Dear SOG,

Thank You for explaining things - and you made my day by calling me your "dear." Perhaps it would help if we made voting non-compulsory as you suggest (as they do in the US) Although they don't always get it right either do they? Not sure what the answer is. I have to think about things - and it's late in the day and I'm tired.

Well I am going to be the fly in the ointment.

Of course there was fractionalism within Rudd's front bench, there is in every frontbench. No two human beings think exactly the same on all issues even those within the same party. It is not news that some wanted to scrap the ETS or that some wanted to forge ahead negotiating with a difficult Senate. It is not news that the party reacted to polling.

Part of the problem was Mr Rudd's non-consultative dictatorial style, failure of respect in relation to backbenchers and failure to give the Greens the time of day - hence the difficulties with passing the ETS Bill in the Senate. How do we know he was not just as willing to scrap the ETS in response to polls. Rudd and his media advisors were completely poll-driven.

Why the special kudos for Mr Rudd. There is nothing courageous in being 'honest' about something the public has been told about numerous times; and there is nothing courageous about admitting a 'mistake' after it is has been made clear by those who voted for Kevin 07 that the decision was unpopular. It would be more courageous to admit it was the right decision in those circumstances.

All I saw was martyrdom and a smirking individual sneaking around trying to put the boot in while playing coy about revealing names, while trying to project an image of saintliness. Many people know this to be a con job.

How soon the public forget.

Will be interesting Pelican to know if you feel the same way when/if Ms Julia has the dagger returned on her. You certanly seem to loathe Mr Rudd. What was done to him certainly had no ethics despite many peoples dislike for him. Julia had only days earlier denied wanting the top job. Seems like you are blinded to her many backflips when it comes to truth.She makes deal with the Greens and then claims they are extremist who are bad for families. At least Mr Rudd did not scoop so low.

Mr.Rudd was a sly, sniggering, slithering snake on Q&A last night, and he made me cringe!

I am not a fan of Julia Gillard as such, but if I was PM, I would be calling Rudd into the office and stripping him of his portfolio and sending him to the backbench.

If the Labour Party want to come anywhere near winning the next election, they need to drop Rudd, or he will be undermining all the other Labour Ministers at any opportunity because many of them voted him out of the big job, and he spat the dummy.

If the Holy Abbott is booted out of the Liberal Party top job, as he should be, and Turnbull is elevated to his rightful position, then it won't really matter what the Labour Party does, because they will lose the next election.

Suzi

You should know the Labour party can't drop Mr Rudd. He would spit the dummy possibly causing a by election where the global warming faith would be annilated. Ms Gillard is at least smart and sleazy enough to know that.

Remember that Turnbull apparently had his own Party right behind him and was prepared to pass that original ETS when (after similar back-room plotting) he was beaten by Abbott (by a single vote) and then all those same Party members were rabidly against it.

That's not hypocrisy, that's what's called Politics and they all do it the same way.

To be fair to Gillard I still have the impression that she was reluctantly conscripted by others to challenge for Rudd's job. If she was really that ambitious she would have had it soon enough without the intrigue.