Peter Tashkoff is crying foul over his expulsion from the Act Party because party leader Rodney Hide attended the meeting at which his fate was decided and voted against him.

Mr Hide had previously excused himself from board meetings and discussions about Mr Tashkoff because of a conflict of…

Interested parties

This is a euphemism, right? Just trying to work out what for, but have a few ideas.

...clot of hobgoblins

I love that collective phrasing...

whereas a clot of haemoglobin
would just be bearing irony...

There's only one pilot's seat in the cockpit.

There's only one cock in the pilot's seat.

Just sayin'.

ACT prostituted itself (arf) to the SST. This was a fake marriage, full of contradictions, and they should have been called on it long before McVicar's goon got drummed out of Parliament.

And ends up diagnosed with the STD known as hypocritosis.

Seriously though, I can see a wedge emerging…

First sentence: about Hilary Calvert. Saying the opposite of what you have ascribed.

The rest: Not about Hilary Calvert.

ACT prostituted itself (arf) to the SST. This was a fake marriage, full…

Yep, you guessed it. A certain Garth McVicar, from the Sensible Sentencing Trust.

That's a pretty feeble mutation of the "exposing hypocrisy" defence. You can't even say Calvert voted against the Prostitution Reform Bill.

Or even explain to the hypocritical leader of the Act Party. Oh that's right, they've known…

But it is kind of interesting – no, make that delicious – that she is replacing David Garrett, the MP for the Sensible Sentencing Trust.

Who said this,…

Craig Y

Will it make a blind bit of difference?

Sure it will – all those hits from posting and reading of comments will go towards nzherald.co.nz's stats, enhancing the site's attractiveness to advertisers, and thus Garth's position is further cemented...

Oh, Girth, shuddup, please, we begs you.

That's a lost cause, but I've got to wonder is there any effusion of douchebag word salad the Herald won't print?

Still, I did have to smile defending the morals of children staying up well past their bedtimes to watch a show about…

Oh, so that's why Key's using the word "ethical" about Hide now.

Here's a thought
Key doesn't know what to say, He knows how he feels and let's face it ,he does seem pretty normal' almost boring.
But I don't think normal is acceptable for our PM and I think…

Key's defence of Hide might have looked like a big blunder. But Key was probably left with little choice after Speaker Lockwood Smith delivered a precedent-setting ruling that the Opposition could seek the Prime Minister's opinion of the judgment…

His Garthness does get a fair spanking in the associated Comments.

Yes he does. Deservedly. Will it make a blind bit of difference? I stopped reading after page 3. My brain hurt. Must stop reading his articles all together, but Bfm mentioned this, and made me look.

Oh, Girth, shuddup, please

His Garthness does get a fair spanking in the associated Comments.

Narcissistic twats

Excellent summary

The child's identity was not stolen 26 years ago, it was simply borrowed, and that harmed neither the child nor his parents, particularly since the false passport was never used.

It appears, too, that the assault in Tonga eight years ago was trivial.

Oh, Girth, shuddup, please, we begs you.

Narcissistic twats.

That's the word.

If Garrett is being opposed by dark forces, is he saying that he is on the side of the light?

I think he might be standing in front of the light
and shadowboxing – oh well, with his backlit darkside to the front, there's always…

Mrs Roy denied being behind the leak.

"I knew very little of the information released last week. It wasn't me, it wasn't anyone associated with me."

As for the dark forces; "I think everybody might have been reading too much Star Wars myself," she said.

Heather: "These aren't the…

Because I'm pretty sure Master Yoda would kick his arse out of the Jedi damn quick for any one of the idiotic tricks he's pulled.

Did Garrett really mean "Dark Farces" surround ACT at the moment? It'd be more appropriate if that were the case...

Craig Y

Hasn't Hilary Calvert suddenly become the most interesting member of parliament? She really controls the future of ACT during this term.

ACT WARS

Episode III: The Internet Strikes Back

Dark Forces surround the Party. Strife is everywhere. Amidst the chaos, the Emperor's Order 66 has gone unnoticed as Parties crumble, cities upheave, and cold powerful winds lash the Nation.

A small…

How can I learn a lesson from
what I did 26 years ago?

Garrett's gift to Anne Tolley – now she can scrap all teaching of history... after all what's the point...

As for the original offending, Mr Garrett said it was a thrill to beat the system and he did not think about the consequences.

