Being Hugged by the Left

The left always goes on about how caring and sharing they are, then one day you find out up close and personal just how caring and sharing they really are. Eddie, paid lap-blogger at The Standard writes a post about me that purports to be caring and sharing about my “mental illness”. In fact it it a serious of veiled insults and threats to the media that because I suffer a mental illness that nothing I say can be of any value. His, and Eddie is a he, commenters jump in and all say hear, hear. I posted a response but as is usual for that bunch of control freak assholes they have decided not to let it through their moderation.

Mental illness is not a laughing matter, it is serious and can be very hard on the people affected and those who care for them. People who are afflicted by mental illness are not necessarily ‘nuts’ or ‘crazy’ but I think that when we look at Cameron’s blog it is clearly not the product of a healthy mind – to those for whom that wasn’t clear beforehand, it certainly is now.

No it isn’t a laughing matter, but what remotely qualifies “Eddie” to make those comments. As you can see very carefully crafted to appear caring but in fact a serious of slurs and sleights. Apparently according to “Eddie” my mind isn’t healthy. I suffer depression so therefore my mind isn’t healthy….like to know how that one works. According to Wikipedia;

People who may have had depression include English author Mary Shelley, American-British writer Henry James and American president Abraham Lincoln. Some well-known contemporary people with possible depression include Canadian songwriter Leonard Cohen and American playwright and novelist Tennessee Williams. Some pioneering psychologists, such as Americans William James and John B. Watson, dealt with their own depression. There has been a continuing discussion of whether neurological disorders and mood disorders may be linked to creativity, a discussion that goes back to Aristotelian times. British literature gives many examples of reflections on depression. English philosopher John Stuart Mill experienced a several-months-long period of what he called “a dull state of nerves”, when one is “unsusceptible to enjoyment or pleasurable excitement; one of those moods when what is pleasure at other times, becomes insipid or indifferent”. He quoted English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge‘s “Dejection” as a perfect description of his case: “A grief without a pang, void, dark and drear, / A drowsy, stifled, unimpassioned grief, / Which finds no natural outlet or relief / In word, or sigh, or tear”. English writer Samuel Johnson used the term “the black dog” in the 1780s to describe his own depression, and it was subsequently popularized by depression sufferer former British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill.

Nice so “Eddie”, the caring and sharing spinmeister of the paid lap-blog thinks that Winston Churchill, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, John Stuart Mill, Tennesee Williams, Leonard Cohen amonsgt other all have unhealthy minds. Lovely. Nice guy. C*nt.

It’s interesting that several other prominent right-wing bloggers have admitted that for them, too, blogging is a way they deal with mental illness, a way of taking out their anger, hurt, and pain on the world. Is that wrong? No. But we should see it for what it is – self-therapy, not rational political discourse.

I think there is a lesson here for the media. Cameron was obviously unwell and that should have given journalists pause both before running his stories and citing him as a commentator of note, and before exposing him to pressures he could not handle through greater public exposure.

Some more bashes from Eddie and a veiled threat to the media that clearly as he stated above that as my mind is unhealthy, plus other right wing bloggers similarly have had issues with depression then they are also unhealthy and so therefore their ideas are unhealthy and must at all costs be discounted and not used by the media, all dressed up in nice caring words but in actuality are nothing but a pouring of vitriol and anguish that the invisible, so far, Eddie can’t get traction in the media.

Using his logic as well the achievements of John Kirwan on the rugby field must also be discounted and mitigated away because he too was a sufferer of depression. Those tries he scored don’t really count because before the game he was spewing his guts out into bog. Despite the fact that he was the best winger in the rugby world at the time it is clear that his mind was unhealthy and therefore he wasn’t so great after all.

When you seek a list of famous people who have suffered depression you can see that it is quite some list, yet according to “Eddie” they really shouldn’t have been taken seriously after all. All of their achievements were the products of “unhealthy” minds and therefore can be discounted as the mad ravings of a lunatic.

