Posts by BenWilson
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Hard News: Barclay and arrogance, in reply to izogi,
let alone messages about how she has more integrity as an alternative to Todd Barclay.
I don't think it's a particularly easy thing to go messaging about. "Never caught with hand in till". "Never illegally recorded constituents and colleagues", etc, are not really things you put on your CV. They're assumed.
And if you did, you're taking all the focus off the misdeeds of your opponents and putting yourself under scrutiny. How can that possibly play into your favour? It gives endless opportunity for equivocation, the digging up of anyone with a beef with you (which is going to be thousands of people if you're a politician). That would be the very definition of not controlling the messaging.
Of course they still like National in Clutha-Southland. It went National with a majority of over 14,886 votes, which creams the best effort by Labour, of 13,254 in Manukau. They could have stood a convicted murderer there and got in with a handy majority.
The real effect worth worrying about is the overall party vote, as always. It will take some time to see if that's been affected. I find it a little hard to believe that being caught out lying so blatantly doesn't affect the perceptions of people wavering in their support.
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Sounds like there may also be video recordings, according to Barry Soper. Professionally installed CCTV, no less.
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Hard News: Barclay and arrogance, in reply to Craig Ranapia,
National has a constitution and processes around candidate selection and de-selection.
I'm sure it does, but I bet it doesn't have a constitution that says that high up party members can't go and pretty much tell Barclay directly that he should piss off quick smart before he does any more damage to the party, drawing upon every kind of pressure that extremely powerful people have at their disposal. But I have to say, I hope they don't and this guy sits in Parliament like a broken rib, a free shot at every opportunity, right up until the election, and the party is forced to favour him and protect him. That will be a joy to behold. I'm not betting on it, though, I expect said high up pressure is already happening and the spin doctors are just waiting for the right opportunity to limit the damage.
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Hard News: Barclay and arrogance, in reply to Sacha,
Yes, they put themselves on the map yesterday. Textbook playing of the PM, although I feel like JK would have probably not have looked like quite such a stunned mullet when getting the initial questions that required lies.
But then again, when you are caught red handed doing something like this, I don't think even the smoothest liar can keep up. To catch him out you only have to be lucky once, whereas to hide a lie like this for years you have to be lucky all the time.
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Hard News: Barclay and arrogance, in reply to Russell Brown,
His diction flattens right out when he’s fibbing.
Would be interesting to go back through all his recordings looking for that. I can hear what you mean. I think it's a deliberately affected bored tone, like what Mike Hosking does basically all the time (probably a homage).
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Hard News: Barclay and arrogance, in reply to Russell Brown,
You just beat me to it.
That's unequivocal. How on earth he can expect anyone to believe that he would not remember such a conversation now is beyond me. A face to face conversation in which someone explained to you that they had broken the law and illegally taped a trusted employee whom you had known for a very long time. A conversation which English recounted in this statement to the police.
Yeah right, that's something one forgets easily. "Can't remember how I found out, yer Honor. Oh, that's right, just like I said to the police, he told me directly to my face about this egregious act. But I forgot that happened".
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In recent hours, the Prime Minister has invited us to believe that while he might have known that Barclay had secretly recorded his staff, he just can’t remember who might have told him.
Since then (and it's still "in recent hours"), the transcript of English's statement to the police makes it extremely clear (because he says it outright), that Barclay directly told him in person.
No wonder he looked like a worm on a hook surrounded by trout when the press cornered him.
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Hard News: Touching Waterview, in reply to Russell Brown,
It's strange that it doesn't really afflict public transport.
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Access: The Fall, in reply to Chelle Hope,
I wasn’t sure if that was clear, going by your comment.
I got that the housework assistance was something that made a difference at the right time, although it could have just been unwanted and unwelcome at other times.
But yes, it wasn't clear to from the time frames whether the PTSD treatment you had was before or after the fall. I'm now guessing that was from a different trauma? I can only imagine the "intense feeling of dread and terror" you're dealing with. My guess is that it's not the kind of thing that gets easier?
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I definitely welcome the end of roadworks along the only viable route to the city for me. Should be better for both car and bike.
Although I probably don't get much direct benefit from the tunnel, the indirect benefits could be good. We'll see. Traffic expanding to use available resources is a bit of a problem.