LOL Billybongo, I still use the 1966 version of the Oxford pocket dictionary: "clown" noun Rustic, lout,(literary: jester esp. in pantomime or circus.
I ask you look at Turnbulls front bench and you will be able to see some clearly demonstrating loutish behaviour with others definitely qualifying as jesters or circus performers. Fair bit of pantomiming going on as well. Of course all in an amateurish sort of way.
On the other hand my trusty oxford dictionary describes "idiot" as a person too deficient in mind to be capable of rational conduct. As negative as I am about the Oppositions performance I would not use this term to describe them.
