Casual harassment

Written By: - Date published: 9:05 am, April 28th, 2015 - 89 comments
Categories: Abuse of power, john key, Minister for International Embarrassment, sexism - Tags: , ,

Key’s line on harassing a waitress is that he’s the most “casual” PM ever. He was just joking around. It was all a bit of fun. He was misinterpreted.

These are the lines of every sexist harassing jerk ever.

These are the lines of male power, in which the female’s point of view (a young woman reduced to tears) is not even acknowledged, let alone taken seriously.

It is shocking how many people uncritically accept and repeat Key’s “explanation”. Have we become so casual about harassment?

89 comments on “Casual harassment ”

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  1. One Anonymous Bloke 1
    28 April 2015 at 9:22 am

    “We” haven’t.

    The National Party has deliberately fostered a string of hate-based narratives against entire sections of society. This is the fruit.

  2. s y d 2
    28 April 2015 at 9:44 am

    “butt of benteh”

  3. s y d 3
    28 April 2015 at 9:54 am

    For some insight into Tauranag media owners victim blaming and Nat party propaganda read on (if you dare)….

    http://sunlive.co.nz/blogs/8176-pinning-tale-on-johnkey.html

    • Rosemary McDonald 3.1
      28 April 2015 at 10:15 am

      Oh…my…goodness….me….

      “It reeks to me of some minion troublemaker, who has discovered she wields a bit of power and attention after riding along with a bit of horse play.

      We do, however, appear to have the odd squealing waitress who is quite capable of speaking out to hordes of media but apparently didn’t tell her boss, or stop John and Bronagh from getting a bit cheeky.

      It will be a sad day if the PC nannies drive us back to the dark humourless days of previous administrations, when the feminist gay nazi brigade tried to dictate every aspect of our lives, including the length of our shower times.”

      He got this right….so to speak….

      “Merciless mocking. We are seen as the Deliverance of the South Pacific, only without the squealing pigs.”

      What….a….wanker….

      • Tracey 3.1.1
        28 April 2015 at 11:58 am

        And stlll some blame feminism for not having ” succeeded”… HOW does feminism “succeed” when the media give over so much time and space to the kind of disrespetful, self obsessed ranting shown above… cue Hosking, Henry, Key, add to the list and please, also list the number of feminists given the same kind of exposure on our tv, radio and papers daily. TIA

    • freedom 3.2
      28 April 2015 at 10:40 am

      “Andrew Little was just about frothing at the mouth,”
      talk about making it up as you go along. [eye roll emoticon]

      no wonder they need extra sewage works

  4. Penny Bright 4
    28 April 2015 at 11:06 am

    If ‘casual’ alleged sexual harrassment / male assaults female, is just ‘horsing around’ – what is inappropriate touching of children?

    Where are the boundaries?

    Where is the ‘moral compass’ / ‘highest ethical standards’ LEADERSHIP?

    Just asking…

    Penny Bright

    • Draco T Bastard 4.1
      28 April 2015 at 3:40 pm

      Where is the ‘moral compass’ / ‘highest ethical standards’ LEADERSHIP?

      Those are just rules that get in the way of innovative people that want to succeed don’t you know?

      /sarc

    • Murray Rawshark 4.2
      28 April 2015 at 7:32 pm

      Assaulting adults – horsing around.
      Assaulting children – ponying around.

      Heaps of Kiwis seem to be co-dependent, putting up with anything FJK does.

  5. Clemgeopin 5
    28 April 2015 at 11:16 am

    Bob Jones, the pompous money bag has an article today in the Herald minimising Key’s despicable and serious offense!

    Please take a look and consider telling the old goat what you think about his view.

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11439407

    • Tautoko Mangō Mata 5.1
      28 April 2015 at 11:23 am

      Imagine working as a nurse in a resthome looking after Bob Jones and John Key!

