It illustrates the weakness of National leadership, as well as the inherent stupidity of an ACT Party and a Maori Party.

By contrast, Labour was supported by reliable Jim Anderton, and some VERY good people in NZ First. Winston was the exception in the NZ First team.

Labour has struck a moment of opportunity but will it be grasped other than on a blog site like this one?

@Brendon – thanks for that link to the dom. It shed some good light on this situation. I think his voters wont want him to leave – but it must be hard watching all that he believes in go up in political smoke each time the Maori party have to conceed something in order to stay in bed with the nats – I have been uncomfortable about the three bed fellows for sometime – and I do not think the Maori party are best aligned to the Nats – they will continue to be pooped on by them, because I do not think, no matter how much the PM smiles at them, that they are treated respectfully or with any great seriousness.

Incidentally, having now read the whole email, I feel even more for Hone – I agree with him when he states he works hard for Maoridom – it is most unfortunate his use of language and I do not condone it at all – but looking at the wider picture, Maori get squashed all the time – institutional racisim is rife in this country (for many peoples, but specially for Maori) – and he wants to do what is best for Maori, and I salute him for it. They way he articulated it is terrible, but as I have said before, his voters and his party leadership will deal with that in the way that best reflects tikanga and I doubt he will come out of this unscathed. His tirade in his email was blunt and crass – but no different, imo, to the softer, but lengthy bashing Brash gave in his Orewa speech (which I have just re read). Remember that the Maori party are in bed with the Nats and while Brash is no longer the front man – the Nats run on the same kind of mandate that Brash spoke of – so it must be pretty hard to be faced with that each day in parliment, knowing you have to cuddle up to them each night. Esp when the policies and cut backs all effect those Hone stands up for.

Mr Hide declined to expand, leaving only the comments already made.

… if a non-maori member of parliment, lets just say Phil Goff for example, said “These m*****f****** maoris have been raping the taxpayer for too long”

They wouldn’t have the defence of truth. And there’s a difference between “these mofoing whites” and “white mofos”.

Jabba. You seem to be claiming that Hide’s comments on John Key were in a private conversation. No, it was a public speech, given as an ACT party breakfast fundraiser, to which people outside of the ACT party had been invited to hear the Rodney Hide if they paid $45.

I assume the journalist’s breakfast was paid for.

Because one issue arising from all this is the absolute yawning chasm between the conventional wisdom of the MSM and the reality out where the real folks live.

MSM version of the past twelve months:

“Look, John Key is having a cup of tea with Tariana, and sharing a joke with cuddly Pita, and they’re all smiles, so everything’s fine with the Maori Party, therefore everything’s fine with Maori.”

In reality, Hone Harawira speaks to a widespread discontent. His language was offensive, and he’ll get an official ticking-off, but the Maori Party won’t expel an MP for saying what many of them think. And if he quits, he’ll take the party activists with him.

Note to Wellington journalists: baubles buy two Ministers, not an entire people.