Chris Trotter’s stereotypes

I’ve been so busy with Winston, that I have overlooked Chris Trotter’s appalling column in the SST. It basically tries to scare people off voting National because of the company you will be keeping – the evil cockies, reactionaries and rich.

And let us look at how he describes them:

THE COCKIES: Backbone of the nation; earners of our overseas funds; selfish; insular; and possessed of an indefatigable sense of moral superiority over everyone whose front door looks out upon a street instead of a paddock.

THE RICH: Creators of wealth; makers of jobs; robbers of rights; bastardisers of culture; selfish; arrogant; and possessed of an indefatigable sense of moral superiority over everyone whose income is less than $100,000 per annum.

THE REACTIONARIES: Defenders of the faith; upholders of decent family values; sadistic; bigoted; deranged hankerers after a world that – thankfully – has long since passed away.

The only person in the article with a sense of moral superiority is Chris Trotter.

Imagine if a right wing columnist wrote a column sneering at the poor, the workers and the beneficiaries?

As a supporter of civil unions, prostitution law reform etc I’m hardly a reactionary, but I don’t label those who disagree with me on those issues as sadistic, bigoted and deranged as Trotter does.

Around 80% of Trotter’s columns are excellent and praised by right and left for their analysis.

But a growing number are to be blunt, just offensive – the justified corruption defence regarding the pledge card column and now this one.