Open blog to David Farrar

I’ve been having a bit of a do with the Godfather of National Spin on line – David Farrar ever since he started posting on Tumeke counter claims to my suggestions as to who was the leak within National who gave Nicky Hager the emails that made up the Hollow Men. My original point was on the hypocrisy of the right, I said that if it had been Labour caught lying and deceiving the public in the manner National were caught out, how the emails were taken wouldn’t receive a seconds worth of airtime in the clamor to crucify Labour. It still astounds me that National lied and used racially divisive tactics to denigrate Maori and somehow still managed to duck away from any of the shit sticking by simply removing Brash as leader.

I want to focus on some comments that David has made on Tumeke…

Sigh, I thought you would appreciate being told the truth. Instead you give more credence to some fourth hand rumour than direct testimony from someone who was there. Hope you never serve on a jury.
The ‘truth’ from the biggest National Party spin Dr on line, let’s have a look at some of that ‘truth’ shall we David because some of what you have previously posted on this topic you immediately contradict with this new post, so let’s talk about the truth…

Now for some more factual corrections. It did not happen on my watch. All the e-mails are well after I left the office.
This is very interesting, because let’s look at your exact words last time…

Don did not require his emails to be printed out as he liked reading them in paper format.

Don was probably the most heavy email user of any MP I have known. He was 100% comfortable with reading and responding electronically. He would send dozens of emails a day and often respond within minutes.

So Don did not get his emails printed out for him, and there was no shredding of them the next day.

I know this as I was IT Manager for the NLO when Don became Leader.permi

…this is interesting and I’d love an explanation from you David, in this first post you claim that Don Brash didn’t print his emails off and you know this because you were the IT Manager for the NLO when Don became leader, yet the second I challenge you on that you scamper away saying it didn’t happen on your watch.

In your first post you claim Don couldn’t have printed his emails off each day, read them and then have those printed emails taken off to the shredder because you were the IT Manager for the NLO when Don became leader, but now you point out that you weren't there. In your first post you discredit my claim that Don Brash had his e-mails printed and read them each day because you were the IT manager for the NLO, now you claim you weren’t there, if you weren’t there then how could you say for sure that Don Brash didn’t print his emails off each day?

Again let me be clear what my allegation is, during the build up to his failed attempt to win the election, Don Brash would have his emails printed off each day and read them in paper format, write notes, send emails back, and he would leave a pile of these emails to be shredded. The question I have always put is who was the person responsible for shredding those emails and most importantly, who appointed that staff member? Was it a Mary English while her husband was the leader of National? Did Don retain any staff appointed under the English brief spell as leader?

The MP spouse theory is preposterous and based on the mere fact Mary is on a school board with Hagar. MP spouses were not routinely in the leader's office.
Well no, it’s based on a lot of other interesting things David, that’s just one of them. A lady Macbeth ambition turned bitter because hubby was knocked off by a coup of right wing nutbars who wanted to secretly implement a hard right wing agenda, mix a bit of old fashioned catholic guilt and social conscience and one can justify political betrayal couldn’t one?

Then you invent something about me saying the emails were hacked. I have never said that. Sure it is possible. I have consistently said I believe there was unauthorised access to a staffer's inbox. That could be hacking, but also be someone jumped on while they were at lunch, or a flatmate did it, or someone with system access, or several other possibilities. A totally external hacker I regard as unlikely.
So you do claim it was hacked because the Police have ruled hacking out, which I would argue makes my scenario of printed emails passed along via people who owe their positions much more likely than your hacking claim which has already been ruled out by the Police.

And finally you could not be more wrong in saying I don't want the identity of the person or persons responsible made public. I do. I'd even pay money to find out.
Really David, you would want the possibility of a high ranking National Party person outed as the source of political betrayal and all the internal damage that would create at a time when the present Government is causing itself self inflicted wound after self inflicted wound? You come across more like a sadist David, not a masochist, I doubt you would wish the true identity of the leaker be made public and the implosion it would cause National, but you would be the first person on-line spinning it.