I'm not really a very political person - I just don't dig it. Some people would argue that you should take an interest in something which has potential to have a large effect on your life, but I'd argue that politicians are all a bunch of liars anyway and that involvement in politics would just end being overly frustrated. Anyhow, I find it interesting that this election it seems to be not just the politicians which are full of crap - it's the political-blogging community (if I could think of some vaugely offensive term for them I'd use it there. Feel free to make up your own and insert it) as well. Yesterday I happened to be reading a few of these publications, which were in outcry over Nationals just announced proposed changes to immigration laws. The bloggers were making all sorts of claims about what National would be changing and such forth, which did sound a bit harsh. However this morning I heard Don Brash on bFM basically say that all of those claims were simply not true.
The simplest example was the issue surrounding 'deporting' immigrants and refugees who commit any crimes in New Zealand within 4 years of their arrival. Bloggers were claiming that this definately included minor infringements such as speeding tickets, which Brash said was simply not true, and that it was only offences which resulted in jail time being served which would be included. Storm in a teacup? Who knows. Basically someone is lying, and this smear/anti smear/smear website crap is just annoying. It makes it really hard for anyone to follow politics unless they're willing to spend hours each day reading mainstream news and then supplementing that with the informal opinion side of it all.
I hate politics even more now.