Dem
51
GOP
49
There was a famous incident during the Reagan presidency, which we've mentioned once or twice before. Ronnie was getting a grilling from the White House Press Corps, back in the days when presidents actually held press conferences. And after he was done with the questions and answers, an angry Reagan—not realizing his microphone was still live—muttered "sons of bit**es."
That was a time when even the slightest loss of presidential decorum was potentially a major story. Heck, Harry S. Truman threatened to punch a reporter in the balls once, and we're still talking about it 75 years later. Anyhow, Reagan's off-color remark might have turned into a big deal. But if there was one thing the Gipper knew how to so, it was handle the press. And so he arrived at the next day's press conference with t-shirts for everyone that said "S.O.B." on the front and "Save Our Budget" on the back. Crisis averted! The New York Times called it "t-shirt diplomacy."
We mention this because, as reader T.B. in Nowata, OK, brings to our attention, something rather similar happened in New Zealand recently. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is a member of the Labour Party. That means there are many issues where she does not see eye-to-eye with ACT New Zealand Party leader David Seymour. And last week, Seymour was questioning Ardern with particular pique during Parliament's Question Time. After the 7 minutes was up, Ardern—not realizing, like Reagan, that her microphone was still live—turned to Deputy PM Grant Robertson and said: "He's such an arrogant pr**k!" Oops.
If that had taken place in the U.S., it would be fodder for angry coverage from Fox, or MSNBC, or both for at least a week. The Kiwis, however, handled it differently. To start, Ardern sent a text to Seymour offering an apology. He accepted, and wished her a Merry Christmas in return. Further, when asked about the dust-up by reporters, Seymour said that while the PM really did call him a pr**k, it's out of character for her, and that overall he quite admires her political skills.
And the story doesn't end there. In order to make some lemonade out of this particular bushel of lemons, the two leaders agreed to sign a transcript of their exchange and to auction it off for charity. The auction closed yesterday with a winning bid of just over NZ$100,000, or about $63,000 American. The money goes to the Prostate Cancer Foundation. We are not sure if that was chosen because of the particular slur that was used, or if there was some other reason. What we do know is that the leader of the Prostate Cancer Foundation is named Peter Dickens, who was clearly born to do that job.
Anyone who follows American politics, as all readers of this site do, must be thinking that it would be nice if the members of Congress could handle their differences the way that the members of the New Zealand Parliament do. (Z)