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Wednesday, November 16, 2005

Liars and Hypocrites

Observed on "Campbell Live" tonight. Green Party MP Keith Locke roundly condemning US military action in Afghanistan and urging our government to send no more Kiwi troops

From the In February 1980 issue of "Socialist Action" (which Mr Locke edited) an article on a talk Mr Locke gave Wellington "Why workers should support Soviet Action in Afghanistan."

From the Green Party's "Frog Blog" 2/6/05
Anyone who knows anything about New Zealand left-wing politics knows that the Socialist Action League, of which Keith was a member up until the mid-80s, was a Trotskyist group, and attacked all the Stalinist regimes, in Peking, Moscow and all of Eastern Europe, arguing for multi-party democracy.)

Two observations
1 Keith Locke is a hypocrite
2 Frog Blog is either misinformed or lying. The SAL heavily backed Soviet policy in the early '80s and often worked with the openly pro Soviet, Socialist Unity Party. The SAL did not support "multi party democracy" but did back a succession of one party dictators including Castro and Ortega.

4 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

That's brilliant! With that depth of background knowledge this could become a very influential blog.

12:37 PM  
Blogger Libertyscott said...

Yes I remember doing some research myself years ago on Locke, his comments are easily found as the back copies of that publication reside at several university libraries. He may recant all this - but I am sure if some National MP had written glowingly about Apartheid, Pinochet or Mobutu in the 70s and 80s, the Greens would hang him out to dry.

9:55 PM  
Blogger Oswald Bastable said...

Option 3
All of the above...

9:15 AM  
Blogger Rafe Copeland said...

there is a difference between stalinism and the soviet union during the 80's. Firstly, economically. Everything was much freer, and vastly different to Stalinist Russia. Secondly, social liberties were greater, and I'm sure that this is one major thing that Locke's Troskyist Union rejected Stalinism for, lack of social liberties, something you claim to know much about.

Further, why criticise a party for what you claim is a griping to a greater political force just in order to receive benefits? ACT did it themselves.

10:41 PM  

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