Readers of the The Sydney Morning Herald, Australian Financial Review, and all of the internet were treated to some angry thoughts from a former prime minister this morning — and no, this time it wasn’t Abbott. Kevin Rudd has had two letters to the editor published in today’s major newspapers, and also sent a tweet for good measure.

In the SMH, Rudd takes aim at Tony Wright’s implicit assertion he was axed for inaction on climate change. Quietly slipped beneath a one-line jab about the ATO from Susan in Lithgow, Rudd’s letter lists his government’s legislative action “for the record” including the introduction of the renewable energy target, the Kyoto Protocol and Copenhagen Accord.

Over at the AFR, things were significantly more fiery as the former PM took aim at the “personalised bile” of Aaron Patricks. Reacting to Patrick’s suggestion the Libs may be “infected by the Rudd Syndrome”, Rudd backed up his moves against Julia Gillard saying her 2010 campaign was “the worst-run in Labor history” and she had “fundamentally breached faith of her government with the Australian public” in the first place.

On Twitter, the theme continued. Rudd clearly resents how the history books are remembering him.

Of course, this kind of commentary isn’t entirely new. Rudd is a bit of a regular in the newspapers. In a letter published just over a month ago in Fairfax papers he called Turnbull a “politically desperate … second-rate Prime Minister”, pointing out that the PM had lost 27 opinion polls in a row. He’s also recently contributed analysis of foreign policy in written pieces for SMH and The New York Times.

While it’s well and good to lend his expertise when asked for, constantly surfacing to nitpick columnists and correct the record is a dubious strategy if he’s looking to win back any public favour. Australians are tired of sniping and political bickering (and incidentally increasingly warming to Gillard’s version of events delivered on the nation’s largest stages).

This morning Bill Shorten was even able to sneak in a zinger on the former PM. That should be a terrifying wake-up call to Rudd that it’s time to change course.