This dog bites

I am not sure how much longer John Key’s mantra “If
elected, National will not sell any state assets” is going
to hang onto whatever tattered shreds of credibility it
has, so long as it keeps being followed by the rider,
“not in our first term anyway.” With the first part of the
statement Key sends a flag up the flagpole; with the
second part he shoots it full of holes. Believe part one
at your peril. That his advisers could allow him to spout
such politically feeble stuff is a sign that all is not well in
the National Party, where compromises are clearly
being made almost weekly between those, like Key, who
will do anything rather than expose the party to
accusations that it has a radical right-wing agenda, and
those who still swear by the blood of Don Brash.
Desperate to get back into power, yet terrified of showing
its true colours, National is yapping like a muzzled dog at
the moment, virtually rolling over and waving its paws in
the air in order to show the voters how cute and cuddly it
is. Beware: this dog bites.