So we're going to see an apology for all those extravagant claims about the deterrent effects of harsh sentencing, then?

http://www.lopnz.com

Craig Y

Craig Y

Sensible Sentencing Trust spokesman Garth McVicar said dozens of the trust's supporters had called in support of Mr Garrett, and they had expressed interest in a Garrett-led independent party with a law and order focus.

Glorious!

Mr Key said he wasn't sure Mr Hide had all the relevant information available to him about the Garrett affair until last week. However, that wasn't the central issue in his continued support for Mr Hide.

"My responsibilities with him rest…

No alarm bells? Maybe the ring of a cash register instead?

I like* the part where he implies that the parents of the dead baby in the Garrett case should just get over it, because it was like AGES ago that their two year-old daughter died.

Thanks to Garrett, it came back and kicked them in the guts, 20 years later.

…

@Ian D: the big difference is Beyer told the whole story about her past to begin with. And more importantly, she didn't pontificate like Garrett or the Sensibles.

Even more importantly, she was bloody good as a mayor and MP. My conservative Catholic grandparents unreservedly voted for her as mayor…

(What is it with right-wingers and an unhealthy obsession with Forsyth?
Why do you never hear about MacLean inspired idiocy?)

Not enough sex and gratuitous violence probably...
and maybe too hard work:
[re MacLean's writing] __Instead, he lets little hinder the flow of events in…

Presuming the death of ACT, does that mean National will cover the right wing?

If they do, will they leave the all impotent Central position?

Or will we move to the left as a country, the death of free market policies everdent for all to see?

Strategically, from national's point…

Worse: they're the kind of people who will cobble up another rightwing
anti-worker populist-in-the-worst-sense party (hay-lo Winston & Lhaws!) because rich righties cannot countenance sharing wealth-

The Epsom National voter votes strategically because their votes carry four members that can only join National as a government.

The Epsom National voter thinks that having Act…

If they do, will they leave the all impotent Central position?

Or will we move to the left as a country, the death of free market policies everdent for all to see?

There is an unpleasant set of people within our country who need to have something to despise, someone to beat up on, who feel threatened by difference, and worryingly – by the rule of law.

Unfortunately, They is Us (like…

If Winston & Lhaws do a…

And since it's a day with a Y in it, cue the predictably vile and clueless Michael Laws column.

ACT is dead, but nature abhors a vacuum, so whither the angry talkback Taliban vote go?

If the scuttlebutt of a Peters/Laws re-launch of NZ First (already on 4-4.5% of the…

Thanks to Garrett, it came back and kicked them in the guts, 20 years later.

But I expect they got over that.

Thanks to ACT (Hide, the board, the leaker), it's now come back yet again.

But they'll get over it.

Until the…

And since it's a day with a Y in it, cue the predictably vile and clueless Michael Laws column.

I like* the part where he implies that the parents of the dead baby in the Garrett case should just get over it, because it was like AGES ago that their…

FORGIVE ME, this morning, for not joining the media's gratuitous mugging of Act list MP David Garrett.

It is not my favourite party and its economic philosophy – whatever it actually…

John Key is very happy with the National-ACT relationship. It is working well, and he is delighted to have ACT Ministers in his government.

Except Roger Douglas. Oh, and Heather Roy. And now David Garrett.

And, maybe soon, Rodney Hide.

But other than that, they're all fine.

Excellent. :)

Except Roger Douglas. Oh, and Heather Roy. And now David Garrett.

And, maybe soon, Rodney Hide.

But other than that, they're all fine.

It just seems to me the whole "democratic" process has developed fatal flaws along the way. It is no longer representative.

In terms of being a reflection of the general population, since MMP it's been the most representative ever. Certainly a lot more representative than it was 100 years ago,…

Fair enough, and incidently I expected a sigh and response from you Craig(didn't expect RB in one of my dreams though, it was to do with Rugby all right?)

I would never disappoint you, Miss Sofie. :) But seriously, one thing about the "new paradigm" (as our Aussie cousins put…

That was strange, wasn't it?; " We still back Rodney".

What, all of you?

I didn't see Cameron Brewer anywhere. Oh that's right, he has pissed people off with his own campaign for Orakei.
It 'seams', it's all falling apart ;-)

but the New Market Business Assoc. like Rodney

That was strange, wasn't it?; " We still back Rodney".

What, all of you?

What next, are we to learn that John Boscawen never was interested in lightly smacking children's bottoms; that its all been bravado, in-order to look sensible?

I'm pretty sure that's the case.

