10-08-2022, 06:07 PM
I see a lot going on here.
There was an article (I think I saw a link somewhere above on here) about all the "National" problem-people. But it left out the one that I think was their biggest problem - Bob Clarkson. They don't seem to have learned to actually "look" at who they are endorsing. But ....
The first story about Uffindell was a school incident. Never taken to court, just dealt with by the school. So what happened to "innocent until proven guilty"? Schools have a bad record for "dealing" with stuff internally and in doing so justice is not always served. And how many "successful" people started out being expelled from school? I can think of another one that I used to work with. She was very proud of it and it didn't hold her back at all, even though it should have been a red flag. When I first saw the article about Uffindell, I thought "well at least he might be able to stand up for himself against all the bullies in parliament". Can anyone deny that there are plenty of them?
The university flat incident is more serious simply because he was older, but also sounds like the sort of idiocy that goes on with students. An enquiry will be "he said"/"she said" and we'll probably never really know the truth. What is most alarming about it is his admission about drug taking. That level of drinking is bad enough, but to now be admitting blatant law breaking is pretty serious.
If these and any other incidents had been tried and convicted, would we then say he's done his penance and can move on? The first of these may not have been tried and convicted, but was punished so does the punishment need to continue into adulthood? For the second, does he still drink and take drugs to that degree? Or has he grown up? Can we accept that with maturity may come real regrets? Or does he have to be punished forever?
At least it's only a year until the "real" election and time will tell whether Tauranga really wants him.
Overall, many MPs from all parties seem to be keeping their heads down. I think picking on Uffindell is mainly a matter of timing, and just another part of our overtly bully-society. Certainly the press is very good at it.
There was an article (I think I saw a link somewhere above on here) about all the "National" problem-people. But it left out the one that I think was their biggest problem - Bob Clarkson. They don't seem to have learned to actually "look" at who they are endorsing. But ....
The first story about Uffindell was a school incident. Never taken to court, just dealt with by the school. So what happened to "innocent until proven guilty"? Schools have a bad record for "dealing" with stuff internally and in doing so justice is not always served. And how many "successful" people started out being expelled from school? I can think of another one that I used to work with. She was very proud of it and it didn't hold her back at all, even though it should have been a red flag. When I first saw the article about Uffindell, I thought "well at least he might be able to stand up for himself against all the bullies in parliament". Can anyone deny that there are plenty of them?
The university flat incident is more serious simply because he was older, but also sounds like the sort of idiocy that goes on with students. An enquiry will be "he said"/"she said" and we'll probably never really know the truth. What is most alarming about it is his admission about drug taking. That level of drinking is bad enough, but to now be admitting blatant law breaking is pretty serious.
If these and any other incidents had been tried and convicted, would we then say he's done his penance and can move on? The first of these may not have been tried and convicted, but was punished so does the punishment need to continue into adulthood? For the second, does he still drink and take drugs to that degree? Or has he grown up? Can we accept that with maturity may come real regrets? Or does he have to be punished forever?
At least it's only a year until the "real" election and time will tell whether Tauranga really wants him.
Overall, many MPs from all parties seem to be keeping their heads down. I think picking on Uffindell is mainly a matter of timing, and just another part of our overtly bully-society. Certainly the press is very good at it.