In the darkness you will find
Dirty little secrets we all hide
The book, The Hollow Men, was supposed to have been released today. For those of you who don't know, The Hollow Men is a book which contains a lot of information leaked from emails sent by Don Brash about the National Party.
Personally, I was interested in reading the book. Probably not interested enough to buy it, but certainly interested enough to borrow it from the library. Or to buy for my dad for Christmas and read before I gave it to him. (Heh I never do that, honest!)
However, Don Brash obtained a court injunction last week which has forbidden the release of the 'stolen' emails. This means that the release of the book has been delayed. Certainly not stopped forever, but stopped for a little while.
I think this was a dumb move on Brash's part. Let's face it, there hadn't been a lot of publicity for the book. I had only heard about it because I'm a geek who likes to keep up with the news. Now, though, suddenly a lot more people will be hearing about it. The fact that its release has been delayed has made headlines and has guaranteed that people who would otherwise not heard about the book now have.
Political news doesn't generally stay in the media in New Zealand very long. The book would probably have been discussed on Campbell Live and Close-up today and that would have been it. Overall I doubt it would have done much damage to National.
Now though? Now I want to know what's in it. Now I'm far more likely to go out of my way to read it. And I'm betting I'm not the only one who feels this way. Not only that, but if it's going to be released anyway (which it will, the court injunction can't last forever) wouldn't it be best for Don Brash and National to have it released as far away from the election as possible? ie now? The longer the release is held back the closer to the election it will get and the more people will hear about the book and become interested in its contents.
I can't help thinking that for National this should be one of those times when letting it release and then focussing their efforts on damage control would be the more sensible course of action.
The other thing I think about is that I'm not the smartest person alive. Either I've got it all wrong and holding back the release is far more sensible or I've got it right. But if I've got it right then why haven't National thought of this themselves? Is it possible that the stuff in that book could be so damaging that the idea of letting it release and then fixing the mess is too much? Because, if that's the case, I just want to read it even more! share this: facebook
The book, The Hollow Men, was supposed to have been released today. For those of you who don't know, The Hollow Men is a book which contains a lot of information leaked from emails sent by Don Brash about the National Party.
Personally, I was interested in reading the book. Probably not interested enough to buy it, but certainly interested enough to borrow it from the library. Or to buy for my dad for Christmas and read before I gave it to him. (Heh I never do that, honest!)
However, Don Brash obtained a court injunction last week which has forbidden the release of the 'stolen' emails. This means that the release of the book has been delayed. Certainly not stopped forever, but stopped for a little while.
I think this was a dumb move on Brash's part. Let's face it, there hadn't been a lot of publicity for the book. I had only heard about it because I'm a geek who likes to keep up with the news. Now, though, suddenly a lot more people will be hearing about it. The fact that its release has been delayed has made headlines and has guaranteed that people who would otherwise not heard about the book now have.
Political news doesn't generally stay in the media in New Zealand very long. The book would probably have been discussed on Campbell Live and Close-up today and that would have been it. Overall I doubt it would have done much damage to National.
Now though? Now I want to know what's in it. Now I'm far more likely to go out of my way to read it. And I'm betting I'm not the only one who feels this way. Not only that, but if it's going to be released anyway (which it will, the court injunction can't last forever) wouldn't it be best for Don Brash and National to have it released as far away from the election as possible? ie now? The longer the release is held back the closer to the election it will get and the more people will hear about the book and become interested in its contents.
I can't help thinking that for National this should be one of those times when letting it release and then focussing their efforts on damage control would be the more sensible course of action.
The other thing I think about is that I'm not the smartest person alive. Either I've got it all wrong and holding back the release is far more sensible or I've got it right. But if I've got it right then why haven't National thought of this themselves? Is it possible that the stuff in that book could be so damaging that the idea of letting it release and then fixing the mess is too much? Because, if that's the case, I just want to read it even more! share this: facebook
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on Tuesday, November 21, 2006 at 1:59 PM.
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4 Comments:
OK, first up are you seriously asking why National chose to make a stupid decision?
Seriously?
The answer is: Because right-aligned political parties only think of NOW and themselves, not the future. Take for instance the tax cuts thing: our tax isn't cut because there is about to be a HUGE rush for the pension as well as a rise in health users due to our aging population and if we want to have any chance at all of riding it out we need to keep the tax rate where it is and build up a giant deficit (as Labour has been doing) - duh!
Secondly chances are Don Brash didn't think it was temporary or if he did then the party needed more time to work out a course for damage control. While the book was aimed at damaging National chances are it's going to damage Brash's correspondants just as much so there's probably a little more to it then simply avoiding losing votes.
Personally I think he should jump and have Key take his place - then we'll have a MUCH better chance of a Labour government next time around! (It was much too close for my liking last time!)
Well. Yeah. You're right, it was a dumb question. Of course National (and particularly Brash) make stupid decisions a lot. Dunno where my head was at when I questioned why! :)
Looks like you got your wish (and mine) now since Brash resigned yesterday. I laughed that he did a total about-face before he resigned though and said that he thinks the book should be published. Apparently he's now given Hager the emails so they are no longer 'stolen' and so don't qualify as part of the injunction.
I heard that Key is probably fairly implicated in the book as well so it will be interesting to see what happens with that. National are taking the tack at the moment that it's more of a work of fiction than reality. I should really withhold judgement until I've read it but I sincerely hope it brings a few more National party members down.
OK.. I'm an idiot. When I say deficit I mean surplus.
As I said, idiot.
Anyway... yes I woke up yesterday to that wonderful wonderful news (my TV doubles as an alarm clock and the news was on when it was set to go off)... sat up straight in bed 'cos I couldn't believe it! :-)
The book's now on sale online, go buy it, I'll borrow it off ya when you move up :-P
You're wish is my command. :) The book has been ordered. I've turned into such an academic over the last few years. My book collection features as many non-fiction books as it does fiction now. (Well maybe not, but it's close.)
I heard about the resignation pretty late in the day but it was totally worth it to be with my National supporter friend at the time. He was NOT happy. Hehe.
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