I may be confusing him with Roger Douglas, but at least one, if not both never smacked their…

Craig Y

Celebrate sports matches... can I afford food this week.
Politicians head in the trough, but cutting social services.
Its the have's telling the have not's what to do.

Yeah Term of endurance. I dreaded it's return and here we are.

Distrusting or demeaning someone solely on the basis that they have presented themselves for consideration as a democratic representative doesn't make sense to me.

Not saying that at all. It just seems to me the whole "democratic" process has developed fatal flaws along the way. It is no longer representative.…

22 year-old Latu Kepu got six-years and four months for the manslaughter of Jason Palmer, at Springhill prison in May.

PSA National Secretary Brenda Pilott said it certainly won't make prison…

In which John Key has responded " We love Rodney," for all the parrots out there.

*sigh* That's a little OTT, Sofie. If anything, Key is perfectly sensibly no more throwing himself into the internal ructions of another party than Helen did when the Alliance was melting down.

Kyle, as I said (and you ignored), the news is *all* about the dead child's ID. That's why Garrett has been dumped. Public opinion.

The claim was made that Hide knew that Garrett lied to the court. We don't know that at all.

Even if Hide demanded all the court…

True, but it was generally implied (in the media, etc) that Worth's comments were of an inappropriate sexual nature and there's been little dispute about that being the case.

Okay, to clarify: I understand that (or, more correctly, that this is the current speculation because, as Sacha said, no-one actually…

However I believe most have the best of motivations even if their methods aren't always admirable. It's too tough a job to attract the moderately committed (though…

Prime Minister John Key has sent a message to disgraced former ACT MP David Garrett that he needs to think "seriously" about his future as an MP.

Key said given the New Zealand public's reaction to Garrett's faked passport scam he should go away for the next two…

Having respect for someone is not the same as saying they're better than me.

I think a lot of people start with a position of disrespect towards MPs, and I don't think that's healthy. Skepticism perhaps.

__Quite agree, and I/S shits me sometimes with that stuff.

Distrusting or demeaning someone…

Friday brain teaser:

Yeah hypocrisy twists my brain in knots too. I've been more thinking "Is it hypocritical of me to think it's all good that Garrett's name suppression was pushed aside, when one of the things I least like about him is that he thinks that's a good idea…

it was generally implied (in the media, etc) that Worth's comments were of an inappropriate sexual nature and there's been little dispute about that being the case

The whole idea of carefully refusing to say why is that it creates an information vacuum. I wouldn't go assuming we know what…

"If I bore the mark of an ACT MP, I'd want a new identity as well"

and

"David Garrett committed identity fraud after reading Day Of The Jackal. Just be thankful he didn't read American Psycho."

Actually Grant we don't know that at all – because Key refused to tell the public why one of his Ministers resigned.

True, but it was generally implied (in the media, etc) that Worth's comments were of an inappropriate sexual nature and there's been little dispute…

If Rodney Hide is a hypocrite for his abuse of travel perks, and David Garrett is a hypocrite for his criminal past, is it hypocritical of Hide not to support Garrett as a result of his hypocrisy? Or just ironic.

Either Hide is telling porkies or he's just an incompetent idiot.

Going by his position on climate change I'm pretty sure it's both. But
I don't think there is anything remotely surprising about Hide's position. I'm sure that in private Hide still doesn't see Garrett's offenses as a big deal.…

It was that simple.

Actually Grant we don't know that at all – because Key refused to tell the public why one of his Ministers resigned.

Either Hide is telling porkies or he's just an incompetent idiot.

It doesnt have to be an either/or situation... both could be true. :)

I'm sorry, we have an adultery test for our politicians now? I seem to remember it wasn't quite that simple.

It was that simple. Worth didn't commit adultery. As I said, it was to do with sexually inappropriate comments , he obfuscated over it, was found out and Key obliged…

If I were a party leader and one of my potential recruits told me he'd been involved in a court case involving identity theft, I would want to see every shred of evidence involved with the case, in order…

Having respect for someone is not the same as saying they're better than me.

I think a lot of people start with a position of disrespect towards MPs, and I don't think that's healthy. Skepticism perhaps.

Quite agree, and I/S shits me sometimes with that stuff.

Distrusting or demeaning someone…

Garrett will almost certainly support on confidence and supply until he's no longer an MP. Having one less MP does weaken the hand of ACT in negotiating policy, however, and I can't see Garrett getting much as a maverick outsider.

Our constitutional arrangements are starting to mature and prove robust,…

Who started this respectable meme? Anyone? or did we just stumble into it, like most of the stupidity that doesn't make sense anymore.

