Posts by Russell Brown
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Hard News: Calling the race before it's over, in reply to Deborah,
The odd thing is, if the vote on the 60/40 rule on Saturday was really a proxy vote on the leadership, then David Cunliffe won it.
Am I right in guessing it actually wasn't?
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Hard News: Calling the race before it's over, in reply to HenryB,
Of course, Shearer could demote Cunliffe for not saying now how he’d vote next February. That’s his privilege. But trying to discpline and not just demote a caucus member, something that Chris Hipkins seems to be implying, for exercising his rights would be really worrying.
I agree. facing a vote sooner rather than later is one thing, but planning to "discipline" Cunliffe is unhelpful.
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Hard News: Calling the race before it's over, in reply to Felix Marwick,
As for the focus on Cunliffe. There are only so many interpretations that can be put on his recent actions. He could easily have shut down the leadership issue at any time over the weekend. He chose not to.
I'm not suggesting there shouldn't have been a focus on it -- that would be mad. But I really thought Gower was making the story about himself and his attempt to get a gotcha, and most of the reports I saw didn't note the broader context of the rule change, which clearly wasn't just an attempt to get Cunliffe elected.
Thanks for the response and the detail though, Felix. Much appreciated.
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Well, this has now gone beyond my comprehension altogether. As widely predicted yesterday afternoon, Shearer seems to be going for an early caucus vote to confirm his position.
But suddenly, it's an outrage ("Stalinism," according to Idiot/Savant; "caucus exacting swift revenge on the party membership," says Gio). Curiously, this doesn't seem to have been the case when David Cunliffe said this yesterday:
MP David Cunliffe, who is widely acknowledged to have leadership ambitions, said he would be in favour of an early vote.
"I would welcome that... because I believe it would be to the party's advantage to deal with these issues earlier rather than later," he said.
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Hard News: Calling the race before it's over, in reply to Deborah,
I was there over the weekend, and what I saw was the party reasserting itself in the relationship between party and caucus.
That's what came through on the wires too.
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Hard News: Calling the race before it's over, in reply to Bill Bennett,
Would only be true if the caucus reflected the wider electorate or even the half or so who might conceivably vote Labour. I’m not convinced that’s the case.
They're still the group you have to lead on a daily basis.
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Hard News: Calling the race before it's over, in reply to Stephen Judd,
Finally there’s a very significant story in how policy will be far more driven by members and less by caucus owing to the way the new platform document is enshrined in the constitution, and I haven’t seen any discussion of the impact of that in the press at all.
Me neither. It's relevant to the leadership battle and an unreported story in its own right.
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Hard News: Party on, dudes, in reply to Ross McA.,
Must check that one out.
It's a well-conceived, non-obvious compilation from the era and Bruce's sleeve notes are excellent. Also ... Janine from the Playthings. God, we used think she was alright.
You can buy it directly from Flying Nun.
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And this is how things can be when you change the equation.
The Seattle Police Department blog on with an FAQ on the evolving situation with marijuana and the law in Washington State.
Nicely done.
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Hard News: Party on, dudes, in reply to Ross McA.,
Love the Friday music too. I remember seeing you, Russell, round the Chch traps back in the day (I was the tall drunk fellow)
Ha! That possibly doesn’t narrow it down that much.
enjoying a vibrant music scene.
Oath. Oddly enough I’ve just been listening to Bruce Russell’s great Time to Go compilation.