      • Tracey 5.1.1
        28 April 2015 at 11:59 am

        Imagine being the nurses looking after Bob Jones or John Key in their exclusive apartments

        FIFY

        • rhinocrates 5.1.1.1
          28 April 2015 at 12:44 pm

          Imagine them being in a position of physical dependence…

          • Tiger Mountain 5.1.1.1.1
            28 April 2015 at 2:18 pm

            well there are cases of “I used to be somebody” types getting some ‘karma’ in assisted living situations, but those like the PM and Bob Jones that deserve at least fantasies from the downtrodden in that respect will likely have enough dosh for total private care

          • Hami Shearlie 5.1.1.1.2
            28 April 2015 at 3:29 pm

            AHHHH!!! One can only dream, Rhinocrates!!

            • Rodel 5.1.1.1.2.1
              28 April 2015 at 5:24 pm

              Sir Bob has always used the word nonsense about something he hasn’t fully grasped. He could perhaps apply it to his personal insight into women’s thoughts and feelings.

              • les …
                28 April 2015 at 8:38 pm

                ‘Sir’ Bob…accepted a knighthood after years of railing on about ‘token knights’.RJI …hardly mentions that anymore.

    • freedom 5.2
      28 April 2015 at 11:29 am

      Duckie nails it
      “The waitress is not 7, nor the Prime Minister’s daughter! What IS nonsense is the media making this about left vs right rather than right vs wrong.”

      • McFlock 5.2.1
        28 April 2015 at 1:21 pm

        lol
        A woman I know was arguing it was a complete beat-up on key (she has some wonderful merits though, to make up for her abysmal judge of politicians). So we were having a fine old argument, but the king hit was the fact that she’s an early childhood educator. I asked here whether her preschoolers have learnt to not pull each others’ hair if the pullee doesn’t them want to…

        that ended the debate. No concession of defeat (she’s as bad as me when it comes to that 😉 ), but she didn’t have a leg to stand on when she expects better behaviour from her charges than she does from the PM, lol

        • idlegus 5.2.1.1
          28 April 2015 at 1:55 pm

          isn’t it nice when you see that film lift from their eyes, its like they start to really think about it, & realise there’s something not quite right about it.

          • McFlock 5.2.1.1.1
            28 April 2015 at 4:51 pm

            lol
            Trouble is we both enjoy arguments for the sake of the mental exercise, so it’s difficult to tell what her true opinions are :winky face:

            And yes, I’m reduced to typing out emoticons in pig-script because the current set are too tiny and not contrasty enough for me to see clearly. Let alone not animated :smiley face:

      • Anne 5.2.2
        28 April 2015 at 7:43 pm

        Talking of right versus wrong… when the subject of JK’s indiscretion came up today an aquaintance said to me “what it tells me is that he has cheated on his wife”. That may or may not be the case, but I can understand why she might think it.

        • felix 5.2.2.1
          28 April 2015 at 8:04 pm

          Interesting. How does that work?

          • Anne 5.2.2.1.1
            28 April 2015 at 8:20 pm

            If he’s happy to ‘play’ with a young woman’s hair in the presence of his wife, then what is he prepared to do on odd occasions when she’s not present? I presume that is what she was suggesting.

    • vto 5.3
      28 April 2015 at 12:04 pm

      That’s what you expect from a criminal convicted for assault.

      I think his brains have fallen out of his head

    • Julz 5.4
      28 April 2015 at 12:35 pm

      When will the Herald ever start taking sexual harassment seriously – or any matter to do with women?

      • Tracey 5.4.1
        28 April 2015 at 12:47 pm

        When Labour is back in Power… That’s when they last gave a shit about Democracy and the last time they cared about politician’s resigning was Cunliffe over an 11 year old letter. Hope that clears it up for you.

        • idlegus 5.4.1.1
          28 April 2015 at 1:58 pm

          don’t forget cunliffe got raked over the coals for wearing a f*cking scarf, god forbid.