Buzz Aldrin, Woody Allen, Hans Christian Anderson, Drew Carey, Jim Carrey, Winston Churchill, T.S. Elliot, Marcus Epstein, Harrison Ford, Stephen Fry, Ernest Hemingway, Robert Oppenheimer, Mozart, Isacc Newton, Friedrich Nietzsche, JK Rowling, even darling of the Climate Changists Jim Salinger, Mark Twain and so on and on and on. Funny, I didn’t notice “Eddie” jumping in and commenting on Dancer’s post that what Jim Salinger has to say must be discounted because he suffers from depression. According to “Eddie’s” theory of depression Climate Change must now be a construct of an “unhealthy” mind.

“Eddie” is a c*nt. His post demeans every sufferer of depression who despite their illness goes on and achieves wonderful things. In “Eddies” world these achievements must be diminished and ignored as the results of an “unhealthy” mind. Have I mentioned “Eddie” is a c*nt? He isn’t even brave enough to put his real name out there so who is the soft one here boyo?

Now Cameron is receiving the sickness benefit. A lot of those who formerly idolised him are attacking him as a bludger and that’s not fair. The sickness and invalid’s benefits are there to protect people who can’t work and their families from destitution. People on sickness and invalids benefits are not bludgers, they are people afflicted by illness, and that can happen to anyone – even your hero.

Again, how can he know this. As of right now I am not on the sickness benefit. You see the state in all of its caring just can’t care fast enough. It has been three months since an application has been submitted and still no answer. Too bad if you didn’t have caring friends and family to assist you. It is interesting to go and sit in the Work and Income office as you wait patiently for one of the the staff to see you. You see more than half of the staff aren’t with anyone, they walk slower than drunk with a hangover and all get up like automatons right on the button of whenever the rules stipulate their tea-breaks should be and leave the “customers” all sitting their in their misery. Again the delusion of the left that the state can fix everything is just that a delusion, and they have the temerity to call me mental and “unhealthy”.

Well fuck them all, they should be very glad and grateful that so far in their pathetic and miserable lives that they haven’t suffered from depression. It certainly is up there with cancer as one of the things you wouldn’t wish on your worst enemy, even Winston.

Being hugged by the caring left left is like being hugged by a Puffer Fish.

To join my Movember team go to http://nz.movember.com/register/5840 and follow steps. Once registered you’ll be sent all the information you need to get donations and get growing as part of my Movember team.

What many people don’t appreciate is that close to 600 men die of prostate cancer each year in New Zealand and one in ten men will experience depression in their lifetime – many of whom don’t seek help. Facts like these have convinced me I should get involved and I am hoping that you will support me.

To sponsor my Mo, you can either:

•    Click this link http://nz.movember.com/mospace/17568/ and donate online using your credit card
•    Write a cheque payable to ‘Movember’, referencing my Registration Number 17568 and mailing it to: Movember, PO Box 12 708, Wellington 6144

Remember, all donations over $5 are tax deductible.

  • http://www.blairmulholland.co.nz Blair

    "It’s interesting that several other prominent right-wing bloggers have admitted that for them, too, blogging is a way they deal with mental illness, a way of taking out their anger, hurt, and pain on the world."

    Well I hope he's not talking about me, because, speaking for myself, that's bullshit.

    It's rather convenient of him to see some blogs as "therapy" rather than intelligent discourse. It stops him from having to engage. Most people on blogs, even if name-calling, give some sort of intelligible explanation for why they think so-and-so is a wanker.

    Personally I blogged for shits and giggles, if it was theraputic, then that was a bonus.

    • Cactus Kate

      Who are the other "prominent" right-wing bloggers to which they refer?

      Farrar #1 and myself #3 sure as fuck do not suffer from depression. And having met Peter Cresswell #4, there's no symptoms there of anything but normal behaviour towards halfwit leftie fuck-ups.

  • Zork

    So according to Eddie, Comrad Starlin had a very Healthy Mind?? What a dick.

  • http://www.linkwhore.co.nz Bryan Spondre

    Cam you have hardly kept your head below the parapet so you deserve some shit from time to time but this completely unacceptable. These cunts must get their come uppance: don’t know how but there will be a way.

