The poo protest is over

It really does surprise me that nobody died in the Wellington riot yesterday. There were of course some significant injuries, but it’s testament to the New Zealand Police force’s tactical ability and professionalism plus a good amount of sheer luck that nobody needs to be laid to rest.

The riots have of course brought into question what many people believed in. Not only have long time freedom fighters on the left, some of whom protested during the Springbok Tour where actual Police brutality was dished out, been in support of dismantling the “freedom” encampment, many right wing journalists have now seen the result of their biased reporting against the Labour Government writ large across Parliaments lawn.

Let’s hope it’s a wake up call that they actually listen to.

Today, the NZ Herald reported:

Covid 19 Wellington protest: Riots, fire and violence as police end occupation

Andrew Coster told Mike Hosking police had tried to work with protest organisers but a lack of leadership and cohesion made this impossible.

"We were left with no option to do what we did yesterday to restore the site."

"I'm pleased that we've got to here. I never wanted it to end like that, but we did what we had to do."

Government politicians will also be doing some soul searching over the next few days, not least of all the Prime Minister. What many people don’t realise is that Jacinda Ardern truly believes in her ‘be kind’ moto. It’s not just a nice catch phrase for her.

So when the rabble first started gathering and then turned to serious acts of violence outside of Parliament, she would have been mortified that there were so many disaffected people braying at her door, some with literal pitchforks.

Because of the way the protest was conducted and concluded, other Politicians should now be questioning their actions as well, not least of all David Seymour and Winston Peters. They both knew that what the “freedom” convoy stood for was bogus, but decided to raise their profiles anyway and in so doing legitimised the anarchists. They then took to social media to regurgitate some of the propaganda they’d seen that they thought would sit well with their voter base.

Looking over at the mess left behind at Parliament grounds, Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson let out a heavy sigh.

"It's been an incredibly distressing time for Wellingtonians over the last three weeks - not only have they been harassed and spat at and bullied, but they've also seen the city that they love be trashed."

Robertson said we can never excuse what happened yesterday.

"It was appalling," he told Breakfast.

Most Kiwis who once agreed with the numerous causes the protesters apparently stood for will now be questioning that support. Nobody, apart from those who want to see Aotearoa destroyed, will be rejoicing at the chaos and mayhem that erupted in Wellington yesterday. The vast majority will be shocked and dismayed at the level of violence that was on display.

Clearly there are people with malignant intent towards this great country. Many have pointed out that much of the propaganda targeting the disaffected rioters has come from overseas. However it’s people operating within New Zealand that have propagated most of the propaganda...disinformation that has now resulted in widespread carnage.

Some have pointed at social media algorithms, but the truth of the matter is that brainwashing such a large number of Kiwis has only occurred because of a concerted and extensive campaign by a dedicated and large group of people, an operation that is ultimately designed to undermine our democracy.

But as a society, Robertson acknowledged more needed to be done to stop misinformation being spread in relation to Covid-19 and vaccines.

That included the Government working closely with some of the world's big social media sites to remind them of their responsibilities around such issues.

The information war is real and our intelligence systems have largely failed to curtail its more destructive effects. For instance, it’s terribly concerning (particularly after the Christchurch Mosque shootings) that white supremacists have been allowed to operate in plain site for such a long period of time against New Zealand’s best interests.

Some of these fanatics were even attempting to identify Police officers with the use of high-powered cameras during the Parliament riot. There is obviously only one reason they would want to gather such information, and it’s not good.

I would therefore urge anybody who might be targeted by such extremists to be extra careful about their security. The Parliament riot isn’t the end of their campaign against New Zealand. In fact it could just be the beginning.

RIP George Floyd

George Floyd and Daughter 

If you’ve been keeping an eye on recent events in the United States, you’ll likely understand why there’s so much anger on the streets at the moment. Not only did police officers murder another black man; it is patently obvious that authorities initially attempted to cover up George Floyd's execution as well.

But if that wasn’t bad enough, instead of leading in a time of crisis, Donald Trump has been doing his best to provoke people further by aligning himself again with White Power twitter accounts and personally threatening protestors with vicious attack dogs and being shot, clearly showing that he's a fascist!

The US Police, who in general are out of control, have also been antagonising protestors with further indiscriminate acts of violence, sometimes perpetrated against children, journalists and peaceful protestors, which has increased resentment both in the US and abroad.

Of course it suits the so-called President to distract from his administrations mishandling of the COVID-19 crisis. Even with the United States’ case numbers painting a bleak picture of a user pays health system that has failed to protect the general population, Trump attempted to distract away from his own culpability by laying blame solely on China and the World Health Organization. This obvious propaganda tactic was repeated when Trump again tried to blame left-wing extremists and ANTIFA for the protests, which if the current global political state of affairs is anything to go by hasn’t been a very successful ploy.

As America rips itself apart, Trump has added insult to injury by moving to close down free speech with an executive order to reduce the legal liability protections online companies operate under. Prior to this blatant attack on the First Amendment, Trump was also misleading people into using incorrect medicines against COVID-19, unsafe treatments that have directly lead to numerous deaths. In the midst of all this, Trump even had the gall to say the United States was doing just fine, a claim that only a truly deluded dictator could make.

At this stage it seems unlikely that even the National Guard can save Trump from his own stupidity! However even with the writing on the wall, the despot continues to blame others.

White House goes dark as Donald Trump hides in bunker

The problem the United States faces going forward is that without any alternative leaders that the people believe in these protests will fail to cause any long-lasting and beneficial change. Both sides of the United States’ administrative wings are simply too corrupt to alter their destructive course by their own accord. Instead they will likely entrench their divisive capitalist agenda further into already abhorrent legislation, laws that will increasingly marginalise and persecute the already downtrodden.

Unfortunately there are no modern day Arthur Luther King’s or Malcolm X’s stepping forward to harness the crowds anger into an organised movement, and without that evolution of dissent the state will likely win out against those who have dared to raise their voices against Trump’s tyranny.

The problem isn’t just that the state has all the guns and numerous ways to track, mislead and punish people…it’s that such opposition to Big Brother has already been tried and failed. The 1970’s Black Power Movement for instance was decimated through police brutality and the introduction of cheap heroin into Black communities. These types of dirty tactics to subdue minority populations in the US haven’t stopped. In fact they’ve become more established and perverse in recent decades.

So my advice to the good people of the United States is to hold onto that rightful anger you feel over George Floyd's murder and harness it into a movement that has longevity. Choose and protect leaders that are squeaky clean and speak truth to power for everybody, because without leaders and a focal point to coalesce the will of the people into political change, history will simply be repeated…and that’s something the World cannot continue to endure.