Yeah that was me sorry. I disagree with what I/S says, in that I think we should respect most people, and MPs should be no different. Of…

But if Hide believes Garrett committed perjury, then he has a duty to do a bit more than dab his…

Key surely won't want to have a separate arrangement with him.

Garrett will almost certainly support on confidence and supply until he's no longer an MP. Having one less MP does weaken the hand of ACT in negotiating policy, however, and I can't see Garrett getting much as a maverick…

Come on, Kyle, that's the flimsiest of pretexts. Hide knows it, you must too.

I dunno. If you were the leader of a party and took someone on high on the list and they told you that they'd had a discharge and name suppression, and you agreed to take them…

It's all about the dead child. Garrett's not a complete fool, he knew it would look terrible if…

You're new at this politics thing, so before going for office, you run your dirty secrets past your party leader, who says thats ok, well just keep it quiet...

But then you get publicly found out, and your party leader dumps you because he couldnt possibly support…

Act leader Rodney Hide has said he could no longer support David Garrrett following yesterday's revelations about information he gave to a court in 2005. ...

Hide said he called Garrett last night and said he was withdrawing his backing.

"I rang him from Hong Kong to say…

I'm sorry, we have an adultery test for our politicians now? I seem to remember it wasn't quite that simple.

There's no test. That's why he resigned.

There's also no test for Garrett. There aren't that many things that would get you kicked out of parliament, most people leaving resign.

Worth resigned last year for making very inappropriate sexual comments and texts to a woman that is not his wife.

I'm sorry, we have an adultery test for our politicians now? I seem to remember it wasn't quite that simple.

And Kyle, if you are going to do rankings like that, you have to normalize for the number of MPs each party has available to make fuck-ups. If Garrett were the only idiot in ACT, that's still make 20% of ACT MPs idiots...

I'm entertained by "normalize" and ACT being…

I still don't know why Worth resigned earlier this year.

Worth resigned last year for making very inappropriate sexual comments and texts to a woman that is not his wife.

Lucy, here's a link to that study showing that it's really hard to tell someone else is drunk.

Ah, cheers – should have Googled but I was too rushed/lazy.

Field didn't stand up at his selection meeting and announce, when asked when he wanted to be an MP: "for the bribe money of course. You gotta problem with that"

No he didn't, but there are plenty of Labour MPs who don't have a lot of moral high ground to…

Actually I could believe that bit. He's a bit of a dick, he was young, passport fraud wasn't such a thing back then as in the modern terrorism world.

Except he'd just read a novel about terrorism & dodgy passports. (What is it with right-wingers and an unhealthy obsession with Forsyth?…

Actually I could believe that bit. He's a bit of a dick, he was young, passport fraud wasn't such a thing back then as in the modern terrorism world.

But it's such an awfully elaborate and highly risky length to go to for a prank. As that woman interviewed in…

Disgraced Act MP David Garrett has quit his party and conceded his political career is almost certainly over.

However, Mr Garrett said in an interview with Radio New Zealand that was not his greatest concern.

"The worst aspect of all of this is that those who have…

This is certainly worse than Carter and Jones, by a big margin.

Carter, Jones, Mallard, Benson-Pope, Peters, Bennett, Garrett. They all should have resigned from Parliament, served a punishment, and only then allowed back into parliament.

I still don't know why Worth resigned earlier this year.

And Kyle, if you are going to do rankings like that, you have to normalize for the number of MPs each party has available to make fuck-ups. If Garrett were the only…

Now they are reliving their grief all over again, and still have no apology from that man.

I understood they had had an apology at the time, but haven't had an apology for the recent recurrence of its being made public.

This is certainly worse than Carter and Jones, by a big margin.

That's a relief!

To you Kyle maybe,

Actually I confused myself there and therefore typed it out wrong.

This is certainly worse than Carter and Jones, by a big margin.

Is this worse than Carter? Jones? Nup.

To you Kyle maybe, but to the family of that child this is far worse. Now they are reliving their grief all over again, and still have no apology from that man. And he lied in court.

Carry on Hari Hari
Harry Harrison?
I smell a Stainless Steel Rat!
:- )

No rat here – he's the latecomer, not us!

see HH Birth name and other changes

Talk about identity confusion!

(*cough* Philip Field, Shame Jones, Chris Carter *cough*)

We really need some sort of points based ranking system.

Is this worse than Carter? Jones? Nup.

