On-line post too much

R

ANGITATA’S Labour Party candidate Steve Gibson went too far in his Facebook criticism of Prime Minister John Key. Way too far. "Shonky Jonkey Shylock," he wrote, also describing Key as "a nasty little creep with a nasty evil and vindictive sneer".

Politics is not for the faint-hearted, but such personal abuse is not the domain of candidates.

It is not an excuse that he was unaware of the connotations of referring to Key as Shylock, Shakespeare’s greedy, money-lending Jewish character. What then did he mean?

And neither is it an excuse that it was a comment on a Facebook page.

Too many people think Facebook is a bit of a chat session among mates as if they were standing on a street corner or leaning up against a bar. It’s not.

A Timaru woman found this out when she breached a court suppression order last year and Gibson has fallen into the same trap.

It’s not a lot different than publishing something in the newspaper. Once it’s out there it’s out there, and while Gibson has now apologised unreservedly and withdrawn the comment on Facebook, the post has gone wider and he can do nothing about that.

Labour leader David Cunliffe had little option but to put Gibson on notice. He may in fact have preferred to cast him adrift, but Labour’s first call for candidates in Rangitata attracted no suitable candidates and Gibson was nominated on a second attempt.

Removing Gibson would create a vacancy six weeks from the election – not a good look.

The leader will be hoping for a more considered approach from now on, especially given Labour’s election catchphrase, ‘‘vote positive’’.

I’m not sure if Winston Peters’ ‘‘two Wongs don’t make a white’’ comment is racist or not. I’m proud of my Irish heritage but don’t get offended by Irish jokes, but apparently that’s because we’re used to laughing at ourselves. That may not be the case with the Chinese. I don’t believe Peters meant it to be offensive. It was what it was, a cheap joke.