Dickheads anonymous
I know it’s wrong to make fun of the intellectually challenged, but this story about the Senate’s Dickhead Numero Uno, Steve Fielding is just too good to pass up:
“Family First Senator Steve Fielding is having trouble describing and spelling the arm of government policy which influences the economy.
“When asked about a proposed Upper House inquiry into Labor’s economic stimulus spending, Senator Fielding said it was crucial to get “physical” policy working.
“‘We need to get the physical and monetary policy working,’ he said.
“Asked if he meant to say fiscal policy he said yes, before attempting to correct himself by spelling the word out.
“‘I will make it quite clear…F..I..S..K..A..L.'” (via AAP and The Australian)
And this is the man who controls the balance of power in the Australian Parliament.
Break text
city of tongues 
What would Olivia Newtown John made of all this?
And from this morning’s AM program on ABC Radio.
STEVE FIELDING: This is a bill whose introduction would see visa, you know, who would see visas, who have volitated (phonetic) their visa leave Australia debt free while Australian workers are left to pay for the mess.
Run that past me one more time.
Oh well, just over a year before he becomes a minor footnote in Australian political history. Something to look forward to.
Or should that be anominous?
Senator Fielding…such a k-u-n-n-i-n-g linguist 🙂
Fair point made on The Punch today:
http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/fiscal-impediment-may-mask-a-beautiful-mind/
It quotes Fielding’s comments after the event about how he is not a brilliant communicator, but is definitely not dumb either. At school he got a score around 20 per cent on an English exam, and 99 per cent on a maths exam, and went on to get a degree in Engineering.
The learning disability might explain the crappy spelling, but it doesn’t account for the fact the guy’s a complete tool.
And lest we forget, it was a Labor Party preference deal that put him there.
“… and went on to get a degree in Engineering.”
And your point is …?
*Runs away*
Well, what I said, Fielding doesn’t communicate brilliantly but isn’t dumb either.
Look, this is obviously going to go up there in the Journalists Lists of Political Blunders that they keep filed away somewhere, just like George Bush’s ‘is our children learning’, and Dan Quayle’s eccentric spelling. (I forget the details now.) It makes for good copy and helps fill up column space. But this is at best a distraction – as anyone who regularly pays attention to politicians in the media would know, grammatical errors of every kind are common.
Sorry, TimT, that was just a cruel joke about engies. My de facto goddaughter the Aerospace Engineering student would kill me.
And yes, in case it wasn’t clear, I was joking as well. Fielding can’t help not being able to spell, but his career as a professional embarrassment is all his own work (or is he claiming his learning disability makes him wear stupid costumes and sign up to climate sceptic pseudo-science as well?). Maybe he’s just got ADD (Absolute Dickhead Disorder).
I will now stop slagging off Steve Fielding: it’s too easy and it makes me sound like I’m the one with a problem.
Whoops. Sometimes I’m not particularly good at picking up irony in blog comments.
I wouldn’t worry – it’s an easy thing to miss (as I know to my cost). I almost put a smiley quote in my original comment and then decided not to, so it’s half my fault anyway.