the tendancy of the National party to deepen it’s profiling of “mainstream new zealand� towards a back-country gully inhabited only by white men, employed in primary industries, with a love of gun-sports and breeding more white men

makes it a sunset party, if it carries on in that direction. They have already established that “mainstream NZ” weighs no more than 40% electorally; the anti-PC thing will most likely offend just about everyone who didn’t vote National, and quite a few who did. If Brash continues in that vein, they will want to get rid of him sooner, rather than later.

Yet one can admire him for trying. Last-ditch defense of Boy’s Own values. … and a terrifying glimpse of what we escaped from.

Perhaps not, but when the overwhelming tone of the public response is ridicule, anger and a call to common sense, maybe some good has come of it?

First it was the Orewa manifesto speech, then the Exclusive Bretheren campaign funding, now Dr Mapp’s spurious portfolio; do we need to give these “white supremacists” their airtime on any more ways of excluding and demonnising minority groups in our country? The noun is in quotes deservedly, as the real purpose of Brash’s outrageous statements is to get disaffected redneck minorities to buy in to his less objectionable policies, not to espouse any view that the National Front (true white trash) would agree with.

Having become bored with handling the nations Banking Reserve, the Don has tried to come up to speed on political diversity in a manner that sugggests cliff notes, rather than any fluency with standard political texts (heard of Machievelli yet?) and we see bumbling attempts to foment opinion in those whose apathy or unwillingness to engage in the issues kept them on the sidelines of this election - that nearly 20% of non-voters in the NZ population.

Wayne Mapp is merely the latest tool, bluntly weilded, in this ideologically sparse campaign. OK, National, you don’t like uppity Maori, Women as Leaders, or linguistic solutions that the rest of the world have developed over the past 50 years, so what do you have to shout about??

“… because he’s married to a Maori person.”

So in this land opf political uncorrectness, what Campbell (and many other commentators) heard was:

“… because he’s married to a Maori person.”

And then proceeded to rag on abit about this.

Those of us who have spent a few years in countries that have (searching for the right sort of term here) more political correctness heard in Don’s short quote a perfect example of political correctness at work, ie:

“… because he’s married to a Maori person.”

Note the gender inclusive term “person” rather than the gender exclusive term “woman”. Thats the perfect example of PC.

What appears to be going on here is that the good Doctor having had a bit of a go at defining (or maybe re-defining) “mainstream” is now having a go at re-defining what “political correctness” means. If he carries on like this than a German will be a person who is a national of PNG or something. Someone please slap Don about, he’s being silly.

For a bit of a giggle about what political Correctness really means in practice, try these links.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,17027882-13762,00.html

http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=29&art_id=iol1129 539584298A551

If National takes de-PCing seriously, they will start with themselves. But they won’t do it, because insulting minorities loses their support. Being chauvinistic loses female support, and the Nats have already had a taste of that. And if they keep going on about PC without removing it from their own dialogue they open themselves up to endless jokes from the other side of the house. Clark could put Peters in charge of hacking into that, he’d love it.

It was a joke, in poor taste, and will quietly disappear, like a smelly fart at a dinner party.