Election time again - sigh

Who can hardly notice that election year is upon us?  The political machine is beginning to whir into action with those parties opposing the Government making shots at everything it has done this term and in terms past.  Most like people to believe that they are shots across the bow warning the Government (and the public) of the horrendous things they will expose as the time of the ballot draws nearer, but I think the public are becoming more and more savvy to the way things political work.  They are less shots across the bow than they are the results of inaccurate coordinates.  Parties like New Zealand First would have us believe that the Labour led Government have introduced pieces of anti-family legislation such as the Care of Children Act, the Civil Union Act and various Executive Policies to bring down the country from the fine upstanding christian position it has been proud to maintain.  What a load of codswallop.  National are on that bandwagon because its leader is looking for anything it possibly can to use as leverage to seize power.  As an illustration of how ludicrous is the way in which the political mind works, National's leader would have us believe that he chose to support the Civil Union Bill (as it was) during its first reading, and to oppose it at its second and triumphant third.  His reason was that while he supported the principles of the Bill and would support it, he believed that only members of the public should make a decision of such magnitude and that it should go to referendum at the time of the next general election.  Again, codswallop.  If that is the position, why on earth do we put people into positions of power such as we do with our New Zealand Parliament?  We trust them to make the big decisions don't we?  Of course we don't, but that is our democratic process.  We put people through their paces at the time of Parliamentary elections - test their mettle as it were.  If they pass the test we effectively hand them the cheque book to the country and hope like mad that they don't bring us to war, bankrupt us, or overturn exceedingly sensible policies like our nuclear-free stance (National by the way want to allow US nuclear powered ships back into our waters because they say it will be good for the economy - no matter about the environment or the safety of our children).  National's leader wanted the referendum (the call was led by the NZ First Party) to cloud the general election issue, which of course is "who is best equipped to govern our country for the next three years?"  If you start adding referenda on questions where one or more political parties have a policy position to general elections, the elections become more about the referendum issue and less about the overall ability to lead.  Opposing parties will spend time and resources attacking the referendum, and the supporting party(s) spend time and resources defending it.  The result is a single issue argument about any one political party's abilities.  There are always far greater issues to argue, such as justice, community health and education, defence etc, the list does not end only the degree of importance to most New Zealanders varies. 

Anyway, I may or may not have made my intended vote(s) clear.  I don't care.  Of couse this blog is writen some 3 months ahead of the election and my views may change depending on the result of any reasonable political debate about current or future issues facing our fine country, secular as it is.  I doubt it but I'm open to suggestion.  I'm not open to brain washing though and, I suggest, neither should you be.  Have a great week - eyes, and mind open.