Jane Clifton on form again in BusinessDesk

The errant politicos were all exponents of the surprisingly common philosophy that when you’re in a hole, the only sensible course is vigorous further excavation in the hope of tunnelling your way out. ...

This only ever ends with the hole being filled in by others from a great height with you in it, as the likes of Jami-Lee Ross, Todd Barclay, Clare Curran and now National MP Hamish Walker have found out.
Walker’s leaking of the names of covid patients to the media was simply the most novel of the week’s pratfalls, with the biggest collateral damage.
It’s not often a first-term MP manages to get both a party kuia like Michelle Boag, and their own leader into the hole digging alongside them, with the bonus possibility of knocking precious points off the polls going into an election campaign.


And I love the imagery here

The long-time public relations maven bestrides the party as a sort of Boaganvillea – a brightly-plumed climber, extensively branched and with many sharp thorns.
Her lack of judgement in on-leaking this data to Walker is gob-smacking for such a seasoned operator.
Seldom has a party deity so drastically forfeited decades of influence

https://businessdesk.co.nz/article/j...line-of-eejits (Paywall)