    • les 5.5
      28 April 2015 at 1:33 pm

      I’d like to hear Jones’ background story as to his 7.y.o daughter whos hair he playfully pulls.Wasn’t her mother originally his Cambodian maid?No surprises he supports Keys power play.

      • Clemgeopin 5.5.1
        28 April 2015 at 3:18 pm

        This is what as a comment under that comment:

        “You are getting nutty in your old age, Bob! You speak about tugging the pony tail of your seven year old daughter. The tugged victim in the cafe was not seven nor Key’s daughter as far as we know, though we know she is twenty six and a waitress, who was subjected to this humiliation repeatedly by the powerful perpetrator on several occasions and even after being asked to stop! Pictures and videos have also emerged of Key’s propensity towards touching the hair of girls who are not his kids but strangers on the streets. Your article is minimising the scandal.”

      • Tracey 5.5.2
        28 April 2015 at 3:58 pm

        and she is your seven year old daughter. She presumably knows you. Bob, did you fondle her hair, or caress it?

        IF Bob thinks a waitress is the same as his 7 year old daughter then we are in far bigger trouble than I could have imagined. Children are not property and neither are waitresses.

        He’s putting me in mind of that other old duffer, Prince Phillip, one of NZ’s 20 greatest living New Zulinders, according to our “Leader”.

    • Robert Atack 5.6
      28 April 2015 at 5:58 pm

      Didn’t Bob have a problem with a couple of people in authority once?
      Speeding ticket or something?

  6. Charles 6
    28 April 2015 at 11:53 am

    “…Till then please remember this weekend, those who fell in defence of our freedoms and what they were standing up for.

    It sure as hell wasn’t for some of the complete nonsense we’ve seen this week…”

    http://sunlive.co.nz/blogs/8176-pinning-tale-on-johnkey.html

    I totally agree, Brian, um, Roger, I mean, Peter!

    Everytime I walk to the dairy and then see a newspaper telling me something happened, I always think to myself, “I didn’t walk all the way here to find out people did something once, and now this!!”.

    This PC nonsense has to stop. Motorcycle-riding nude gay-nazi-feminist zombies must be stopped from eating all the pies, and doing the everything else. I died for it in the army, now we have muslims. Soon the RSA will close and Tauranga will become a backwater for people with no money and cheap deckchairs, saving whales on the beach and eating jelly fish eggs. Who will stop them from rampaging like godzilla lizards? Do we really want that?!

  7. Pasupial 7
    28 April 2015 at 12:11 pm

    Prast demonstrates once more that the cruelest thing you can do to Key is to simply transcribe his nonsense verbatim. Stripped of his facile glibness that masquerades as casualness, the words read like the babbling of un cretino:

    Gower asks “when you accept that you got it wrong, do you accept that you misused your power?” Key replies “No because I didn’t intend to do that.” Gower suggests that “the context really is about power. You’re the Prime Minister. She’s someone working in her job.” Key responds “Yes I understand that’s some people’s argument. There’s a counter argument… for that and I think yeah look by nature I’m a pretty casual person, and I do kid around and have a bit of fun, and I think one of the things that look you know that, look the majority of staff there have enjoyed is the fact that……the opposite, rather than the power sort of thing and me being a bit stuck up I’ve been mucking around and having a bit of fun, now you know ok look in the end I got that wrong and I have to accept that.”

    Is the Prime Minister to be judged by his intentions? Or by what he actually said and did? Is he saying “Because I didn’t mean it, it doesn’t matter.”? Is that the way the law works?…

    In the final analysis, there is no ‘counter-argument’ to consent. No means no. No amount of context, kidding or casual banter can ever transform “No! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!” to “Yes! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES!” She said “No”. And still, he touched her. Two bottles of wine won’t cut it. He should have listened to the woman if not his wife and stopped. Too late now, Mr Key.

    http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2015/04/28/a-great-white-shark/

    • Tracey 7.1
      28 April 2015 at 12:13 pm

      Even more hilarious when people realise Pete George is not a satirist in his “opinion” piece after it…

      • rawshark-yeshe 7.1.1
        28 April 2015 at 1:22 pm

        @tracey couldn’t find it .. do u have a separate link for the unknowing non-satirist ?

