First we had Judith Collins calling for looters to be raped and beaten in prison. Now we have Phil Goff calling for them to be executed. Of course - after focus grouping it, I'm sure - he now says he was joking. But that's the weak excuse of every dipshit caught out saying something absolutely unacceptable.
And lets be clear: what Goff was advocating is absolutely unacceptable. The death penalty is immoral - not to mention absolutely illegal in New Zealand (while the BORA seems to permit it, thanks to Ahmed Zaoui it would be interpreted in line with our international obligations under the Second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR, which absolutely prohibits capital punishment). People pushing for the murder of their fellow human beings, judicial or otherwise, deserve our utter contempt. Phil Goff, with his nasty little "joke", is in that category. And its telling that while trying to excuse his inexcusable comments about judicial murder, he's still standing by his advocacy of a lynchmob mentality - the sort of mentality which sees suspects beaten and unjust penalties imposed, just because someone wants to win the latest round of "crueller than thou".
Yes, people get carried away sometimes, and say things they shouldn't and that they later regret. Honest people admit that. "I was only joking" is trying to have it both ways. We don't accept it from racists. We don't accept it from sexists. And we shouldn't accept it from Phil Goff.
[Hat-tip: DPF]
