We're big fans of Sir Butch. He's a self-made man, who has never, ever forgotten where he came from. And he is a man with an extraordinarily generous spirit. He does not deserve to be pilloried in the way in which he has.
So we went and did some research, and we found this on the Mad Butcher's own website. Since it was established, the Mad Butcher and Suburban Newspapers Community Trust has made donations of almost $1.5 million to a huge range of charitable causes. These donations include:
- 2008 - $150,000 to Kidz First
- 2007 - $145,000 to Hospice
- 2010 - $112,000 to Diabetes NZ, Macular Degeneration, Allergy NZ, Prostate Cancer
Foundation - 2009 - $100,000 to Hospice
Sir Peter Leitch is also incredibly generous with his time, often to his detriment. We heard him interviewed on the radio a month or so ago, and he said that in conjunction with his doctor and his wife, he had made the hardest decision of his life; to start saying "no" to people. He would, he said, honour all commitments he had already made, but was taking a break from accepting any more invitations.
Sir Peter is not a well man, and even though he has spent a good part of his life giving freely of his time and his money to others, it is good to see him putting his own health ahead of others. That is what angers us most about the politically motivated attacks that have been launched against him for nothing more than saying what he thinks.
And Darien Fenton's attack is not the first, nor is it the worst; this comment appeared on The Standard last week (commenter's name deleted); we have added the comment that follows, and the reply from one of The Standard's moderators for context; check this out:
Cxxxxxxxxxxxx 16I wish the mad butcher would hurry up and die.
Fuck Close Up for giving this National party cheerleader a free slot in primetime.
big bruv 16.1
Are you going to allow this type of thing Iprent?
If I said the same thing about a Labour supporter you would ban me in a heartbeat.
Or it this another example of the standards hypocrisy?
[lprent: Actually no.
When I land on this type of anger/trolling style (on whatever side) it is usually either a newbie (who is doing it mostly out of ignorance of consequences and needs to learn them) or it is someone who is making a habit of it (gets tiresome rapidly) or it is someone who keeps repeating slogans rather than arguing.
Campbell isn't a newbie, doesn't make a habit of it, and it has no repetitive slogans. We let everyone get away with getting a bit wound up if they don't have a record of doing it.
How do you think I don't wind up moderating you all of time? It usually only happens when you start getting repetitive and usually those events are damn near years apart. It isn't the opinions that count for moderation it is the behavior.
Incidentally, I think that it has been months since I last banned someone for trolling or simple bad behavior. Most of the time these days it is for making stupid comments requiring site defense... ]
Considering the treatment we received from another left-leaning blog at the weekend, we can't help but chuckle at the double standards on display here. We could say more, but we'll resist temptation.
Far from wishing ill on Sir Peter Leitch, we wish him a long and happy life, because we know that his presence on this earth brings joy and hope to hundreds of people. The Labour Party has made, in our humble opinion, a huge mistake by choosing him as a target for their hubris and their opprobrium, simply because he has expressed an opinion that they find unpalatable.
