It’s all about Chloe

Audrey Young observes:

Chlöe Swarbrick became a distraction from the debate on Palestine during a crucial week in which Israel stepped up bombardments of Gaza City and New Zealand began debating a huge issue. But outrageously, she made it about whether being asked twice to apologise was unprecedented. 

It wouldn’t be so ironic if she hadn’t used her speech to the Greens’ AGM on Sunday to rail against politics that is “designed to outrage”.

“It gets headlines. It gets cut-through. It sucks up the oxygen and depletes the energy necessary to focus on the bigger picture. It benefits the multi-multi-multi-millionaire and billionaires, and their puppet politicians. All of this is designed to deflect, distract and divide,” she said.

Of course, she was talking about other politicians, not herself. In her self-centred world, it is only others that deflect, distract and divide.

Ouch.

Simon O’Connor also points out:

Imagine being so assured your knowledge is correct, that even an entire Parliament – its Members, its Speaker, and Clerks – must all bend to your view.

Imagine being right in all things, that rules don’t apply to you.

And finally, imagine being so self-righteously assured of your own opinions today, that even the entirety of history will judge you correct.

Some might describe this as delusional. Some might suggest it’s narcissism. Others might use simpler words such as arrogance, contemptuous, petulant, and overconfident.

All these words apply, but the best two words to describe above are Chlöe Swarbick, co-leader of the Green Party.

Double ouch.

Over the course of 48 hours of extraordinary politics, nominally around the situation in Gaza, she has demonstrated an extraordinary confidence in her own viewpoint that she believes that no one should question it and that an entire democratic parliament must bend to her will. No rules applies to her – in fact, despite being told she was ‘out of order’ by the Speaker of the House she was insistent that any engagement with him would not be for dialogue but only to impress upon him how wrong he was.

Another sad part of this spectacle is it confirms that the likes of Chlöe and the Greens are not actually prioritising the cause of the Palestinian people. The show in parliament over recent days was all about her. Sure, she and others will say it is on behalf of Gazans but her actions today loudly say otherwise.

We have the Chloe show, and soon thanks to taxpayers we will have the Chloe film!