Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: Go Us

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  • Graeme Edgeler,

    Oh, and a slightly related question, what happens in the event that the likes of Rodders gets sent up the river? After all, Act's only in Parliament because he's there. Take him away, and then what? A by-election? Potentially (in fact very probably) it would go to another party, and that could totally change the composition of Parliament.

    A by-election, but everyone else gets to stay.

    Wellington, New Zealand • Since Nov 2006 • 3215 posts Report Reply

  • Peter Darlington,

    Wouldn't 'Bristol Palin's babydaddy' roll off the tongue a little more easily? I think they should go with that.

    Yup. And 'Levi's babymama' sounds like an Erykah Badu lyric.

    Nelson • Since Nov 2006 • 949 posts Report Reply

  • Matthew Poole,

    A by-election, but everyone else gets to stay.

    And if that by-election meant that Act no longer held Epsom? Would Roy still get to stay until the next election, even though the sole reason for her presence would now be gone?

    Just to be clear, I'm not suggesting that Rodders might be due for a spot of jail time. Act just happens to be a good example of list seats held solely by dint of having won an electorate.

    Auckland • Since Mar 2007 • 4097 posts Report Reply

  • Graeme Edgeler,

    And if that by-election meant that Act no longer held Epsom? Would Roy still get to stay until the next election, even though the sole reason for her presence would now be gone?

    Yes.

    Your suggestion that it "could totally change the composition of Parliament" is the reason why. Undertstandably, we don't want that to happen.

    Interestingly, it also applies to election petitions.

    For example Party X gets 4% of the vote (say 5 MPs). Candidate Y, the leader of Party X is elected to an electorate and the party gets 4 list MPs.

    Opponent Z takes election petition against Y alleging that Y went around on polling day destroying ballot boxes (and the votes inside them) in areas likely to have supported Z. Z proves this in the election petition and then a prosecution of Y for this behaviour results in his conviction for destroying ballot papers and receiving the maximum penalty for this crime against democracy (six months' imprisonment).

    Party X keeps 4 list members until the next election.

    Wellington, New Zealand • Since Nov 2006 • 3215 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    Wouldn't 'Bristol Palin's babydaddy' roll off the tongue a little more easily?

    Wha...? Bristol Palin got knocked up backstage at a Scissor Sisters gig by the band's lScissor Sisters' gay Jewish bass player? Damn, I'd pay for tickets to that wedding! :)

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

  • Craig Ranapia,

    Wouldn't 'Bristol Palin's babydaddy' roll off the tongue a little more easily?

    Wha...? Bristol Palin got knocked up backstage at a Scissor Sisters gig by the band's lgay Jewish bass player? Damn, I'd pay for tickets to that wedding! :)

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

  • Russell Brown,

    Er ... what?

    McCain's spokesman on the speech that Palin will give at the convention:

    As for the speech itself, Davis said a generic, "masculine" speech was being prepared before the pick was made and, now that Palin is the choice, she is adapting the speech to her own needs and personality.

    What, like some knitting jokes?

    Same guy:

    "This election is not about issues," said Davis. "This election is about a composite view of what people take away from these candidates."

    And they're not letting Palin do any interviews. At all.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • LegBreak,

    Apologies if anyone has made this high-brow observation up-thread but.

    Any girl called Bristol is going to be found attractive by a certain type of guy…

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1162 posts Report Reply

  • Matthew Poole,

    Thanks Graeme. It does make sense, but I just wanted to clarify that our polly tubbies hadn't done summit daft, as is their wont.

    I cannot believe that interfering with ballots is only worth six months' jail time. Though I guess that, being a country with a very, very low reported incidence of election fraud, it's probably not really a big deal. If it were rife and the sentence remained at six months I'd be rather more outraged.

    Auckland • Since Mar 2007 • 4097 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    What, like some knitting jokes?

    More like: "I've got a uterus and Joe Biden hasn't. Anyone who gives me any shit about it is going to get shot in the head - and unlike Dick Cheney, I kill what I shoot."

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

  • giovanni tiso,

    Meanwhile, the repugs ripped into the Obama campaign today for the deranged attacks on the Trig triangle. If Kos hadn't jumped the shark on this, all the juicy stuff that has come out since would be a lot more usable than it is. What a waste.

    Turns out two weeks ago Palin met with the Jews for Jesus guys. Proof positive she wasn't vetted - no way she would have done that (or would have been allowed to do that) if she had known she was in the running. Today she was due to meet with the Schlafly anti-abortion crowd and that was wisely cancelled.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    Nice turn of phrase from Maureen Dowd:

    The political unknowns, of course, want that tantalizing brass ring, so they’re not always completely forthcoming about their skeletons, if they’re lucky enough to be ineptly vetted.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    And they're not letting Palin do any interviews. At all.

    Oy... but here's the really creepy but illuminating passage from the post you linked to:

    Davis demurred when asked when Palin will sit for interviews with major news organizations, pointing out that now would not be the right time given the "combative" attitude the media has seemingly adopted toward Palin.

    Emphasis added.

    So, what does that mean -- Palin will be doing the conservative/evangelical media round, because it's certain she's not going to get any tough questions on policy or her record; and then she either goes back to Juno a loser, or gets disappeared to a secure location for four years?

    Sorry Sage, but I'm still not coming up with a phrase besides 'cynical and unserious" for the McCain campaign.

