Trevor Mallard has single-handedly made a right duck of himself. People with his type of personality rarely get any given situation correct. They are unable to think in a measured way. Their first instinct is to go for the jugular to, metaphorically speaking, beat your opponent up. Although, if my memory serves me correctly, the altercation with Tau Henare was more the real deal than metaphorical. I can’t remember who came off second best or whether it was an honourable draw.
Fast forward to the Convoy inhabiting Parliament’s front lawn and Trevor is not impressed. It wasn’t long before the people got his dander up. To get one’s dander up is a phrase I am sure most of us are familiar with. It is of Dutch origin. The Dutch phrase “op donderen” means to burst into a sudden rage. “Donder op” in Dutch means “Get out of here”. The first published reference to the phrase “get your dander up” can be found in an entry in the 1831 edition of The American Comic Annual by Henry J Finn.
Some might regard it as somewhat apt that the phrase that so easily applies to Mallard was found initially in a comic, because depending on how seriously you take his behaviour it can be quite comical. Costing a man his job and the taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars certainly was not. The people on the lawn at Parliament find they are confronted with Trevor “Donder op” Mallard. To ensure that his orders would be carried out he brought in hundreds of Police Officers.
There is a picture of Mallard standing on the balcony of the House of Representatives watching the Police executing his orders. The execution was akin to how it might be undertaken under Kim Jong Un. Never have I seen Police behave in such a brutal manner in my life.
However, I am going to speak up in defence of most members of the NZ Police. They signed up to do a job, to protect people and their communities. They did not sign up to be made the ‘meat in the sandwich’ by gutless politicians who should all be hanging their heads in shame.
When the Police action was unsuccessful Mallard went a step further and turned on the lawn sprinklers. This is a gentler version of what happens in dictatorships overseas where water cannons are used. Expect that to be the next piece of urgent legislation to come before the House. Will National and ACT oppose that? Frankly, I’m not holding my breath. Do they support the use of sprinklers? I’ve yet to see any comments saying they opposed it.
Mallard, in his simplistic, narcissistic way of thinking thought by imposing his bully boy tactics he would make the protesters all run for the hills just like the politicians have. These people are made of much sterner stuff. They are true Kiwis, resourceful, of the number 8 wire mentality. The first thing they did was place traffic cones over his sprinklers and then dig trenches to divert the water. A call went out to plumbers for pipes to put in the trenches. Our soldiers who went to war to defend the right to do what these people are there for would be so proud of them.
When Parliament resumes next week I expect National and ACT, on behalf of the people of New Zealand, to censure Mallard for treating those involved in the Convoy in an inhumane way. At the very least they should move a vote of no confidence to force the thugs on the left to approve of what he did. If they fail to do this they too will look culpable for the disgraceful scenes the world has witnessed.
The whole debacle has been a giant stuff up by politicians who have now completely lost the room. National has also lost Matt King who has announced his resignation from the party. A man of principle.
Mallard, as the Speaker, is in charge of this overpaid bunch of clowns. He, and they, need to take a long hard look at themselves and come to the realisation that they no longer represent the views of the majority of Kiwis.
As I said in my previous post, an attempt to talk, even if it went against the grain, could have prevented the ensuing shambles. A little humility goes a long way. Instead, the politicians have just exacerbated a ‘them and us’ situation which Ardern had already successfully put in place.
As for Mallard versus the protesters, Mallard has shot himself in his webbed foot. By his disgusting action, he has had his front lawn dug up. He only has himself to blame. No prizes for guessing who will be paying to rectify the damage. The scoreline reads: Convoy won (1); Mallard lost, out for a duck (0). We need less quack from the political hack.
On Saturday night he blasted his fellow Kiwis with music and Covid messages. What a despicable excuse for a human being. All is not lost though. He seems to have done the crowd a favour. They are now dancing to the music. It appears he has now shot himself in his other webbed foot. Is there a psychiatrist in the House? What a pathetic childish little individual.
All the noise is from Mallard. Little, if any, from National or ACT. Shame on them.
PS – Since the time of writing I have read comments from David Seymour criticising Mallard’s behaviour and suggesting the Prime Minister remove him as Speaker.
