I'm shocked!

Steve Maharey's unparliamentary f--- you faux pas is fascinating.

You see, I would never say it. I don't think it, let alone say it. I mean, I do think f--- off sometimes, in an impersonal way, especially regarding the tenth telephone canvasser of the day, local government bureaucrats, radical feminists, and tailgaters.

But f--- you is quite different from f--- off. And I am bound to wonder on what other occasions the Minister finds an opportunity to use it. During caucus maybe? Today's outburst could even be a case of resentment transfer. Perhaps he really wanted to direct his conspicuous bitterness toward the head honcho whipster, although unlike Dover Samuels, Clayton Cosgrove and Damien O'Connor, Maharey probably does want to vote for the anti-smacking bill.

In which case maybe it is all the dissenters in his electorate he has been muttering f--- you to in his mind.

If you aren't in the habit of thinking or saying them, these things don't just slip out. The really strange thing is I am not sure whether he has gone up or down in my estimation. Touchy-feely goes feral. Sounds like the next Lynley Dodd book.