Speak of the neoliberal devil. Chris Trotter has written yet another neoliberal attack, this time in the guise of defending Russell Brown from a flange of gorillas.
Trotter recites from Gordon Dryden's Out of the Red, which I have fished out of the library and sits in front of me presently. There's an inscription inside:
To Trev,
A good country starts with good mates.
For the good times,
Gordon Dryden
October 1978
In the fullness of time, I'll get back to Trotter on that score. My brain is currently soaking in Jarrod Gilbert's Patched; The History of Gangs in New Zealand. It is utterly compelling reading. Between the Hunter S Thompson Hell's Angels cultural influence through to more personal experiences (e.g.), every law and order geek needs to read this book.
In the meantime, it is worth bearing in mind that TV2 was Roger Douglas' brainchild. And Norm Kirk was a homophobic, anti-abortion social conservative. Keep some proportion and perspective. No need to snowball everything.
