Posts by Russell Brown
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Goff also revealed that he would have stripped Hughes of his roles as chief whip and education spokesman even if police did not lay charges in relation to the alleged incident because of the questions of judgment that were raised.
“I made it clear to Darren that I thought, given the circumstances, there had been a lapse of judgment and that would result in his losing his positions.
So he would have lost his positions whether the police laid charges or not?
And yet, he was not even offered leave when he informed his leader of the matters that now occasion this judgement?
I’m sorry, but what the flaming fuck?
Seriously.
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Ah. The EPMU has a campaign launching tomorrow. Embargoed.
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Hard News: Limping Onwards, in reply to Rex Widerstrom,
However MMP has gifted us everyone from Alamein “flog the furniture” Kopu to David “flog the prisoners” Garrett – not poster children for people in tune with even a significant sctor of the population.
Bob Clarkson.
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Hard News: Limping Onwards, in reply to Sofie Bribiesca,
Rex, the man gets out and about, promise. The guy is a workaholic in this area.
Yeah, that's what I meant to say. He's a bloody great electorate MP, from what I can tell.
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Hard News: Limping Onwards, in reply to Rex Widerstrom,
I suggest we both stop speculating.
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Hard News: Limping Onwards, in reply to Sacha,
Led by.. Cunliffe
Yes. And I'm sure his background with big international business consultants was a help.
Joyce, on the other hand, hails from a more provincial business environment. Trouble is, governments cannot be run like commercial radio stations.
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Hard News: Limping Onwards, in reply to Rex Widerstrom,
The electorate voted for MMP thinking they’d get better representation with greater accountability. Ironically, the very concept of a list MP is the most unaccountable, unrepresentative politician in any jurisdiction outside Libya. Or maybe Zimbabwe.
Bzzzzt! Isn't there a Godwin equivalent for when people invoke Zimbabwe?
List MPs -- various Greens; Hughes, Ardern, Mackey, Twyford, Hughes, Chris Finlayson -- tend more to be the ones I like. Certainly, all of them bar Finlayson contested electorates, but the idea that a list MP is automatically bad and unaccountable is unsustainable.
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Hard News: Limping Onwards, in reply to Lew Stoddart,
Appalling policy platform and a bad direction for the country, but that’s independent of its quality as a political move.
Re the media – my only point is that a political movement which wants to be successful responds to how things are rather than how things might be.
Hang on a moment while I find Chris Trotter's "Waitakere man" treatise ...
But, yeah and nah. Part of successful politics is precisely acting on the basis of how things might be.
And also Lew, you have been a wee bit patronising. Don't say "I've written at length about this, so look it up"; craft a dynamite summary for the people, who aren't all political junkies here.
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Hard News: Limping Onwards, in reply to Sofie Bribiesca,
BUT I WOULDN’T!!
And you shouldn't. It's possible this is a vexatious complaint or a misunderstanding or something that doesn't breach any law.
But -- and this is a bit like the Assange case -- it's a complaint from someone apparently previously very favourably disposed towards Hughes and the party itself. Nothing said by his friends has suggested he's a vexatious complainant. We should respect that in the same way we'd respect a complaint from an 18 year-old woman.
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Hard News: Limping Onwards, in reply to Sofie Bribiesca,
If ever in doubt, email any politician and ask questions. What you just asked could be copied over to any of them and they are meant to answer. Although Judith Collins wont respond to me.:)
She responded to me once. She wasn't very nice though.