Josie seeks immortality

We've blogged about the venom that has been shown towards Labour candidate Josie Pagani by those on the left who despise her support of David Shearer over his welfare comments. And Ms Pagani has written a column in the Listener in which she invents a few new words; check this out:

Someone on the internet says I’m a “post-modernist twit”. How would you text that insult? “U po mo”? I’ve also become an “ism”; Pagani-ism. I’d rather be a “nomics”. Do I have to destroy an economy to be known for Pagani-nomics? Those insults appeared on left-wing blogs after I defended Labour leader David Shearer when he said, and I paraphrase: “Someone who shouldn’t be on the dole shouldn’t be on the dole.” The political left needs to argue a principled case for welfare reform. People have a right to be looked after when they can’t provide for themselves, yet today if you are on a benefit, you live in poverty. You get stuck.

I’ve lived in a family where joining a gang was a way to make something of yourself. But by equating any reform with beneficiary bashing, the left has allowed the expression “welfare reform” to be owned by people who neither believe in welfare nor want to see it last another century. Postmodern Pagani-nomics stresses respect for responsibilities as well as rights.

Now we don't know quite how David Shearer will feel about Ms Pagani trying to claim immortality for her description of his welfare speech, unless of course Josie Pagani wrote it! And somehow, we don't think that that the name Pagani-nomics will catch on.

But given the revelation yesterday that David Shearer invented the story of the roof-painting sickness beneficiary, and given that Josie Pagani is inventing new names ought we be calling this affair Paintergate? Oh; wait. That's already been claimed by Helen Clark! 

So how about RufusPayntergate; might that catch on?