        • Tracey 7.1.1.1
          28 April 2015 at 1:29 pm

          go to scoop and read the key transcript press release

          • rawshark-yeshe 7.1.1.1.1
            28 April 2015 at 1:49 pm

            thx Tracey … methinks PG has a dictionary with missing words .. ie irony, satire, self-awareness … his writing is quite tragic.

            • Tracey 7.1.1.1.1.1
              28 April 2015 at 4:00 pm

              the most important hing is that he as self proclaimed that having weighed up everything, Key has done the right thing.

  8. ianmac 8
    28 April 2015 at 12:24 pm

    One question today:
    “Hon ANNETTE KING to the Prime Minister: Does he stand by his statement that “There’s always a risk with third-term Governments that they get arrogant. There’s always a risk that they veer off into a space they haven’t been, and start surprising their supporters”?”
    Someone must answer on his behalf. Bill English perhaps?

    • Tracey 8.1
      28 April 2015 at 12:26 pm

      The answer to Jan Logie’s will be fascinating…

      • ianmac 8.1.1
        28 April 2015 at 1:10 pm

        Yep. Nearly missed that one Tracey. Will the Minister claim a different hat?
        “JAN LOGIE to the Minister for Women: Does she consider it her job to advocate for all New Zealand women?”

  9. The Gormless Fool formerly known as Oleolebiscuitbarrell 9
    28 April 2015 at 1:21 pm

    The problem the left has is that everyone else automatically discounts everything it says because of all the frenzied screaming. Middle New Zealand understands that what the PM did was wrong. They also know that the comparisons to Rolf Harris and Jimmy Savile are hysterical and inherently dishonest. You guys end up looking like the bad guys.

    • Tracey 9.1
      28 April 2015 at 1:23 pm

      them and us aye gormless… you see straight through that strategy though, right?

    • Charles 9.2
      28 April 2015 at 1:31 pm

      You win the internet. I bow to your ability to create an endless loop of informal “phallusies”.

  10. weka 10
    28 April 2015 at 1:22 pm

    “Have we become so casual about harassment?”

    Unfortunately Bailey’s story seems common to me. The big difference is that it’s the PM, but are we really going to believe that no PM in NZ has ever abused their power in this kind of way? I think what we have become casual about is not the harassment (we’ve long been casual about that), it’s the acceptance of JK as the lad who can do what he wants. That’s more scarey to me, because at least with sexual harassment we have decades of progressive work and legislation and policy that is changing society for the better. The acceptance of Smile and Wave’s behaviour is insidious and not something that we are addressing as a society.

    • Tracey 10.1
      28 April 2015 at 1:27 pm

      ive tried to think of ones who would publicly disgrace themselves and their office. clark and shipley in person were warm and friendly in manner. this nonsense that Key has become more accessible to the people is another lie. he has lowered the standing of the office pure and simple. he is boris yeltsinesque in his cringeworthiness.

      • weka 10.1.1
        28 April 2015 at 1:34 pm

        I think it’s safe to say that NZ hasn’t had a PM like Key before (at least not in my 50 years). It’s the shift away from democracy to plutocracy. It doesn’t matter if Key is an arse, he has powerful friends and mentors and the people he really works for will look after him. We should be very very concerned (but then we should have been already).

        • Tracey 10.1.1.1
          28 April 2015 at 4:01 pm

          We are getting the best insight into Key , ever. He sees the position as that of a kind of celebrity… or the Queen, not a real job, just expensive window dressing.

  11. felix 11
    28 April 2015 at 1:46 pm

    Matthew Hooton pretty well nailed the harassment and power issues on nine to noon this morning.

