KEY POINTS:
There seemed to be a remarkable amount of sympathy for the truckies this morning in their protest over increased road user charges.
I don't think people don't care that much about the truckies' RUCs. But their efforts to clog the cities of New Zealand was a vicarious protest for every other motorist shocked at the price of fuel or householder feeling the strain of rising everything.
It was a bit like that closing scene in the movie Network: "I'm as mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!"
Inconvenienced motorists tooted their support, and onlookers clapped them.
The procession of big trucks past Parliament took an hour though goodness knows what damage their horns have done to the eardrums of the creche kids sitting outside Parliament's gates to watch.
My personal favourite was the "Pam's Mini Eclairs Filled with Custard Cream" truck.
Tony Friedlander, the CEO of the Road Transport Forum, was on the side of the road waving them on. As Transport Safety Minister Harry Duynhoven reminded Parliament this week, Friedlander was once a National MP. He held New Plymouth from 1975 until 1987, when he was narrowly beaten by a young Harry Duynhoven.
Not everyone in Wellington was sympathetic to the big trucks. Lamposts around Parliament were plastered with anti-truckie posters saying "Let Me On! I want a free ride too!"
I also liked the anti-truckie protestor who called them "truckwits."
The Government has offered a logical case of why the RUC should rise and why it could not give a month's notice without defeating the whole purpose of the rise.
The wonder of it is that the Government - in desperate survival mode - didn't delay the rise knowing it would be so politically sensitive.
There are two alternatives: either the Government decided to act out of principle to ensure that all sectors paid their fair share, selflessly disregarding any backlash against Labour; or it did not expect the response it got.
I'll go for the latter.
The Government almost had a brilliant week this week.
Instead it has turned into a shocker.
The week had the hallmarks of a carefully designed plan for Labour to regain some momentum as it heads into two-week recess.
It relaunched state-owned rail, KiwiRail; its researchers found a conflict of interest issue involving John Key's Tranz Rail shares; it announced a new university in South Auckland, and Clark finished the week with a feel-good announcement about the big Rugby World Cup inflatable football being stationed at the Tower of London in November (o pitchforks please, Ploughshare members).
On the down side, Clark's attack on Key left her looking daft when he said he had sold his shares to avoid a conflict of interest before commenting on Tranz Rail (though he now looks daft because he did comment on Tranz Rail before he sold his shares).
And things must really be bad when the country's truckies, the bullies of the highways who make life hell for the rest of we motorists, become heroes for a morning.