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

  • Bob Munro,

    Any girl called Bristol is going to be found attractive by a certain type of guy…

    I think she's named after "Bristol Bay", largest sockeye salmon run in the world. Governor Palin is not popular with these folks who claim she supports a polluting open cast gold mine in the bay.

    Christchurch • Since Aug 2007 • 418 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    So, what does that mean -- Palin will be doing the conservative/evangelical media round, because it's certain she's not going to get any tough questions on policy or her record

    That wouldn't work, unless really she's only there to galvanize that base. But then she'd become a drag on the ticket with the sane portion of the independent electorate. You know, the folks who believe in evolution.

    Cheney and co. can afford never to give interviews because they are in power. She'd need to go on meet the press and all the rest, especially given how thin the republican ranks are. Plus the (legitimate) stories about her would circulate in the MSM anyway, and would keep hurting her and McCain even if she decided never to face up.

    Her only possibility here is to do amazingly in her speech at the convention and turn this around in a big way. The questions wouldn't go away, but at least she'd have something going for herself.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • Rob Hosking,

    we could be watching the erstwhile Foreign Minister and leader of a coalition partner get hauled away in handcuffs, possibly with his heir-to-the-throne deciding that they don't want to support Labour any longer.

    Ohh...please god...

    just as a matter of interest, when was the last time any government in this country lost the Confidence of the House?

    From a brief look, November 1927, but that was after an election went badly. (the custom in those days was to wait until Parliament reassembled before the government was formally voted out).

    South Roseneath • Since Nov 2006 • 830 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • Paul Williams,

    That wouldn't work, unless really she's only there to galvanize that base. But then she'd become a drag on the ticket with the sane portion of the independent electorate. You know, the folks who believe in evolution.

    Interestingly, this very issue, of why she's on the ticket, was canvassed in a ABC (Australia) Foriegn Correspondent piece aired last night (some information here. Interesting because it was based in Colorado Springs, apparently the largest evangelical Christian centre in the US as well as a huge military base. Lots of the people interviewed, church leaders and soldiers (some of whom had served two terms in Iraq) saying they'd not vote for McCain because he'd not clearly stated his Christian beliefs... in addition, some soldier were clearly saying they'd vote for Obama given his committment to withdraw troops from Iraq.

    Sydney • Since Nov 2006 • 2273 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    Oh, you just couldn't make this shit up...

    **Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was not subjected to a lengthy in-person background interview with the head of Sen. John McCain's vice presidential vetting team until last Wednesday in Arizona, the day before McCain asked her to be his running mate, and she did not disclose the fact that her 17-year-old daughter was pregnant until that meeting, two knowledgeable McCain officials acknowledged Tuesday. **

    I've known people who've worked on the Ninth Floor of the Beehive who've had more thorough background checks than Palin...

    And once more, someone should tell McCain and his party: If you want to be taken seriously, be serious. And if you and your campaign inner circle can't actually avoid reducing a fundamental act of due diligence to a farce, why the hell should anyone trust you to run a country?

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

  • Craig Ranapia,

    And just to make something clear, I don't think Bristol Palin's womb is a matter of legitimate public interest. But the Keystone Kops reaction of the McCain campaign sure is, and her mother's utter vapidity as a public servant seeking a very serious bump up the food chain sure is...

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

  • giovanni tiso,

    Lots of the people interviewed, church leaders and soldiers saying they'd not vote for McCain because he'd not clearly stated his Christian beliefs

    That was before the Palin nod, though, right? It's not clear from the link.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • JohnAmiria,

    Wouldn't 'Bristol Palin's babydaddy' roll off the tongue a little more easily? I think they should go with that.

    Yup. And 'Levi's babymama' sounds like an Erykah Badu lyric.

    Whilst Wiki give the term babydaddy some credence, it's not really part of the lexicon. Babymama is a dismissive/negative term, and Fox used it when they described Michelle Obama as 'Obama's Baby Mama'. Hence my witty quip, which you have now ruined.
    ; )

    A baby mama (also baby-mama and baby-mother) is a mother who is not married to her child's father.

    Obviously the Palins are working hard to ensure that term never applies to Bristol.

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

  • Danielle,

    babydaddy... it's not really part of the lexicon

    I'm sorry John, but who is the self-styled Jerry Springer Show expert here? 'Babydaddy' is *so* part of the lexicon. :)

    Charo World. Cuchi-cuchi!… • Since Nov 2006 • 3828 posts Report Reply

  • Angus Robertson,

    And once more, someone should tell McCain and his party: If you want to be taken seriously, be serious. And if you and your campaign inner circle can't actually avoid reducing a fundamental act of due diligence to a farce, why the hell should anyone trust you to run a country?

    Because after you have done the selection process based upon your selectee having a high approval rating (80%), compatible attitudes to major power plocs in your party (NRA, pro-life, Christian), pro-reform (enforced competition reforms on Exxon and Comoco duopoly in Alaskan oil), maverick credentials (ran through a GoP Alaska that was owned by big oil to do it - pissed them off so much that it was an Alaskan GoP representative that kick started the Trig is grandson meme to Kos/Huffington), a history of working bi-partisanly (because the GoP was corrupted she carried out the reforms by working with Alaskan Democrats - shock horror) and willing to do the job. Because after all that is considered positive the fact that her 17 year old daughter is pregnant seems puerile in comparison and that she worked through her pregnancy seems immaterial.

    Seems puerile and immaterial still, but dirty campaigns are entertaining so long may the muck-raking continue.

    Auckland • Since May 2007 • 984 posts Report Reply

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