Sad, but true.

L

Oh and BTW I do believe in the concept of materiality.

And I know that one can’t be a little bit pregnant, but you can get a little bit pissed without being fallen down drunk.

antyi-spam word = drink WTF

L

While I do have a particular side which I generally tend to support, I don’t want them to win just by turning up: I want them to have to work their guts out to win, and to be punished brutally for failing to do enough to win. That way I know that I’m getting the best out of them. For this reason, my sharpest political criticism is directed at those who just want their team to win, without them having to try.

L

I don’t think we are miles apart, but I think where we might differ is the in the intensity of the spotlight we shine on these “servants of the public”. They are not rock stars and they are certainly not rewarded commensurate with the publicity and attention they garner. Their private lives are scrutinised and it is as if we put them in charge of the country then don’t trust them to get on with doing exactly that. Their rubbish bins are inspected and every word they utter is recored and screened for inconsistency.

At the end of it all I actually get heartily sick of the profile of politics in New Zealand – it is as if we have nothing else to take our interest. I note that Australia did not used to have this level of commentary (or it didn’t when I lived there about the turn of the century) but since Rudd came on the scene, it has become the dominant news there as well.

Perhaps it is a function of the times we live in or one of the technology available but oh, how I wish politics would take second place for a week (well for a reason other than a disaster obviously).

Corruption fail.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10628128

Corruption fail.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10628128

What I’m trying to say, and I’ll try to constrain myself to simple concepts, too, is that any appearance of misdeed is fair political game. Politicians who fail to be like Caesar’s Wife deserve what they get. So it was with Paintergate, so it is now. No merit whatever to the allegations, but they took their political toll noetheless. So it also was with Taito Phillip Field case, which was a legitimate case of shady dealing, and was duly punished by the courts in addition to the political fallout, which would have resulted even if Field was acquitted of every charge.

L

There was total clarity over McCully’s investment. These is no conflict of interest under any rational definition of the term.

But if you want to see a real case of conflict that was vigourously defended on this blog at the time, have a review of the threads about Winston Peters. One of the defences used was that the racing industry donations were legal and that the sums (hundreds of thousands of dollars) were insufficient for concern over conflicts.

Those who have posited that it is impossible to have a parliament where there is no conflict real or apparent have a fair point. What you need though is a rational and educated public who can judge the relative forces at play and subsequently vote accordingly. That Lew is where people will disagree and where entrenched positions are of little value to anyone.