Worse than Philip Field.... I think Philip takes it by a nose.

Worse than Donna Awatere? Too close to call.

Which political party comes out…

So at the time false passports were definitely being used by very bad people to do very bad things.

Yes. But I don't think it was viewed by the general population the same way as it is now, despite passports probably being used that way.

I mean we still had…

Is there any chance of Garrett and / or Hide being done for misleading Parliament ? I suspect Labour will at least try to give it a go

With Labour's record of flinging razor-edged boomerangs from the moral high ground (*cough* Philip Field, Shame Jones, Chris Carter *cough*), I'd say…

nd, okay, they didn't have Al-Qaeda in the seventies but passport fraud still wasn't a merry whim of idle youth, you know?

He got the passport in 1984. To add context, 1985 was the Rainbow Warrior bombing. The late 70's was the Mr. Asia period (and I see from the…

"You want Rodney? Then you don't want Tashkoff.

So here's the deal. For starters, an official delegation trip for two, to increase international cultural awareness, taking in Paris, Rome, Venice, maybe a Greek island, very nice this time…

Strike 3, perjury with intent

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/4133210/Crucial-information-omitted-in-Garrett-case

He could be sent to jail for that, should be if there is any justice.

Is there any chance of Garrett and / or Hide being done for misleading Parliament ? I suspect Labour will at least try to give it a go, even…

Actually I could believe that bit. He's a bit of a dick, he was young, passport fraud wasn't such a thing back then as in the modern terrorism world.

But it's such an awfully elaborate and highly risky length to go to for a prank. As that woman interviewed in…

Btw, who's Hilary Calvert, whose page on the Act website can no longer be found, and is she likely to support Boscawen or Roy?

The most I've heard comes via Dim-Post comments:

The next one on the ACT list (Hillary Calvert) is a staunch neo-lib who will support Roy and…

He had a reason, no-one commits that sort of serious fraud as a prank.

Actually I could believe that bit. He's a bit of a dick, he was young, passport fraud wasn't such a thing back then as in the modern terrorism world.

Btw, who's Hilary Calvert, whose page on…

who's Hilary Calvert

I think they need a Culvert Hillary
– someone to climb them out
of the gutter they're in...

Thing you have to realize about ACT is: It doesn't matter what 95% of the country think about anything.

True, but they can't dismiss the opinions of the majority of people in Epsom quite so easily.

Mmmmm. Juicy conjecture gently wrapped in deliciously aged coincidence served straight up on a spicy bed of conspiracy.
What does one drink with that?

after the Jus cogens Desserts [sic]
(or Humble pie )
I'd recommend the Chateau Colostomy '62
(Sir Henry, of Rawlinson's End, favourite tipple...)

**Carry…

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/4133210/Crucial-information-omitted-in-Garrett-case

He could be sent to jail for that, should be if there is any justice.

Possibly the first time that sentence has ever been written?

In terms of the victims of this type of "prank," RadioNZ had an insightful interview yesterday with a father whose dead son's identity was stolen in similar circumstances. I'd be surprised if it didn't…

I had a serious WTF? moment when he disclosed he was attending the House and caucus drunk. How could anyone not have noticed and done something?

There was a recent study (don't have a link ATM) which found that even bartenders – who see a lot of drunks – were…

That got me thinking, he didn't have to use the passport to get in and out of NZ to use it. I'm sure someone travelling abroad (especially in the…

And human beings make mistakes.

I'll not be dissauded from the view that politicians should be expected to be respectable.

And here we all are, including pricks like Garrett, stuck between what we are, and what we think we should be.
Who started this respectable meme? Anyone? or did we…

Not trying to cause trouble, just got those annoying nagging alarms on my bullshit detector going crazy when I try to get this story to add up.

Not convinced that identity theft is the end of it.

Well it's not is it. There is an entirely split party going on…

All I can do is hope that some one, some where will use the headline 'Jackal and Hide'.

I'm waiting for the headline "xxxxx MP confirms he has no convictions"

Ahem. I hear the veal is good.

oil rigs. interesting. is that where you recruit Act party candidates?

Helps to be used to spending time in the doghouse, perhaps.

Who would have thought so many of our local heroes of the right would turn out to be lot less Stahlgewittern and a lot more Sturm und Drang?

Mental health issues affect a very large section of the population. As many as you'd expect, on the right, and as many…

Discovering via the lifting of the order that Garrett has experienced mental illness takes the fun out of the meme a bit.

Cameron Slater, now David Garrett...

