John Key as Storm trooper

Chris Trotter discussed in today's paper the poster of John Key as a Storm trooper, painted on a background of the Nazi flag, with a $ sign replacing the swastika. It was created by an anonymous artist calling himself Toothfish.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/comment/columnists/chris-trotter/9928806/Unintended-irony-in-Key-Nazi-poster

I find this poster not clever art, but sheer stupidity, ignorance, and offensive. Whatever you think of neo-liberal monetary policy, it has nothing in common with Nazi ideology. Far from it, and this is a point Chris Trotter makes, it is the very opposite of the Nazi approach to economics. But this poster says more. It says, or implies, that John Key is a Jew, that Jews and money go together, Jews control the world through money, and here we are coming closer to Nazi ideology.

It so happens that John Key is a very popular Prime Minister, possibly the most popular Prime Minister in the world, with consistently more than 50% approval rating. He is a charming likeable man and a consensus politician who manages to keep the divergent political views of the National party in line with a moderate middle-of-the-road approach. No political opponent ever attacked him for his Jewish background. It was just never an issue. This is New Zealand, a tolerant, broad minded country. There is no room for the Toothfish sort of mindless propaganda.