Teams are being announced, athletes are trying on their garish official uniforms, and complaints about Heathrow airport are everywhere. Canberra is not immune from the Olympic vibes - and not just because of the AIS.

In a week that has been dominated by the trials, tribulations and credit card habits of Craig Thomson, political types have been jostling to reach stronger, higher levels of outrage. Thomson kicked things off on Monday with his statement to Parliament. He may have taken a little while to actually make it (having promised to do so last year). But once the time was booked in the parliamentary diary, he wasn't going to waste the moment. Initially, the opposition had asked Thomson to speak for up to 15 minutes. Then it was understood the Member for Dobell would talk for about 30. But when Thomson stood up for a chat to the nation, the guy went for an hour.

He had a lot to say: pointing fingers at the authors of death threats he had received, Fair Work Australia, multiple union enemies, the Coalition and the media. But the embattled MP saved his biggest dose of outrage for the Tony Abbott finale: ''The Leader of the Opposition, that man … not only is he unfit to be a prime minister; in my view, he is unfit to be an MP.''

Thomson followed up his efforts on Thursday by staging a mini press conference in which he begged ''enough is enough'' and slammed the media once again for its gutter tactics.

Not to be outdone, the opposition has had a seemingly never-ending supply of outrage to outpour - over Thomson's statement, his alleged misdeeds with union funds and the fact that he is still sitting in the Parliament.

The day after Thomson made his statement explanation, Christopher Pyne popped up to refer the Member for Dobell to the scary privileges committee, for ''deliberately'' misleading the House.

And once Julia Gillard was back from the warm protective embrace of the international arena, the Coalition tried to censure the PM over her continued acceptance of Thomson's vote.

Abbott wasn't pulling his rhetoric. ''This is a rotten government, a rotten Prime Minister. It should go and it should go now,'' he yelled.

Pyne did everything except froth at the mouth when he red-facedly spoke on the motion. ''I say to members opposite that the Australian public are watching what happens in this Parliament. They are embarrassed by the revelations about the Member for Dobell, but more and more they are impatient and disgusted with this Prime Minister.''

In a pan-parliamentary moment, independent MPs also got in on the act. Rob Oakeshott said he felt ''frankly angry'' and ''let down'' by the Member for Dobell. Oakeshott added that he wanted to censure Thomson because the length of time he had taken to make an explanation had done damage to the Parliament and he had not fully co-operated with investigative bodies.

Andrew Wilkie noted that it was for the courts to decide on Thomson but was just as mad: ''I think the Craig Thomson saga stinks.''

The Coalition and indie outrage was countered by government outrage about how the Parliament was being treated over the matter. If I had an Aussie dollar for every time a government MP said ''kangaroo court,'' or ''separation of powers'' this week … As Albo lamented: ''The long-term damage to the Parliament is a real concern.''

But, just as everyone was reaching (what seemed to be) outrage capacity over Thomson and his impact on democracy, MPs began to hit back with outrage over the way Thomson himself was being treated in the melee.

As the parliamentary week drew to a gasping close, Labor backbencher Joel Fitzgibbon sounded a dire warning over Thomson's mental health.

The government whip told the National Times that Thomson had been treated ''worse than Ivan Milat''.

''Even if Craig Thomson is guilty of everything that's been alleged … his punishment has far outweighed the crime,'' Fitzgibbon said.

When Albo observed this week, ''There is nothing that is not about the politics,'' he was stating the obvious, but he also whacked the apt nail on the head. The Thomson stuff has become overwhelming and exhausting because people are not just clamouring to establish facts, they are also clamouring to be outraged. It's like a lasagne of alleged wrongdoing - with claims and counter-claims laid on top of the other.

Outrage is easy and it's hardly surprising when the stakes are so high. But it is unlikely anyone (and yes, that includes the media) will win a medal in these games.