YOU'D have to be heartless not to feel sympathy for Kevin Rudd, tearstained and forlorn, announcing his resignation from politics.
It's also only human to feel exasperation at his self-indulgence and emotional flaccidity.
Overseas visitors who watched Wednesday night's performance could scarcely believe the behaviour of a grown man, a former prime minister, in parliament with streaming tears, sniffily nose and the demeanour of a child who has just spent an hour in his bedroom bawling his eyes out.
Get a grip, Kevin. People in the Philippines have something to cry about.
The contrast could not have been more stark between a blubbering Rudd capping off his spectacular career with another spectacle and Tony Abbott just 10 minutes earlier giving the interview of his life on ABC's 7.30, as he tried to fix his predecessor's biggest mess.
But Abbott is one cold turkey. "I'm not interested in providing sport for journalists," he told 7.30. "I'm not interested in starting a fight or provoking an argument; I'm interested in stopping the boats.
"And why I'm interested in stopping the boats is because this is a humanitarian disaster as well as an affront to Australian sovereignty."
"I want to stop the boats for Australia's sake and for the sake of common humanity," Abbott said.
"Surely all Australians, including the media, should want to stop the boats, not to provoke an argument."
Abbott's construction is correct. Those calling for blow-by-blow details of "on-water" operations are only providing marketing material for people-smugglers and causing trouble with Indonesia. Why should the government help them?
Again, how different it was to John Howard's behaviour when he lost office in humiliating circumstances in the Ruddslide of 2007, losing his own seat of Bennelong to Maxine McKew by 2434 votes.
But Howard was gracious in defeat, even turning up at the official declaration of the poll when he didn't have to, smiling and shaking hands with the victor, and having a cup of tea with the voters who had rejected him.
"This is a wonderful exercise in democracy and it is a privilege to be part of that process," he said at the time.
John Howard was indeed a class act. History will treat Rudd less kindly.
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And with that I'm off to bed. Anyone want to take pot-shots at me, I wil be back tomorrow to reply.
'night all night owls
