assets"

"Another Saturday night and I (make that we) ain't got no-body" (make that assets), or more precisely (perhaps): "we're losing our assets". Granted, certainly not what Cat Stevens, now Yusuf Islam, had in mind when he wrote his song, but maybe a good translation of his sentiments into modern-day New Zealand political life vis-a-vis yet another television lead story last Saturday evening on state asset sales.
Judging by recurrent headline stories on both TV1 and TV3 of recent weeks and months, the various protests being regularly staged across New Zealand's major centres over the Government's partially privatized state assets programme now seem a good or adequate enough way to introduce an otherwise lacklustre Saturday evening of news programming. I.e. to effectively deal with or rather to what is known in the business as a 'no news day'. And once more we are given the impression that vast multitudes, at least in our four - sorry Hamilton, I mean four of our - largest cities - Dunedin, Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland (not necessarily in that order) - were, in a state of high dudgeon, 'out on the street' on Saturday the 14th, vehemently, vigorously and, most importantly, vociferously protesting the Government's intentions, nay, well-formulated plans, to partially privatize some state assets; most notably or at least 'first off of the (starting) blocks' being Mighty River Power, now itself embroiled in the fast-developing and unravelling, politically fraught fiasco being played out at the Waitangi Tribunal over Maori water 'rights'.

Now at the outset let me get a few things clear. Neither in recent times
nor in fact any time since my first precocious childhood interest in politics can anyone justly accuse me of spoiling my copybook by ticking (or at one time crossing) the National column on the ballot box. Yet correct me if you will, but didn't they - not all that long ago in fact - contest and moreover convincingly win an election upon that very issue - i.e. where, 'incontrovertibly', the proposed privatization of some state-owned assets was 'right out there' before the public, indeed arguably at the very top of the agenda. Where the (then) main opposition party, Labour, campaigned energetically and forcefully - let's give former leader Phil Goff all due credit - again, upon that selfsame issue, and where Labour received its worst ever result - and National virtually - if not in fact - its best ever. Reminiscent for me of the similar mandate-questioning gall of some strident U.S. Republicans vis-a-vis President Obama's 'nerve' in 'ramming through' the centrepiece of his 2008 presidential bid, healthcare reform, 'against the wishes' of the American people. Folk willing to crawl over broken glass to seek to constitutionally invalidate his proposals. Give me - but especially Obama, and the credulity of Americans - a break. Believe that and you know the rest. (And again, I'm not here arguing for or against that particular proposition, only for Obama's justification in pursuing it to some sort of 'successful' conclusion or resolution, though whether it wasn't entirely emasculated in the process is another matter altogether.)

Or am I somehow missing or forgetting something?; since said events happened within cooee of New Zealand hosting the 2011 Rugby World Cup. But no, since I can also never - remotely - be accused of being a rugby buff (to use a neutral term and thus be nice to adherents of New Zealand's one-time national religion), and so I wasn't (temporarily) sozzled out of my brain - which would be a rather awkward 'accomplishment' anyhow for a lifetime wowser - that line of reasoning might not take us far either. Though I had had more than serious thoughts about, and made equally earnest endeavours over, 'getting away from it all', from all the empty, shallow, self-serving razzmatazz
of New Zealand's 'big (8 weeks) out'. Though, admittedly, by Cup's end, like many, even most fellow kiwis I imagine, I found myself lured into watching our two showdown matches where New Zealand (first) comfortably, but bloodily and bruisedly, bested arch-enemy Australia and then - just barely mind you - managed to hold off our other long-time national foe, France. Now, I don't 'do' (i.e. take) any other drugs either, last time I got checked out (just a couple months back actually) I 'heard' that my hearing's as good as someone half my age, and every time - over the years and decades - I get checked out I've been invariably told my heart (and other vital stats) are in excellent working order. So however paranoiac and even hypochondriacal I sometimes may well be, and eccentric and even zany I may at times appear, I am not a partaker of mind-altering and otherwise numbing substances (other than computer radiation), so hallucination would seem unlikely. So again, tell me, are my recollections just plain faulty, or did I miss something somewhere along the way, such as the aforementioned election campaign  fiercely contested if only over that very issue of partially privatized state-owned assets?

In signing off, I realize (and quite understand) some folk are a little upset with our P.M., but - in all candour - I for one can't bring myself to regard John Key's determination to press on with his Government's partial privatization programme to be - even remotely tantamount to - a hanging, sorry, I mean a guillotining offence; not for a moment missing the irony of the protesters doing so upon Bastille Day. Not to get into how utterly offensive and plainly over-the-top the beheading of an image of our P.M. is in and of itself, quite apart from coming as it does at the end of a decade in which such gruesome acts were routinely carried out by Middle Eastern Islamist terrorists. Especially when one could well argue he fought and democratically obtained the right to pursue that very project now under so much contention. Though a case could perhaps be made that the protester/s who - in my initially faulty recollection - 'burned his effigy' - actually represented the un-and indeed fiercely anti-democratic nature and attitude of the (supposedly 'liberty, equality and fraternity'-loving) French Revolutionaries themselves, folk whose modern-day successors were aptly epitomized and personified in the French Government functionaries whose fingerprints were all over the bombing of the Rainbow Warrior 25-odd years ago now.

Somehow methinks such intense passion could well be justified in response to and outrage towards the Syrian Government and vis-a-vis the criminal inaction thereupon of the international community and its do-nothing, speak a good speech - to paraphrase a former American president, to 'speak harshly and carry a wet bus ticket' - 'representative' body the United Nations. Yes, anger and indignation over such unbelievably barbaric and horrific, appalling brutality 'playing out' daily throughout Syria (over recent months) could and would be in order, yes, worthy of well and truly getting oneself into a lather over even.

And yes, I repeat, I do think selling off state-owned assets, however piecemeal a process brings that about, is a very dumb idea. I just don't think it's on the same page as, or tantamount to, the end of the world - quite.