Up Front by Emma Hart

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Up Front: Not Such a Hard Word After All

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  • giovanni tiso,

    I think the previous Pope's "pardoning and rehabilitating" of Galileo takes some serious beating in terms of non-apology apology.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • Emma Hart,

    I think the previous Pope's "pardoning and rehabilitating" of Galileo takes some serious beating in terms of non-apology apology.

    Yes, just a teeny bit too late.

    I'm also a big fan of the Catholic Church's 'oh, BTW, turns out Mary Magdalene wasn't a prostitute after all' sorry.

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2006 • 4651 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    Yes, just a teeny bit too late.

    It's not so much that, it's the fact that they pardoned him. The Onion's Pope Forgives Molested Children piece as usually was not that far removed from reality.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • Rochelle Hume,

    Love the apology website - who thinks of such things?

    Warkworth • Since Sep 2007 • 34 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    Sorry if you took offence. Cry-baby.

    Well, down here in little old Middle Earth the passive-agressive "fuck you sookie-bubba" non-apology is an entirely secular art. I wonder if the State Services Commission has a handy super-secret template so civil servants can just churn 'em out with a single key stroke... :)

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Skinny,

    Rumours are that the short man who was once on TV and is now getting ready to retire from radio wrote Veitch's sorry script.

    Wellington • Since Aug 2007 • 8 posts Report Reply

  • Ben Austin,

    The Pope's been riding the apology pony pretty hard since he took office...

    Love this turn of phrase.

    London • Since Nov 2006 • 1027 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    For those interested, PerfectApology.com has a list of criteria, by which you can assess public apologies for Epic Fail.

    And I've got a ninth criteria: Sincerity.

    Seriously. What really got on my last nerve about Veitch's apology, was that it might not have satisfied any of the criteria Perfect Apology came up with, but it reeked of something carefully drafted by a PR consultant, vetted by I don't want to know how many lawyers so as not to admit anything that would come back to bite in court then stage managed liked a haute couture runway show.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Emma Hart,

    What really got on my last nerve about Veitch's apology, was that it might not have satisfied any of the criteria Perfect Apology came up with, but it reeked of something carefully drafted by a PR consultant

    I'd been trying to work out what bothered me so much about the Veitch apology (apart from the obvious, k?), and until I read that article, I hadn't realised how big an impression the time delay had made on me. I think it could have been a tour de force of apparent sincerity, and after that much time had gone by I'd just have assumed his 'team' had him in serious rehearsals. "Okay, now again, but this time let the lip quiver just a bit..."

    If you watch the Michelle interview, at one point the reporter says to her 'you're obviously very upset'. She is, really? I couldn't see it, but maybe it was the obscuring cloak of Englishness.

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2006 • 4651 posts Report Reply

  • B Jones,

    Without having seen it, I suspect that in that context, "obviously" means "one would expect this to be the case, but we have to ask because it's not all that obvious to us, and we'd like to reassure ourselves and our viewers that we're not being played here."

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 976 posts Report Reply

  • Tim Michie,

    And let's not forget Bush's regret ovre the war/s: his language...

    Auckward • Since Nov 2006 • 614 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    And now Veitch's similarly unapologetic wife wades in with more "it's not fair" whining:

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/4659090a11.html

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10527461&pnum=0

    Apparently the police should be there to "protect" her and her hubby, rather than investigate him.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Lucy Stewart,

    Apparently the police should be there to "protect" her and her hubby, rather than investigate him.

    And she rather strongly implies that Dunne-Powell should just build a bridge and get over it, because she has. Ew.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 2105 posts Report Reply

  • Emma Hart,

    OTOH, I might well forgive the person who gave me this.

    (Yes, I'm linking to Cake Wrecks, but at least it's on a weekend.)

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2006 • 4651 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    And now Veitch's similarly unapologetic wife wades in with more "it's not fair" whining:

    That's two weekends in a row that both papers (and for all I know, the Sunday News too) have been fed stories sympathetic to Veitch.

    I've no doubt there's a PR campaign in operation. I find it distasteful.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • JohnAmiria,

    I've no doubt there's a PR campaign in operation. I find it distasteful.

    I think you're right on both counts Russell, but I'm wondering what the alternative is. If Veitch does nothing he gets fried by the media and will be convicted by the Court of Public Opinion well before he actually gets to trial.

    As distasteful as it is, I think there are questions about the timing of these complaints. I speculate (since I don't know the facts) that Dunne-Powell made this matter public after she spent the settlement money or when a gag clause ran out. I think Mrs Veitch is right when she says

    Veitch is unsure why Dunne-Powell laid a complaint two-and-a-half years after the incident but assumes her husband's former partner has not let go of the relationship.

    That said, what he did was terrible and he deserves to be charged.

    hither and yon • Since Aug 2008 • 215 posts Report Reply

  • JohnAmiria,

    I spose that means, I make no apology for his behavior, but... there there might be mitigating factors, before the fact.

    You suppose wrongly. Completely wrongly. Might I suppose from your response to my comment that you can't actually comprehend what I have written? I've re-read my comments and don't see any ambiguity: "what he did was terrible and he deserves to be charged."

    hither and yon • Since Aug 2008 • 215 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    That's two weekends in a row that both papers (and for all I know, the Sunday News too) have been fed stories sympathetic to Veitch.

    I've no doubt there's a PR campaign in operation. I find it distasteful.

    Still, it is rather (blackly) comic watching Vetch and his proxies complaining their lives are being destroyed by a trail by media, while at the same time seeing how many ways they can call Dunne-Powell a bunny-boiling extortionist (and one who probably gets off on a bit of "lashing out" to boot) without attracting a nastygram from the venerable law firm Sue Grabbit & Runne.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • John Farrell,

    Or even Dewey, Cheatam and Howe....

    Dunedin • Since Nov 2006 • 499 posts Report Reply

  • Paul Campbell,

    I believe Dewey, Cheatam and Howe only practice in ("our fair city") Boston

    Dunedin • Since Nov 2006 • 2623 posts Report Reply

  • andrew llewellyn,

    Even worse, poor Michelle's poor husband had to resign his job with MI5.

    OMG, without even reading the background, this, somehow says it all. Parsh me the whip, Moneypenny.

    Since Nov 2006 • 2075 posts Report Reply

  • Rich of Observationz,

    Veitch has just been charged.

    I suspect that any "settlement" is unenforcable. You can't enforce a contract that involves breaking the law.

    Back in Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 5550 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    Hmmm. The nature of the charges seems to militate against the "I just lashed out the one time" message:

    Broadcaster Tony Veitch has been arrested on six charges of assault between 2002 and 2006 and one count of injuring with reckless disregard.

    Police today issued a statement saying a 34-year-old company director had been arrested and charged with six counts of male assaults female and one count of injuring with reckless disregard.

    If multiple assault counts are eventually proved, I'll look forward to a response from Veitch's media cheerleaders.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    If multiple assault counts are eventually proved, I'll look forward to a response from Veitch's media cheerleaders.

    Well, for a start, I'd sure like to see Garth George and Michael Laws sacked, and forced to sign a valedictory made up of a fulsome apology to Dawn-Powell. Like Louise Nicholas, I won't hold my breath waiting ...

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    Update:

    The offences are alleged to have taken place in Mangawhai, Rotorua and Auckland.

    At Auckland District Court this afternoon, Veitch's lawyer, Stuart Grieve QC, said all of the charges would be "strenuously defended".

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

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