Posts by Craig Ranapia
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Hard News: Moving right along?, in reply to Craig Young,
And meanwhile, outside the Bombay Hills, let’s try to keep this in perspective, shall we? The problem is not that Brown dipped his wick, it is that he allegedly may have interfered in a council employment decision to get Ms Chuang appointed somewhere, which is more serious.
Well, Namesake O’ Mine, from my perspective it’s much more serious when the media have taken it on themselves to demand the resignation of someone who actually won a free, fair and credible election on grounds that barely qualify as flimsy. Over the weekend in particular, I know journalists and commentators have been downright cute about finding passive-aggressive ways to slut-shame Chuang, and paint Brown as a corrupt john with Yellow Fever, but where’s any evidence of ANY wrongdoing?
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Hard News: Moving right along?, in reply to Cam Slater,
With all due disrespect, Cameron, I find Nikki a more reliable judge of character and ethical probity.
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Hard News: Moving right along?, in reply to Alan Moore,
….I think we all know that if you view marriage as a worthy institution shagging around is wrong.
Private faces in public places
Are wiser and nicer
Than public faces in private places.(W.H. Auden, 'Letter to Lord Byron')
That is all.
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Hard News: Moving right along?, in reply to Russell Brown,
It’s already getting needlessly messy for her, given that Hamish Price ran her last campaign.
Funny thing is, I’ve heard from people on both sides that both Kaye and Ardern fronted tough-but-clean campaigns that reflected well on everyone involved. And while I don’t want to speak out of school, yes the 2001 campaign for the National Party presidency between John Slater and Boag was competitive and hard fought with plenty of bruised egos on both sides. Twelve years is an unhealthily long time to bear a grudge.
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Hard News: Moving right along?, in reply to Craig Ranapia,
And here’s another reason why Key would “want the Brown scandal to die down”. There’s a number of Auckland MPs and party grandees who have non-delusional “pull” in the National Party who are going to have enough to do to hold on to critical electorate and party votes, without having to catch Cameron Slater’s bullshit.
OK, I should back that up with some numbers, because that's how PAS rolls. :)
Paula Bennett's majority in Waitakere: NINE. Yes, it's exceedingly unlikely she's not going to a high list placing but it's never a good look, win or lose overall, to have a high profile Minister ejected from their electorate.
Nikki Kaye's majority in Auckland Central: 717. I hear she's generally regarded as a good and effective local member, but she doesn't need Cameron Slater's sleaze becoming a campaign issue for her. Jacinda Adern's no fool - and neither are the people around here: "Nikki's a great person, but the company she keeps..." may be unfair, but it's one way to play out what's going to be an extremely tight race.
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Hard News: Moving right along?, in reply to Russell Brown,
Yes, it is conceivable that the Auckland Council chief executive Doug McKay and other council officials have been actively misleading the public in describing it as an independent review.
And let's be honest, for the usual suspects who've already decided Brown is guilty of every depravity they can imagine nothing is going to satisfy them this side of a guillotine in the middle of Aotea Square.
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It has apparently slipped his mind that he, Cameron Slater, gleefully published all that detail.
I know it’s not a popular thing to say around here, but Cameron Slater isn’t the only one whose casta diva pearl-clutching deserves a rousing chorus of “bitch, please…” Let’s get real, bullies and sleaze bags need to be called out loud and often, but so do their enablers. I don’t think the people who’ve gleefully spend the last week lying down with a very nasty dog (and not for the first time), should be allowed to get up and walk away and pretend they’re victims too.
And here’s another reason why Key would “want the Brown scandal to die down”. There’s a number of Auckland MPs and party grandees who have non-delusional “pull” in the National Party who are going to have enough to do to hold on to critical electorate and party votes, without having to catch Cameron Slater’s bullshit.
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Hard News: Everybody's Machiavelli, in reply to Russell Brown,
But she’s not necessarily going to be seen as a good witness.
Of course not - if only actual bus services were as frequent as the ones Chuang gets pushed in front of by all and sundry when she's no longer useful, Auckland would be a public transport Nirvana.
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Hard News: Everybody's Machiavelli, in reply to Matthew Littlewood,
Whether this Government will fully play ball with Brown’s housing/City Rail Loop plans is another matter entirely, of course.
Well, yes. But anyone in local government who goes in expecting the road to Wellington be paved with blank cheques is probably short on the pragamtism gene that marks successful mayors.
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Hard News: Everybody's Machiavelli, in reply to Alex Coleman,
Question is this: If they had pulled this Brown thing off, and got him to resign without their fingerprints being so publically all over it in such a manipulative way, what would have that meant for Slater’s clout within National?
Nothing. The people who find him an embarrassment at best would still do so, and whether you care to believe it or not, Brown is actually easier for the pragmatic right and business community to deal with than a flaky blank slate like Pallino. I could come up with more credible policy positions, and networks that are the pratical bread and butter of being a mayor in the real world, on the back of a cocktail napkin after an all-day liquid lunch.
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