  • jabba

    fuckem .. when I 1st got my laptop a few months ago, I checked out sites including the Standard and being a newbie, mentioned my banning/deletions from Redalert .. well, they, or at least 2 of them, gave me both barrels in a way that I thought was unjustified .. just trying to engage with people with a different thought set.
    I haven't been back and never will .. reading the shit above, I know I made the right choice.
    (1 of them .. may have been their main person, seemed ok to be fair but not for me).
    1 other thing. the Std people see NO wrong with anything Labour which is strange. Right leaning people will slag off any Nat/Act MP if they do anything stupid and will criticise their party for mistakes .. why is that I wonder?

  • Chris

    For someone who has an occasional aquaintaneship with the Churchillian "Black Dog" Cam,your daily posts still remain quite outstanding,based on much research and dllivered always with humour and keen insight..If 'at the moment,a personal rain cloud is accompanying your litererary efforts,then it certainly adds,not detracts from your punchy prose.As for the bitter and twisted leftists,their eternally negative and mind sapping rhetoricis a clinical poimter towards advanced dpression of their very souls,which unfortunately is rarely treatable.So,alongside your leftist detractors mate,you remain,even during a short time of feeling a bit down to it,a very smart charachter of the first order

  • peteremcc

    You might be crazy Whale, but at least your not an idiot, eh!

  • mediatart

    Did you see the banner ads for jetstar on gotcha ! They hate you. they love you. Who cares

  • Peter Varey

    Why can’t blogdem put their names to shit. Whale.. you missed the one and only JK (that’s John Kirwan to you sport hating lefties) from your list. Having a mental illness I am in awe of the awareness he has brought to mental illness.

  • Theresaj

    I have a mental illness too..so I am thrilled to see you writing so often re depression Whale..also taking on
    those who always seek to pigeon hole us. They of little understanding.
    Some of the best names in history had mental illnesses so we are in good company.

  • ernesto

    I think they really are just being charitable to you. While you have a fair number of lucid insightful posts, on many occasions you come across as a venomous bigot. The charitable way of rationalising this dichotomy is to say they are the rantings of a troubled mind. The other way is just to say that you are just, to use your own words, a cunt.

    You play very hard ball (eg Goodfellow, Going, Williams, Carter) and I have no doubt that if you did not have such an insight into depression yourself, you would direct your venom with glee at any of your enemies (Peters, Williams, Carter) were they to publicly endure the struggles you have.

    I suspect under your brash exterior there is a sensitive soul and that once you have conquered your demons you will lose the nastiness that makes people think you are are a fuckwit deserving of any shit that gets thrown your way.

    You should focus on your strengths (intelligence, determination, insight, tenacity) and pay less heed to your weaknesses (venalism, bigotry, anger spite and vengefulness). For all the winding up of you that I have done, I should point out that there is something I quite like about your attitude and views, however I would like to slap a bit of the bigot out of you for your own sake.

    Good luck and I salute your courage in dealing with these issues up front and in public. Never easy but you will come out the stronger for it.
    Sincerely,
    Cunt (I have come to look fondly on your pet name for me).

    • Cactus Kate

      WO isn't whinging about what has happened on the Standard, he's merely pointing out that these guys masquerade as being nice and caring and that the left is all about that. When they are not.

      WO has never pretended on his blog to be nice and caring.

      • http://www.facebook.com/chris.gale1960 Chris Gale

        Um, but the idjits at the standard are projecting their fears onto Cam and demeaning him by excusing his statements as mental illness.
        They do not know basic logic: their entire attack is ad hominem. And stigmatizing.

        I was asked yesterday why there was not as much analysis of the NZ mental health survey — and the answer was not enough money to fund statisticians. Having "done it" seems to have been enough: not "let's learn from this"

      • ernesto

        I' m not suggesting he is whingeing, and I completely understand what SpanishBide means when she says she is not married to WO. It is evident from the robust nature of his diverse friendships that WO is not Cam per se, however it is Cam that writes WO, and from time to time he descends to a level of venalism and bigotry not seen elsewhere in the widely read blogs (and I'm not talking about that total loss of objectivity that was the Cactus/Whale/LabTests PR promo). That nasty streak stimulates the desires in others, occasionally me, to indulge in a little bigot bashing (a sport in which there are conspicuously few rules). I understand the 'outlet' theory and I am certainly glad that WO gets that bile out online, leaving SpanishBride to enjoy the offline guy as she clearly does.

