ZB on Ukraine

March 17, 2025

By NZB3

Early morning radio this morning had a bit of an interesting take on the Russia vs. Ukraine war in a way that stirred me to listen. Some of my best books or best ideas are the ones I hear rejected by others. When the orthodox view REALLY shows fear and resistance to something that’s the best recommendation to me!

Roman Travers, just before 1.30am absolutely did his nut at a caller, Peter, today.

New Zealand Media and Entertainment (NZME,) the owners of this radio station and the NZ Herald are  presently in fight for editorial control among shareholders. In short, they’re trying to decide to stay Woke or not. This is going to take weeks to play out. Ref. What billionaire Jim Grenon’s media power play means for NZME, NZ Herald

Voice actors like Travers are under editorial restrictions we don’t really know about. What, for example, is he allowed to say about the Ukraine war? What is he scared to let others say? We live in a time where every news item on the subject slips in the essential PSA reminder about the war: “The war that Russia started..” or words to that effect. Again, when people tell me what to think like this it makes me question more deeply than if they’d just kept their mouths shut in the first place.

Peter called to take Travers up on the topic he had going and largely echoed things that the Trump Administration would say. Apparently that was the problem!

“They haven’t actually got many cards to play militarily speaking,” he said of President  Zelenskyy and his sympathisers (echoing Trump.) He wondered why New Zealand had to have anything to do with a conflict 1,200 miles away. And that we had very strong ties with Australia whose banks were heavily invested in our country. So, we could rely on their self-interest!

Travers didn’t take on these sound practical points. Instead, shifted the conversation to ethics: “Well, because it’s not just purely an economic question. It’s a question of morals.  It’s a question of what we should be doing  and we won’t be doing anything to the level of other big countries  but we’ll be doing something and we’ll continue to do that.  You can’t just sit back in there,” he said.

Whereupon, Paul played the ball where it landed. “What are these morals?” he wanted to know. ‘How do these morals help Ukraine when Kiwis have already put $1.2 million dollars in that we won’t see again? Trump is right, they are not going to defeat Russia’s bigger (and nuclear) power. What’s the morality in more people dying and carrying on this fighting? All fairly decent points and the sort of thing coming out of the Oval Office. But would Newstalk ZB tolerate such talk?

“Oh, so you think that if you’ve got all the big boys’ toys that you should be just allowed to carry on, that you just think we should just roll over.How are my morals? Is that what you asked me?” Our host didn’t know what else to say, was playing for time. Wishing he could hang up probably but in desperate need of a pretense. Paul obliged.

“Well, their neo-Nazis that took away an election result in Ukraine” the caller pointed out. Is he right about that or is it just a well-known rumor? I think he’s right about the election tampering but are Zelenskyy’s backers neo-Nazis? It would be good to know we are not funding them! Ah, but that seems to be taboo…

:: click ::

Paul’s gone. Rant on! You can still listen to it here by dialing up 13/3/2025 at 1.30am..

Paul is hung up on and Travers goes into a big rant as if he’s going through a rough breakup with a girlfriend..

“That just goes to prove how stupid you are! You always, you just seem to open your mouth to change feet! Every time we get to a point where once again, you get to the point of making yourself look woefully ignorant, which doesn’t help the situation at all. I don’t know why you do that every single time.”

“You start off relatively okay and then you just run towards this cliff of stupidity and you leap off with gay abandon, don’t you? And you close your eyes and hope for the best. I don’t know what you’re trying to achieve by trying to paint this picture of Russia doing a great thing for the people of Ukraine.”

“It’s a sick, a fanatical approach to Putin that concerns me with you, Peter….Actually, it doesn’t concern me at all. It’s actually quite, it’s quite vile the way that you do think.”

“Yes, I will. I will absolutely cut you off. This is not a free-range chicken farm. You don’t just get to have your go for as long as you like!”

“As soon as you start to talk stupidity, then I’m not a… This is not an avenue for you to have that free voice.”

“My job is to challenge that.”

“And there’s no point because you don’t change your mind. And you seem to think this is your chance to tell the world about your deep love of Putin and the good things he’s doing, which is deeply concerning in itself.”

Stupid, woefully ignorant, cliff of stupidity, gay abandon, sick, fanatical, vile, free-range chicken farm, stupidity, deep love of Putin, deeply concerning….it’s just verbal abuse.

I think Roman Travers probably did sell his brain to this narrative. But I also think he answers to a producer and is scared of upsetting them or whoever it is on the NZME board who put him there to think and talk and gate-keep like this.

Very interesting to me that he straight-up says his show is not an avenue for someone to have a free voice. Someone who didn’t get angry or libelous. Someone who simply presented what is, after all, the other side of this debate. The one we don’t get to hear.

Very interesting to me that Roman said that literally that it is his job to challenge that free voice.

For now mate. For now.

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