Time to have a big think about john key for the maori party - yes they should have seen it before but let's just hope they see it now. He has very little mana. This is what he has said about the racial insult delivered in front of him, From NZH
"Mr Key wouldn't call the comments racist, instead saying: "I think they were totally inappropriate."
"I'm not going to spend my life critiquing Paul Henry, because if I do I'm going to be doing that at every post-Cabinet press conference I hold."
Mr Key said he would continue to appear on Breakfast in his regular weekly spot.
"I do a lot of interviews with interviewers who do stupid things."
This is the same guy who can't remember which side of the Springbok Tour he was on. Mr personality doesn't actually have a personality, he is wafer-thin, his principles don't exist. This performance rates up there with his gormless act on the letterman show - he has reached 'George Bush and his story reading while the planes crashed' level. As key is saying on the radio, "its all about sending the message." About time the maori party sent a message to key IMO.
There are many disturbing aspects to this story. paul henry obviously believes he can just say whatever he likes and the people will love him and follow him. He believes, like TVNZ that, (from NZH)
"The audience tell us over and over again that one of the things they love about Paul Henry is that he's prepared to say the things we quietly think but are scared to say out loud,"
And what are these things that paul henry can say out loud that the rest of us think?
"On the Breakfast programme this morning Henry asked the Prime Minister about who he was looking to replace Sir Anand with when his five year term ends this year.
"Is he (Governor-General Sir Anand Satyanand ) even a New Zealander?" Henry asked.
Mr Key said he was.
"Are you going to choose a New Zealander who looks and sounds like a New Zealander this time... Are we going to go for someone who is more like a New Zealander this time?"
Just to clarify
"Sir Anand is New Zealand's first Governor-General of Indian and Pacific ancestry. He had a lengthy career as a lawyer, judge and ombudsman before taking up the job in August 2006.
He was born and raised in Auckland, attending Richmond Road School in Ponsonby, and Sacred Heart College in Glen Innes. His parents were born in Fiji and migrated to New Zealand, his grandparents were born in India and had migrated to Fiji.
Now I'm not a great fan of the queen but this is just minimum standards of behaviour - I would be equally horrified if he said it about anyone.
Are these really the views of the silent people of this country? No doubt some will applaud henry for his courage in speaking his truth - but I've never seen a bigger coward, a weak racist so insecure that he had become a joke - and not a funny one. But this 'joke' reflects back a side of ourselves that often remains hidden - even flies have their uses.
