Thursday 28 August 2008

Tasers

Tasers?  Said it all before.  Don't get distracted by the smokescreen of the taser issue, which the Clark Government hopes will shoot the far more substantive issues from the front page.

UPDATE 1The Greens, oddly enough, have the most instructive observation on the government's game playing in introducing the taser filibuster to the house yesterday -- introduced "by a government that, up until now had been unwilling to politically debate the issues around tasers – claiming it was an operation matter for police, not a political one for MPs." Yes yesterday, the decision required not the operational expertise of the police, but the urgent attention of parliamentarians.

UPDATE 2:  And this, from the Police Association, who (as DPF reports) "attacked Police Commissioner Howard Broad for letting the taser decision (which is his) be used as a political delaying tactic in Parliament yesterday."

Police Association president Greg O’Connor said that while frontline officers should have been celebrating, the decision instead “highlights the politicisation of the highest levels of police”.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

And what better diversion than a sweetener for conservatives in particular! My God, Clark's clever.

Just heard TRN's breathless announcement that "Clark has put the 'hard word' on Winston".

Don't know about that. She said that Glenn told her months ago he'd given the money to Peters, and that the process would take its course with Peters having to explain himself next Thursday.

Sounds like she's bought herself a week's grace to me.

Peter Cresswell said...

Remember UK spin-doctor Alastair Campbell's dictum: If you can ride out a scandal for eleven days, then you're through.

And the Helen Clark/Margaret Wilson corollary: if you can put off all serious enquiries for seven days, then you're nearly there.