And that's a disgraceful pun, David. Wish I had thought of it.

Swelp me God, none intended. That's the usage.

Having said that, however, you are familiar with the roll call of Labour party members holding the office of Senior Whip in recent years?

Trouble is, mostly their votes are party whipped. (ie: You are obliged to vote according to your party's position).

Ah yes, Parliamentary induced conformity kills individualistic, nuanced democracy.

And that's a disgraceful pun, David. Wish I had thought of it.

Might Labour's response to the F&S issue have been different if they hadn't been spooked by Orewa and its reaction?

No, Orewa came after the Appeal Court decision on the F&S, and aimed to take advantage of public disquiet. Although the final shape of the legislation was doubtless influenced by Orewa.

And,…

While some refer to the Orewa speech as the most divisive thing to happen to NZ race relations in some time, I'd suggest that that would actually be the Foreshore and Seabed Act.

Might Labour's response to the F&S issue have been different if they hadn't been spooked by Orewa and…

I would tend to agree with that analysis, but only because of the power factor. That is,…

Key has taken the art of smarmy into an entirely new planetary system

I haven't actually paid much attention to the guy Alastair – partly because he's so smarmy looking I cannot bear to read whatever text accompanies his picture.

Is it just an unfortunate look? Or is he really…

Plus also in the case of Key. They really do like him.... as someone in the office pointed out yesterday after his presser.... Key has taken the art of smarmy into an entirely new planetary system.

After an initial interest in the subject most media now seem to be willing to now give not only Don but also John a pass on this question.

I read it this way: the media give Don a pass not so much because they accept his word, but because he's…

I am pleased you posted this I was starting to think I was the only one still interested in the question of how long can Brash keep telling us porkies on this subject.

After an initial interest in the subject most media now seem to be willing to now…

and prefers to talk to sheep

What are you saying here?

That's a very big red dot over Kelburn. Llew, I can see your house from here.

Well we do our very best for the cause.

While some refer to the Orewa speech as the most divisive thing to happen to NZ race relations in some time, I'd suggest that that would actually be the Foreshore and Seabed Act.

If anything, Orewa created a bi-partisan ('though not non-partisan…

Then I graphed the results and mapped them to show the "moral" geography

That's a very big red dot over Kelburn. Llew, I can see your house from here.

Just…

Couldn't be too difficult to map the votes on to two axes, one for personal freedom and one for economic freedom, and voila!

Trouble is, mostly their votes are party whipped. (ie: You are obliged to vote according to your party's position).That's principally why I chose Key's conscience votes and…

john howard and the AWB are another example. that evil little shit.

Well, he did vote against the Foreshore and Seabed Act ... is that a start?

What exactly do you mean by that Graeme?

Even if Brash and Key didn't read the email, and Brash simply forwarded it to Joyce without even opening it, there is no way I will ever believe that National had a million dollar deal going with the Brethren and Joyce __didn't…

Well, he did vote against the Foreshore and Seabed Act ... is that a start?

In fact, I wonder if it wouldn't be worthwhile to build an application that based on how MPs vote, puts them on a scale of whatever-winginess."

Now there's an idea worth a geek somewhere pursuing.

Couldn't be too difficult to map the votes on to two axes, one for personal…

Crib sheet for the electorate, basically. Mr Slack has taken the first step...

I've got an idea. No, no, this is a good one: ask the EBs to fund and design a new stadium!

I'm sure they could come up with something more weep-worthy than this.

Oh, we need start lashing back at Eden Park now.

To be fair any corporate network worth its salt should have flagged…