by frog
In a post titled ‘Nandor’s Life’, Rodney Hide has blogged today that:
Nandor Tanczos must live a permanent Club Med-type existence to describe Parliament as a “toxic hell-hole�. Or perhaps the Green caucus is rougher than we imagine.
I wonder whether Rodney thinks Nandor was living this “permanent Club Med-type existence” while in Parliament or only during his temporary escape. Hamilton is an amusing town, but Club Med it is not. 
Certainly I don’t think that the Green caucus is the source of the toxin.
When Nandor made the “toxic hellhole” comment I suspect that he meant that Parliament is unhealthy for all MPs. But I reckon comments such as Rodney Hide’s above show why it’s particularly poisonous for those MPs who are progressive and positive-minded.
Parliament is toxic for the Green MPs because they have to deal with fairly relentless hostility and quite frequent personal attacks, Nandor in particular. Their ability to rise above the flak does not mean they enjoy it and I don’t think they’re obliged to pretend they do.
Published in Parliament by frog on Sat, November 12th, 2005
Tags: environment
on the trolls and those who are unable to keep on topic
No prizes for expecting Hide to say that, or any Right-winger really.
The truth always hurts, and it sure hurts for those who try and defend the establishment.
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RedGreen,
I wonder if Rodney Hide does stop long enough to “feel hurt”.
He seems able to slam back reflexively with a smart remark, without pausing long enough to feel anything (except perhaps self satisfied.)
I regard his ilk as a background noise (definitely toxic!) that is best ignored.
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To be “Green” about it, I will amend that to:
I regard Rodney Hide and his ilk as often “a background noise” (definitely toxic!) that is usually best to choose not to respond to … (after listening politely of course!)
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“It isn’t easy being Green” – Kermit
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clarify for me;
was Rodney Hide referring to Club Med’s attributes as a foreign owner of indigenous resources, the siting of “resorts” in areas pollutedby radioactive fallout, the employment practices which degrade melanesian and polynesian employees, the complete colonialist atmosphere in their hotels, or did he have some other attributes in mind?
Can’t say that reminds me at all of the Waikato that my cousins & I lived in, or even what the place is like today, for that matter.
Perhaps Rodney is suffering from toxic blindness! But then, polluters often do….
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anyone who knows any MPs knows that Parliament grinds them down and changes them, regardless of political affiliation. i find it remarkable that Hide can’t see that.
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You can only feel sorry for Rodney, reading his comments.
Evidently he doesn’t have a life.
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Eredwen, I think you’ve got it exactly right. Rodney is most likely one of those people who don’t *truly* experience life to its full potential, I suspect. He walks around on autopilot with his crusades to reduce government and his sharp retorts, but he never takes the time to let the deeper feelings of what is being said to him and what he himself is saying sink in. He’s defensive and walled-up every minute of the day so that he can survive in the kind of anarchistic society he wants. I doubt the man has felt any happiness beyond the fleeting satisfaction of a witty retort in years. What a poor, tragic man
Here’s hoping to less MPs so injured by Parliament’s toxic waste of bullying and personal attacks.
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Nature is truly marvellous.
There are life forms that thrive in highly-acidic sulphurous pools surrounding geysers, where the temperatures hover near boiling. There’s bounteous life in oceanic depths far beyond the light of the sun.
Now Rodney Hide shows that some life-forms even enjoy the fiercely competitive one-up-manship and constant abuse of national politics.
Will wonders never cease?
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Great stuff icehawk!
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G’day Greenies, you guys are really letting yourselves down on this post.
You’ve all, to varying extents, claimed to be somehow enlightened, alluding to your own understanding of a life being comfortable in oneself, while engaging in baseless personal attacks to the effect that Rodney is morally inferior.
Ironically, the initial post even decries personal attacks on Green MP’s.
Your comments are hypoctitical.
The behaviour of a handful of commentators on this thread are not representative of the Green Party, there are certainly some much more thoughtful members around. However the behaviour here is consistent with the Greens’ chicken little proclivities: The sky is always falling, the world is horrible and only we have the answer. (apologies to CL)
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Good point David Seymour, and well taken!
It made me stop, think, and look over what I had written.
I would say that I started by sharing my view Rodney Hide’s regular behaviour, and his motives (trying to work out his reasons for denegrating others in untruthful ways). Other people joined in, and we gradually got “sucked into” laughing about it … and saying more than one would have said alone … a kind of letting off steam in a humorus way … forgetting that the forum was actually an open one!
I don’t remeber any malicious intent, but I do remember my anger (at Rodneys deliberate attempts to denegrate the Greens on many occasions) being disipated in that laughter.
The man is actually a mystery to me!
eredwen
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Hi Again David Seymour:
After thinking more about your post …
I believe that Greens “claiming to be somehow enlightened” or “engaging in baseless personal attacks” or “Rodney… morally inferior” are inaccurate conclusions on your part. (Perhaps “projecting”onto us, what you would do if you were in our situation?)
I do not think our comments were “hypocritical”.
Accuracy is, in this case, in the eye of the beholder, and I think that you and I see the world from (very?) different perspectives.
It is always interesting to hear how “Green” is interpreted by others of a different world view (the Greens’ “chicken little proclivities” is a cute misrepresentation! )
Many of us find Rodney Hide a strident portrayer of misinformation about the Greens, made worse because he is intelligent enough to know that it is misinformation. Such behaviour, in addition to being damaging to the Green cause, we see as totally dishonest. (Probably Rodney would see it as political expedient … “There are lies, damn lies and then there is politics.” type of thinking.) And you are right: the Greens do not operate in that way.
Rodney can be quite cute with it however … rather like a naughty little “bad fairy”.
Each to his own … I accept your discomfort at our comments, and have taken that on board for “improvement”, but disagree with your interpretation of our collective behaviour!
eredwen
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David,
We applaud your defence of dear Rodney but his personal blog is riddled with personal attacks on the Greens, and those who post there haven’t got much nicer things to say either.
Frog started this thread in response to Rodney’s comments, mind you.
So before you accuse the Greens of hypocrisy, look at your leader’s own blog.
“He [sic] who has no sin, cast the first stone.”
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