Was this the week that the Rudd Government “jumped the shark”?

The week in which a bright vision of a post-politics world of long-term objectives fearlessly pursued vanished under a steaming pile of freshly dumped populism?

Rudd had a chance, when facing off against Brendan Nelson’s painfully populist pledge of a fuel franchise cut. He could wade into the tit-for-tat, my-cut-against-your-cut interplay of vapid political interplay, or rise above it and look to the deeper issues of resources, public transport, environment, alternative fuels and lateral solutions to short-term consumer pain.

As it turned out the lure of the obvious was too strong and Rudd revealed himself as that most craven of public entities: Kevin Rudd revealed himself as nothing more than a politician. What a pity.