Who would have thought so many of our local heroes of the right would turn out to be lot less Stahlgewittern and a…

Once a Communist, then Labour, but it was all an ACT.

He must be deported to Mother Russia.

Garrett's counsel had said he had been working on an oil rig in a ''roughneck'' lifestyle.

Hide admitted his own transgressions on Close Up, saying that when he was a young man working on an oil rig he had been arrested for being drunk at Heathrow Airport

oil rigs. interesting.…

Mmmmm. Juicy conjecture gently wrapped in deliciously aged coincidence served straight up on a spicy bed of conspiracy.

What does one drink with that?

What I meant to say is that nothing I have heard or read has convinced me that the serious crime of identity theft isn't concealing an even more serious crime, the trades hall bombing was just the most high profile unsolved…

That really is quite a leap of logic, and not one which reflects my view, or the view of the site, in any way. Srsly.

Thanks Russell. Random murder accusations are a weird thing to be saying, even in jest. And I have no idea whether that is a statement…

Did David Garrett murder Ernie Abbott?

That really is quite a leap of logic, and not one which reflects my view, or the view of the site, in any way. Srsly.

When the SST/ACT realize that the only people left expressing any sympathy for Garrett are those lily-livered liberals on Public Address ... well, then they'll want him gone too.

Rehabilitation Rocks! Save Dave!

Discovering via the lifting of the order that Garrett has experienced mental illness takes the fun out of the meme a bit.

But seriously, isn't it a common beef from SST that today's offenders all too often get off with the mental illness defense and rail against it? I'm all…

Mark never seemed drunk to me.

I could easily believe that — it's when you're "maintaining" (and can bullshit yourself that you don't have a problem) the real horror begins. Perhaps you have to hit bottom, but I'm sure Mark himself is first person who is thankful his wake up…

Trades Hall bombing March 27 1984. UNSOLVED.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/334315

That would explain the false passport far more convicingly than the obvoius nonsense we are being presented with.

Discovering via the lifting of the order that Garrett has experienced mental illness takes the fun out of the meme a bit.

Certainly, but not for the first time (and not the last, I suspect) I've got to wonder whether Parliament is actually a very safe place for people who…

Yes, I agree with you about 'some...seek political office because they've got something to offer' (I stated as much) – but there is another drive: humans are dominance-seeking animals. Politicians are our equivalent of god-bearers/overlords/monarchs…

Discovering via the lifting of the order that Garrett has experienced mental illness

According to his lawyer. There is a well established pattern at least in Italy about wealthy people and/or lawyers found in this sort of predicament: they all turn out to have some sort of mental illness (prior…

Paul W – respect? Because pollies have considerable power & advantage?

That's not quite what I said/meant. I responded to I/S by saying, in effect, I'm saddened that a politician isn't someone who can be relied on to be respectable. They bloody ought to be.

I distrust pretty well all people…

Discovering via the lifting of the order that Garrett has experienced mental illness takes the fun out of the meme a bit.

Whilst at the same time, as with WhaleOil, explaining a lot.

The dead boy's sister was also quoted by Judge de Ridder.

"The deeply cruel, shameful and malicious manner in…

The plot thickens: "Harry Harrison's son Harry Harry Harrison's son Harry Harrison"? Who even needs identity fraud in your family?

And you only get one guess as to what my youngest son's third name is :-) Seriously though, we are very strongly traditionalist and conservative in my family :-) At…

No, not as an automatic thing, a response they expect, but *only* if they've earned it -once they retire-

I distrust pretty well all people who aspire to be politicians at any level -seeking power exactly describes what they are…

And, as you've just pointed out on Twitter, the Herald is saying McVicar was a character witness for Garrett.

I do not understand how calling Garth McVicar as a character witness could possibly help anyone's case.

LOL so you're really "Harry Harrison's son's son Harry"? I can see why you pick Henry!

Yes, but its worse Harry's son's second name was Henry too!

As far as the hypothesis goes though, I'm coming at it from a child/moral development point of view – harsh treatment as a…

Where's Gerry Brownlee when you need him?

Wording the edict that gives him ius primae noctis Canterbury-wide until 2012, I expect.

Garrett asked to keep his identity secret to "maintain his reputation".

A hypocrite as well as an arsehole.

You and I have disagreed lately over the appropriate use of epithets. But this thing? Well, yes.

And, as you've just pointed out on Twitter, the Herald is saying McVicar was a…

I think Garrett has had experience of soft treatment though, at least until now. And availed himself of it.