The thing about Paul Henry supporters

Paul Henry opponents complain of abuse
Wellington students Narita Chandra and Niki Singh say Paul Henry's racial comments have stripped them of their national identity and led to a barrage of abuse on a website they set up to promote a protest they're holding on Monday.

The pair, who are law students at Victoria University, are organising a rally which will start outside Wellington railway station at noon and head to Parliament. They want Henry to be sacked.

"We are both first-generation Fijian Indians that were born in New Zealand and we both considered ourselves New Zealanders but, [after] his comments 'will the next governor-general look and sound like a New Zealander?', we feel that's basically stripped us of our national identity," Ms Chandra said.

"We are pretty offended and outraged by his comments and the response by John Key and Television New Zealand."

To drum up support for their rally, they set up a Facebook page publicising the event – which has since been bombarded with abusive messages.

The annoying thing in this debate is listening to Paul Henry's idiot supporters who all seem to think it was okay and not as racist as Hone Harawira's comments. The simplicity and stupidity of this defense is the desperate act of people who identify with Paul Henry and who are bitterly fighting for their own self esteem and social standing, recoiling that they could be judged as prejudiced and savaging anyone who says otherwise.

The difference between Hone's comments and Paul's comments is that Hone is responsible ultimately as a politician to the people he represents in his electorate where as Paul Henry is a bloody staff member on the Public Broadcaster!!! This isn't about free speech! Paul Henry isn't using biting satire to attack the powerful and challenge the privileged, he's attacking minority groups in terms of power in this country and busting out racist brainfarts, why on earth should the public broadcaster of this country be promoting the ignorant views of intolerant rednecks?

All one can hear above the feral, redneck snarling dog of unchained ignorance from Paul Henry supporters are the screams of ‘PC madness gone mad’. Whether we like it or not, Paul Henry is very popular amongst talk hate radio listening, Kiwiblog reading, cross burners. Sadly those angry beige right wingers want their news reflected to them by an oompa loompa of hate, and that’s why Paul Henry hasn't been sacked.

TVNZ need to sack him for their credibility, and this farce needs to start a real discussion about what we expect from our Public Broadcaster and the importance of having a media that holds the powerful to account rather than reinforcing the prejudices of the reactive talkback radio kneejerkers that Paul so titillates.