Melissa Lee

Sometimes in the heat of the moment you say things you really mean ... I mean, you say things which are a mistake lol

or you say things that are just plain retarded

i just fail to understand how someone vying for public office can even begin to think yet alone actually voice such a thought.

the fact that the Nats put her on the hustings leads me tor the conclusion that they were never serious about contesting this by-election

Melissa lee WAS being touted as a high flyer, someome going places. The red carpet had been laid out for her in the National Party and she had to do was walk along it with tripping. Unfortunately, that red carpet turned out to be deceptively smooth and she has gone arse over kite. I can't beat Gordon Campbell's descriptions so I'll quote him:

"...Melissa Lee’s emergence as the poster child of the Key government is so apt, it makes the process of politics seem karmically ordained. It is rare indeed to find arrogance and ignorance combined so exquisitely in the one harsh and clanging package, and the P.R. crew down at National party head office must be thinking that polling day in Mt Albert just can’t come soon enough, to get her off the front page..."

Funnily enough, I am not that harsh on her. I am wonder if fastracking raw and brittle people like Melissa Lee into parliament via the party list actually in the end does them any favours.

I find it difficult to believe that an electorate MP, honed on years of vicious electorate branch politics and dreary meeting with angry single issue fanatics in cold drafty halls, would be making the sort of mistakes Melissa Lee is making "in the heat of the moment" to give it John Keys (very) cheritable explaination.

Even given that, she is a spectacular train wreck. Last night Paul Henry had to prompt her FOUR TIMES before she said it wasn't her real opinion. Even counting her relative inexperience (lets face it - David Shearer is inexperienced to) She is arrogant and shrill all by herself.

I found her intitial snarky comments to be hilarious. The way she was justifying her comment. I was chuckling as I listened to her interviewed on National radio as I new she was going to have to backtrack and apologise.

She was equally evasive over her company having made those ads. She couldn't understand the correlation between using resources that she kept saying were her companies, even though her company would not exist at all without the government funding. Sure it might be fine, that it was all done for free. But I kinda thought that such services "gifted" to an election campaign might have to be declared?

Geographical profiling of crime is a common policing technique.

In every country around the world, there are clear trends whereby burglars from low socio-economic areas travel to higher socio-economic areas - "commuter" rather than "marauder" burglars - and commit crime.

I bet justhanging has had clients who fit that exact profile. Was Melissa Lee lying?

The fact is that roading networks DO affect crime.

she's alright looking.

as politicians go.

Dude, everyone knows that in the context she used it, "South Auckland" is racist code for "brown people". When you use a blanket epithet to condemn an entire 360,000 people you will always be called on it.

The facts or otherwise of it are not what she is in the shit for.

God, I hate National more than you, but when someone makes a statement backed by the evidence, why not accept it?

The motorway WILL affect crime rates. It might raise them, however; all depends on various things. But probably won't, as surface street recces are what causes most burgs

Im not sure its racist if its true. But im not sure its true.

Pretty lol anyway.

Who would have thought westies were so backwards? Oh wait.

well I do and I have had some openly say they drive from south auckland to ponsonby just to break into cars

the problem with what she said is more that it belies a generalised prejudice against a whole class of people; also a lack of compassion; also a touch of stupidity, because criminals will travel however they want to get where they want

and they don't just live in south auckland

theres enough crims in west auckland anyway.

fucking retarded thing to say but.

Again ignoring the point... the motorway probably won't change local criminal patterns, but will affect commuter criminal patterns

Matt McCarten makes some interesting points on the finer details of democratic decision making.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10572750&pnum=2

I might not have been clear but i cant think how a motorway will do anything but get more crims to the area.

Currently the motorway ends at Stoddard Road; theoretically burglars would exit there and commence a surface street recce for targets.

If the motorway doesn't end there, the criminals will exit past Waterview.

Ironically, that's an exit into a veritable hotbed of burglars anyhow

the South Auckland burglars would be in direct competition with the local ones - who knows, may result in turf warfare

Since when is Mt Albert in West Auckland?

err ... I think she should just quit - based on today's performance

As a staunch left wing hater and National supporter I will happily say John Key needs to give her the boot.

I'll keep my opinions on her to myself to avoid repeating her gaff of putting mega politically incorrect quotes into the public domain.

Suffice to say I bet she thinks she knows better than the party heirachy.

and what about the skankin' rankin?

Shes definitely skankin. My school is out on whether she should get the job. Problem is if you start capitulating every time Labour do a good job of winding the public and media up against your candidate - its a slippery slope and will just encourage them.