        • Cactus Kate

          What labtests PR promo? Clearly you missed the Heralds header "Patients Back Labtests" today http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_i

          If you want a lesser example of "objectivity" first read your own comments that you spill all over the place like burnt sperm, and those that DML used in their campaign.

          I can guarantee you that I do not suffer from depression and CK is a far more moderate example of her authors feelings towards those who piss me off.

      • http://intensedebate.com/people/mediatart mediatart

        Its called sledging Kate. All the boys do it. Its not for the pantywaists

        • ernesto

          Not to point to fine a point on it, no mediatart, it isn't.

  • Rich Prick

    I've always regarded socialism as a metal illness, so by Eddie's measure the "Standard" is his therapy … electro-convulsive therapy by the looks of it.

  • Tom

    So, how do you justify your own harsh comments on Nick Smith, also a sufferer of mental illness?

    • http://intensedebate.com/people/Whaleoil Whaleoil

      I have hardly been harsh on Nick Smith, but I was around in 2002 when he seriously had a manic episode, taking your medication is key and that is all I have said to Nick Smith. As for his ideas and his polcies they are fair game. Nick Smith is a complete idiot if he believes in Climate Change and an ETS and this has nothing to do with his mental illness.

  • Spanishbride

    I have said it before and I will say it again. Whaleoil is not a person. He is not real. He is a product of my best friends very creative imagination. He has my friends cutting intelligence and a made up agressive persona that invites debate and lets face it,anger and publicity. It is a very effective creation and achieves what my friend wants it to achieve. It is a vehicle that he uses to get information out there and to get people talking.
    I could not be married to WO if he really existed. I am not married to WO. I am married to Cameron Slater, a totally different person.The Standard purport to feel sorry for Cameron Slater but really they want to undermine WO because WO is so much more effective than them and gets the publicity that they wish they had. He has more readers, more power.Not too bad really considering that his creator is also battling depression.
    Guess that is why I am still married to Cameron Slater. He is one amazing guy.

    • ernesto

      See my reply to Cactus above. Also its pretty lame that the Standard didn't give a right of reply to the subject of their post… another reason why (despite being a 'leftard cunt') I look at The Standard about twice a year. WO does play by some pretty big boys rules (or lack thereof) though and one can hardly fault The Standard for pointing out some of the (no doubt bitter) ironies of the situation. At any rate it got me to go to their site for the first time in living memory. I do think it is fair to say that WO (not Cam of course) lacks a little empathy for those whose situations he cannot relate to.

      Good luck all, chins up.

    • troisièmegauche

      Remember this on "Bomber"

      "I too love blogging, but EVERYTHING I write I believe in, so when I write that I’d rather be water-boarded than have electrodes applied to my testicles as a form of torture I REALLY mean it. When I write that it is better to torture a few terrorists and combatants who had the mis-fortune to get caught in order to get information that allows us to KILL their mates then I REALLY mean it. When I post about Israel I REALLY mean it."

      Reconcile this with your claims SB !!

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/The_Grizz The_Grizz

    Cameron, I have enjoyed reading your blog as you provide insight into how information is obtained and broadcast by the media. My eyes have been opened into the influences of the mainstream media and that we often get told half truths, half the story and outright lies. Often what we are told is opinion, spin and without the backing of the facts. I appreciate the way you can uncover the story behind the headlines and the political influences of the authors. Often when you make a statement, you reference your facts; hence you are not plucking information and assessment out of thin air. Something the Standard Lap-dogs should take note of.

    However, along the way, you have accumulated enemies and you have to be prepared to take some flak. On the other hand, criticism must be credible. I read this clown's comments and I really want to chuck the DSM-IV at him. This is depression we are talking about, not psychosis. Depression is often treatable. It does not mean that you are deluded or psychotic (although schizoaffective disorder crosses the boundaries between mood disorders and psychotic disorders). Depressed people can still think and speak coherently. If dickheads like the clown above think that depression makes you crazy then to broaden their argument, people with treatable medical conditions like asthma and diabetes are also crazy and should not be listened to either.