    Points out that Key’s nonsense about how everyone there was always up to lots of hi-jinks and japes is a bit like the Queen saying the whole world smells of paint.

    http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/201752162/politics-with-matthew-hooton-and-mike-williams

    • tc 11.1
      28 April 2015 at 2:09 pm

      Key’s on thin ice here and he knows it, you can tell in his responses especially the one Oliver uses in his Last week Tonight piece.

      Bailey’s statement indicates she was not comfortable, made that known and JK persisted.

      Watch the MSM lackeys and DP machine go hard to cloud this one over on behalf of their beloved cult leader.

      The fact it takes other media around the world to slam home the serious nature of it speaks volumes for how owned and under the govt’s thumb the MSM is in NZ.

    • Tracey 11.2
      28 April 2015 at 4:01 pm

      Did he screech at any point?

      • felix 11.2.1
        28 April 2015 at 5:04 pm

        No screech today. I think after last week’s outburst he might have had another little sit-down chat about how he’s feeling about the job 😉

        • Rodel 11.2.1.1
          7 May 2015 at 7:48 pm

          Nah. Matthew’s just pissed that JK doesn’t see him as relevant. Take little notice.

  12. The Gormless Fool formerly known as Oleolebiscuitbarrell 12
    28 April 2015 at 2:49 pm

    The fact it takes other media around the world to slam home the serious nature of it speaks volumes for how owned and under the govt’s thumb the MSM is in NZ.

    Yeah. There’s hardly been any criticism of Key in New Zealand.

    • tc 12.1
      28 April 2015 at 3:05 pm

      Not where it hurts his popularity you don’t (TVNZ, TV3, radio rant land and of course Herald) but of course you’re aware of that being a RWNJ with a monty python fixation.

      what criticism he does get is normally them following other leads so as not to look so obviously biased which is what’s happened with this issue.

      • The Gormless Fool formerly known as Oleolebiscuitbarrell 12.1.1
        28 April 2015 at 3:18 pm

        There has been plenty of criticism. Just none going as far as y’all’d like. But that would require the mainstream media to be comparing Key to Jimmy Savile. And saying we are no longer living in a democracy.

        And they’re not going to do that because, on the whole, they’re sane.

        • One Anonymous Bloke 12.1.1.1
          28 April 2015 at 3:54 pm

          Just so long as the court takes his crime seriously, who cares what his sycophants in the media claim to believe?

          • The Gormless Fool formerly known as Oleolebiscuitbarrell 12.1.1.1.1
            28 April 2015 at 3:58 pm

            Yeah. The crime of light hair-pulling.

            • Tracey 12.1.1.1.1.1
              28 April 2015 at 4:04 pm

              and there you have it…

              someone who chooses to completely miss the point cos of their self interest served by Mr Key staying.

              leading a fool to the link but you can;t make him think
              http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1961/0043/latest/DLM327382.html

              • The Gormless Fool formerly known as Oleolebiscuitbarrell …
                28 April 2015 at 4:31 pm

                What’s my self interest of having Key stay?

                • One Anonymous Bloke …
                  28 April 2015 at 4:41 pm

                  Strictly speaking there wasn’t any to begin with: the National Party destroys wealth as much as it destroys human rights and the rule of law.

                  However, the hubristic self-affirmation you crave distorts your perceptions. Best you lie down.

                  • The Gormless Fool formerly known as Oleolebiscuitbarrell …
                    28 April 2015 at 4:48 pm

                    I doubt my life would change much under a Labour government.

            • vto 12.1.1.1.1.2
              28 April 2015 at 4:06 pm

              No. Assault. Harassment. Bullying. Did you not read the waitress story?

            • One Anonymous Bloke 12.1.1.1.1.3
              28 April 2015 at 4:26 pm

              You’d endure it would you, The Lickspittle formerly known as Oleolebiscuitbarrell?

        • Tracey 12.1.1.2
          28 April 2015 at 4:02 pm

          the person perpetuating the Saville meme, is you In almost every post you made today, conveniently overlooking those voices of the labour movement that admonished the only person on here to make the comparison.

