Cammy & Jonno
PM John Key has been under much criticism recently from
opposition parties and journalists for abusing the integrity of his positions
as both Prime Minister and Minister of Intelligence. This is in relation to a
report into SIS activities which upheld claims made in Nicky Hager’s Dirty Politics book that, a few years
back, senior staffers in the PMs office instructed right-wing blogger Cameron
Slater to make Official Information Act inquiries to the SIS to gain access to
information on the parliamentary activities of then-Labour leader Phil Goff
that could be used to publically embarrass Goff through Slater’s blog Whaleoil,
as was indeed the case (representative news story here). In other words, Key has been accused of being a
participant in a National party conspiracy against the Labour party, undertaken
through what should be the politically neutral environment of Parliament. A few thoughts related to this:
1 – a good example of the fact that real conspiratorial
activity is likely to be on a comparatively small scale (e.g. 3 or so people
here) and to be of a relatively banal nature (e.g. making an opposition MP look
like a liar and an incompetent). This is in contrast to the standard
conspiracist mindset that typifies conspiracies as operating on spectacularly
grand scales (e.g. the Illuminati manipulating most significant political
events around the world over the last few centuries as part of their scheme for
total global control) and through events of great drama or historical import
(e.g. assassinations, implementing radical legislation etc.).
2 – an indication of the important role played by
investigative journalism in helping expose political activity that can be
considered conspiratorial/corrupt, and a reminder that this role is one that
many conspiracy theorists appropriate as a legitimating framework for their own
ideologically-motivated conspiracism (e.g. the wretched Ian Wishart and
Investigate magazine)
3 – an example of how digital media like blogs are used as
realpolitik weapons of character assassination in a heavily mediated political
environment in which appearances and surface impressions are ever-more
important (e.g. Boorstin’s ‘pseudo-events). This has arguably superseded the
physical assassination/deposition of political opponents as the historical norm
of realpolitik conspiracism (e.g. Congolese president Lumumba in the 1960s, the
overthrow of Mossadegh in 1950s Iran, JFK if you don’t accept the ‘lone gunman’
hypothesis).
Music trivia note: post title inspired by 'No Xmas For John Quays' by The Fall from the Live At The Witch Trials album (1978), following example of TV3 news editor who played it as soundbed for footage of Key
