http://www.thepunch.com.au/tags/stephen-fielding/ Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. en Copyright 2012 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Fri, 10 Feb 2012 02:00:13 +0000 Fri, 10 Feb 2012 02:00:13 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-family-first-farce-that-shamed-our-democracy/ Australia has one of the best democracies in the world and it’s something we should be immensely proud of. Our democratic system is one which encourages everyone to be involved in the political process, and thus shape the future of this great nation. However, during this year’s South Australian election the Labor Party threw our whole system in jeopardy. Instead of contesting the election in a fair and open manner, instead of putting faith in their own policies to capture voter support, they chose to engage in a deceptive and misleading campaign by impersonating another party. It was a disgraceful act and one which bought the whole integrity of our electoral system to its knees. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-family-first-farce-that-shamed-our-democracy/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-family-first-farce-that-shamed-our-democracy/#item3087 Fri, 10 Feb 2012 02:00:13 +0000 Type the words “Steve Fielding” and “idiot” into Google and you get 14,300 hits. Many of these entries came in the past few days, most of them on blog sites, many of which have one author and as many readers, as the nation’s smarty-pants pundits seized on Fielding’s “fiskal” fiasco as proof that the guy is as dumb as a box of rocks. Now I’m not going to pretend that my reaction upon seeing the footage of his doorstop spelling bee wasn’t one of unbridled hilarity. I almost spat my coffee out. And when I’d regained my composure, I called my workmates over to ask if they too had seen the Family First Senator blundering his way through a doorstop where, after referring three times to “physical” policy instead of “fiscal”, he insisted he knew what he was talking about by offering to spell the word.   http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/please-explain-this-elitist-insecurity-over-language/ Type the words “Steve Fielding” and “idiot” into Google and you get 14,300 hits. Many of these entries came in the past few days, most of them on blog sites, many of which have one author and as many readers, as the nation’s smarty-pants pundits seized on Fielding’s “fiskal” fiasco as proof that the guy is as dumb as a box of rocks. Now I’m not going to pretend that my reaction upon seeing the footage of his doorstop spelling bee wasn’t one of unbridled hilarity. I almost spat my coffee out. And when I’d regained my composure, I called my workmates over to ask if they too had seen the Family First Senator blundering his way through a doorstop where, after referring three times to “physical” policy instead of “fiscal”, he insisted he knew what he was talking about by offering to spell the word.   feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/please-explain-this-elitist-insecurity-over-language/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/please-explain-this-elitist-insecurity-over-language/#item1186 Fri, 10 Feb 2012 02:00:13 +0000 Type the words “Steve Fielding” and “idiot” into Google and you get 14,300 hits. Many of these entries came in the past few days, most of them on blog sites, many of which have one author and as many readers, as the nation’s smarty-pants pundits seized on Fielding’s “fiskal” fiasco as proof that the guy is as dumb as a box of rocks. Now I’m not going to pretend that my reaction upon seeing the footage of his doorstop spelling bee wasn’t one of unbridled hilarity. I almost spat my coffee out. And when I’d regained my composure, I called my workmates over to ask if they too had seen the Family First Senator blundering his way through a doorstop where, after referring three times to “physical” policy instead of “fiscal”, he insisted he knew what he was talking about by offering to spell the word.   http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/fiscal-impediment-may-mask-a-beautiful-mind/ Christian Senator Steven Fielding is copping a day of derision after he tried to clarify his position on fiscal policy with a read-my-lips clanger. Asked this morning whether he’d in fact said “physical” when he meant “fiscal” the Family First Senator spelt it out: “I will make it quite clear…F..I..S..K..A..L.” His disastrous impromptu spelling bee drew giggles from the press pack and a wave of ridicule across the digital space with punters declaring him more idiot than idiot savant. But Fielding’s explanation as to how the gaffe happened - where he revealed a lifelong learning difficulty - is worth thinking about. He told Fairfax Radio that he only got 29 out of 100 for English, but 99 out of 100 for maths, and studied both engineering and an MBA at uni. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/fiscal-impediment-may-mask-a-beautiful-mind/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/fiscal-impediment-may-mask-a-beautiful-mind/#item1145 Fri, 10 Feb 2012 02:00:13 +0000 Type the words “Steve Fielding” and “idiot” into Google and you get 14,300 hits. Many of these entries came in the past few days, most of them on blog sites, many of which have one author and as many readers, as the nation’s smarty-pants pundits seized on Fielding’s “fiskal” fiasco as proof that the guy is as dumb as a box of rocks. Now I’m not going to pretend that my reaction upon seeing the footage of his doorstop spelling bee wasn’t one of unbridled hilarity. I almost spat my coffee out. And when I’d regained my composure, I called my workmates over to ask if they too had seen the Family First Senator blundering his way through a doorstop where, after referring three times to “physical” policy instead of “fiscal”, he insisted he knew what he was talking about by offering to spell the word.