Yes, of course he's a Mad Monk. He has many radical opinions. Many of which I happen to agree with, but I still recognise them as radical.
So yes, he's not really future PM material. In the same way that Crean wasn't, and Latham wasn't. But that's not the point.
The point is he might just be the man for
this job. Rudd's had an easy couple of years so far with a "co-operative" opposition. I think all that is about to change. I know it won't make the Liberals any more electable, and I don't really care. The point is to hold the government to account for its actions. The simple fact is that Rudd just wants to pass this ETS now so he can grandstand on the world stage in a couple of months as the first "world leader" to do something about this thing that doesn't even exist - climate change.
That's is all that motivates him. He is a diplomat, not a politician. He values international recognition more than domestic recognition. This is how the Ruddbot operates. You never know, Abbott might just be the person to bring him down a peg or two.