          • The Gormless Fool formerly known as Oleolebiscuitbarrell 12.1.1.2.1
            28 April 2015 at 4:31 pm

            I accept it’s a crime. Just not a very big one.

            • McFlock 12.1.1.2.1.1
              28 April 2015 at 4:44 pm

              Such a shame that our prime minister couldn’t keep himself from committing it. Repeatedly. So rather than just common assault, it also counts as harassment. Maybe even criminal harassment, given that “safety, in relation to any person, includes that person’s mental well-being”.

              I wonder if McCready has gotten that far in his legal dictionary yet? 🙂

  13. Psycho Milt 13
    28 April 2015 at 4:24 pm

    Have we become so casual about harassment?

    I don’t think we’ve “become” so casual about harrassment. Corporate suits have always been waitress-molesters and -humiliators, and have always dismissed it as just a bit of good-natured banter. At least now they’re not pinching bums so much as they used to – pulling pony tails could almost be regarded as progress in that respect.

    • Maui 13.1
      28 April 2015 at 5:35 pm

      Yeah and remember we’re dealing with an ex-Foreign exchange dealer here who can earn obscene amounts. This may be stereotypical (and I’m sure a lot are nice people), but they can be arrogant, get what they want when they want it types, etc. I remember visting the trading room once and they all had ultra-slim space-age chairs that looked like they cost thousands each.

  14. CnrJoe 14
    28 April 2015 at 8:22 pm

    Anyone care for word from one of David Brents antipodean doppelgangers groupies from out east? Keyreepyness is strong in this one.

    Editorial
    Third-term blues made worse when PM caught acting the goat
    Tuesday, April 28, 2015
    by John Jones

    Will it be a slightly chastened John Key who returns to New Zealand following wide publicity, including in international media, of the incident where he repeatedly pulled a waitress’s ponytail?

    While essentially trivial, it showed Key as something of a clown who is becoming more and more of a polarising figure. The incident also illustrates how Key and National face a third term that is increasingly challenging.

    While many of his supporters were mystified, most — including National’s women MPs — will see it as a minor lapse of judgement that has been blown up out of all proportion by a media looking to create news. Key has apologised they say, let’s move on.

    While he is not at the same level as the late Sir Robert Muldoon, Key has seen a core group develop that is extremely opposed to him and eager to focus on any perceived faults.

    They have tried to magnify the incident into one of bullying and sexual harassment, which is something of a stretch. This can be expected for any third term Prime Minister though; it showed itself in Helen Clark’s last three years in power. People have a habit of falling out of love with politicians.

    This embarrassing incident for Key should not have been allowed to overshadow the more significant duty of representing the country at the 100th anniversary of the Gallipoli landings, or the following effort to secure a free trade deal with the wealthy Gulf states.

    The past few weeks have not been good for the National-led Government, starting with the loss of the Northland seat and continuing on with issues like the Auckland housing crisis and a plea from the Reserve Bank for the Government to support its efforts to quell demand.

    One of the main thrusts of the Government must be to show that it has not developed any expectation of a right to govern and become arrogant.

    To do that it needs its charismatic leader to set the tone. Key has to retain his popular (with a majority) blokey image while avoiding any future slips in taste.

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  15. rhinocrates 15
    28 April 2015 at 11:06 pm

    Quote Blinglish, with a straight face:

    “and observed, almost always, the highest standards of appropriate behaviour”

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11439938

    “Almost always”? Except when he doesn’t. Oh Bill, I’m going to pee myself.

  16. Drowsy M. Kram 16
    29 April 2015 at 10:43 pm

    “Leave Mr. Key alone”; “Stop trying to discredit John Key” – sycophants all, lining up to have their hair pulled, or perhaps proffering a partner or daughter. Yet another example of the PM’s standards and ‘values’ (Cup of tea, anyone?) Maybe he remains so popular because his behaviour lets supporters feel good about themselves. John made a public apology as hollow as it was expedient, but he does deserve credit for that.