    I agree with your comment on Nick Smith, attack the policy and belief, not the man for their mental illness. Health attacks just shows your weakness and lack of genuine intelligence.

  • http://oswaldbastable.blogspot.com/ Oswald Bastable

    Indeed, SB- the when blogging I adopt a certain persona- its a part of me, but not nearly all of me.

  • ernesto

    In terms of lacking empathy for those whose situations he can't relate to, here are a few pearls….

    "There is that f**king "entitlements" word again….These people think that they are "entitled" to a lifestyle paid for by the state…I suggest we find an extremely negative word to describe state welfare and start using that. Word like quittance or stipend or just plain dole."

    I note that WOBH has busily pruned a few of his choicer rants at beneficiaries from the archives before the hubris really bites. Smart.

    • http://intensedebate.com/people/Whaleoil Whaleoil

      I haven't pruned any you dumb-fuck. i don't do that, I stand by everything I say. My entore blog is there unaltered as it has been for 5 years.

      And what is wrong with that statement, I still stand by it. I don't believe I am entitled to anything.

      Fuck off

  • ernesto

    A few pearls of wisdom…

    WOBH: "There is that f**king "entitlements" word again….These people think that they are "entitled" to a lifestyle paid for by the state….They are wrong….I suggest we find an extremely negative word to describe state welfare and start using that. Word like quittance or stipend or just plain dole."

    WOBH: "It makes zero money, cost more to run than it earns but it provides me an outlet."

    Does that mean you will be propping up your blog with your 'quittance'. Will this be New Zealand's first taxpayer funded blog? I am sure Banksie will sling in a few grand to keep his propoganda machine alive. LabTests should be good for a few bob too.

    • http://intensedebate.com/people/Whaleoil Whaleoil

      No PhilU at whoar.co.nz was the first taxpayer funded blog. Fingers crossed on the couple of g's being slung my way.

    • troisièmegauche

      Hey Cam
      Does HPH like what you do?

  • ernesto

    WOBH: "And what is wrong with that statement, I still stand by it. I don't believe I am entitled to anything."

    http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/entitle
    "entitle: to furnish with proper grounds for seeking or claiming something."

    If you don't believe you are 'furnished with proper grounds for seeking or claiming' a welfare benefit, what are you doing at WINZ.

    You are deluding yourself. Here ends the lesson, dumbfuck.

    • ernesto

      If you're not 'entitled' to a benefit, you are probably not 'entitled' to insurance, as a claim for either is based on the same grounds. Good luck with your lawyer.

  • troisièmegauche

    Hey Cam
    How many of those exemplars of achievement that you identify had to rely on 'insurance" income (state or private) because their condition warranted it? They were all (mostly?) able to sustain themselves because of their brilliance. So what happened in your case?

  • http://www.clintheine.blogspot.com Clint Heine

    Who is Eddie? i thought we established who he/she was?

  • itsatrap

    It's hard to be sympathetic Whale.

    Pot, kettle, and all that…

    • http://intensedebate.com/people/Whaleoil Whaleoil

      Sympathy is in the dictionary between shit and syphilis, it isn't something I seek or want.

  • Roger

    who the fuck is Ernesto?

    What a cock.

  • Wussy McWuss

    Stop being such a sook, Whale.

    Not about your illness, but about what other people say about you. Geez, is your skin thin or what?

  • darryl

    I'm surprised Eddie is a guy. He actually writes like a snippy girl.

  • todd

    Why the fuck would you care what eddie (small e on purpose)thinks?.One word to describe all on the substandard.Irrelevant !.

  • todd

    Tell me Whale,why would you give a damn what eddie thinks?.No one else does (maybe 10 or 12 of the faithfull at the Substandard).The world has moved on just forget about the morons.Mind you it does provide me with amusement reading the blogs over there.Poor bastards.

  • Harpoon

    SB — one point. If your husband repeatedly behaves in public like a hateful oafish arse, you have no reason to be surprised or upset when people treat him as one.