Crossing the line
Tuesday’s post, A Rankin headache started:
There must be an automatic recoil on the Government benches when Christine Rankin’s name is mentioned.
In the comments, “gobsmacked” makes the observation [abridged]:
John Key has decided to respond by indulging in some very nasty mud-slinging. This what he said in the House on Tuesday:
- ‘When National was in Opposition, we still cared about abused children and we did not spend our time playing political games. All those members care about is politics; they do not care about the abused kids of New Zealand.’
- ‘I go back to the point I just made: members on this side of the House care about abused kids. We look in the hospitals of New Zealand and see thousands of abused kids, and Christine Rankin has spoken out about the damage that is happening to those kids. We are going to do something about abused kids, because not enough happened under the previous Labour Government.’
- ‘I am more focused on the kids than on political point-scoring—but that is OK. Secondly, I do not believe Christine Rankin has been defiant; most sections of the media believe that she has been muzzled. Members on this side of the House care about abused kids, but members on that side do not.’
He said it three times, so it was obviously a planned line of attack. A very offensive one.
It was a disgraceful comment by the country’s Prime Minister, and he should be castigated for it. Sadly, he won’t be.