A few questions about John Banks, cabbage boats, and political donations

1.  John Key says John Banks has given him a clear assurance that he hasn't done anything wrong.  Why can't Banks give such a clear assurance to the media and thus to the public? 

2.  If Banks can't recall then how does he know he hasn't done anything wrong? (My apologies if the double-negative hurts your brain).

3.  What's wrong with coming up the river on a cabbage boat?

4.  How could Sky City have made an anonymous donation to the Banks' campaign and a declared one to the Brown campaign?  Why would they want one to be hidden and one to be open?    Or is the difference how they were dealt with by the campaigns, not how Sky City acted?

5.  Isn't Winston Peters awfully quiet?  Maybe he has lost his voice?

And finally, a brief statement:

Not all politicians are dodgy about these things.  Most probably aren't in fact.   The way that political coverage in this country is so often focused on Politics As A Game in my view depresses people about the value of participation, and the value of democracy.  Stink.