So I guess it was coming -- and expected -- that sooner or later, Kevin Rudd would backdown after all of his diatribe about taking action on climate change.

His lucky break seems to have come in the form of an "economic crisis."

The quote of the moment (and I'll remind you, this is our prime minister... prime, minister), "This is big stuff for the nation. It's big stuff and I wish it was easier to do this - it ain't, it's really hard."