Golriz Ghahraman: defender of the world's worst.
Standing behind the long-held belief that everyone deserves a trial and a defence, which is indisputably true.
Problem though, is twofold. One, you don't have to be the person doing the defending and two, if you do, why hide it?
And hide it they did. Not only did the Greens hide it, they tried to dress it up.
The Greens have form on this. Metiria Turei was supported and protected by the same party who tried valiantly to pretend that breaking the law was okay as long as you were trying to make some sort of idealistic point. The two cases don't, however, meet the same criteria if you're looking for Ghahraman to be booted out of Parliament.
Turei broke laws, Gharahman didn't. Gharahman falls into a completely separate category. One of being idealistically delusional, and that is not a crime, just a worry.
If she thinks that what she did was good, good on her. She'll be supported by the equally out of touch. But the clue here is she didn't tell it like it was, and nor did her party. Why was that do you think?
Is it possible that if they had said "our candidate Golriz is particularly proud of her time with Radovan Karadzic" a few people might have raised a few eyebrows along with a few questions? Is it deception? I'm not sure. But it's certainly not straight up and down and honest. It certainly isn't full disclosure.
It smacks of embarrassment. Ghahraman is part of that slightly nutty save the world brigade where the radar on what's right and sensible gets skewed.
She can defend herself all she wants. Her party can do the same. But we have here an indisputably inconvenient truth. She's been busted doing something she wasn't forthcoming on. And in politics, perception is everything.
And the Greens already had enough trouble in this department. They need to spend more time being mainstream, and less time attracting the earnest bewildered and out of touch if they are to ever actually get traction and be what they could always have been. A proper, sensible, well-intentioned party of the environment. I rest my case, your honour.