• The resignation of Ehud Olmert could begin a chaotic period in Israel. Olmert said he'd step down in September, after the ruling party, Kadima, had selected a new leader. Here's what is going to happen next:
  Primary elections for the Kadima leadership will take place in two rounds in September. The winner will then have 28 days (and 14 more if needed) to form a coalition. If he or she succeeds in doing so, the winner will complete Olmert's term, due to end in 2010. If not, new elections will be held within three months - and the most likely outcome, according to current polls, would be a win for Likud rightwinger Binyamin Netanyahu.
  Sharon formed Kadima by combining moderates that defected from Likud with Labour, and a few smaller parties, to form a majority, and Olmert succeeded him. Its up in the air whether either of the two mentioned leaders (Livni or Mofaz) would be able to continue the coalition. There's a lot of speculation about what's next, and some poll numbers showing it very close. Livni would be much more preferable than Mofaz or Netanyahu, as the next PM of Israel.

• In Malaysia, the AP is reporting that Anwar Ibrahim's wife is stepping down to make way for his return to Parliament in Malaysia. She resigned from a seat in the Permatang Pauh constituency in the northern part of the country, and a by-election will be held within 60 days of her resignation. His wife, Wan Azizah, had won in a landslide election in the March general election.

  When I was over there in June, and met with the PM, he mentioned that he'd heard of cases where Anwar was trying to bribe lawmakers to defect from the ruling party to the opposition party. So it's not surprising to hear him tell the same thing to the AP yesterday, that he has heard many stories about Anwar allegedly making "monetary offers" for defections. Anwar would need about 30 defections to take power in the 222 member Parliament (recent polling).

• Here's an account from a Obama supporter that came from Prague to Berlin, to listen to Obama. It really was quite an audacious move to hold a rally in Berlin for 200,000 people by Obama. His global understanding is the most compelling reason to vote for Obama. And there's little doubt that the McCain campaign is trying to make Obama's Berlin speech at the Victory Column his "Mission Accomplished" moment, with their Celeb ad, which has become the current #1 video on YouTube in the past few days. Much has been said about the layers of attack in this ad, but the focus on Hilton & Spears (which Ruffini gives a 'triple' rating) overshadows the 'issue-based' attack over Obama meaning "New Taxes" and more "Foreign Oil" with the text of 'foreign' next to Obama's face.

  That, and shake up Obama with some attacks on his campaign style of often joking about the attacks that are made over his being black. This move seemed like it was planned out quite a bit ahead of time, and the unstable cover given by Obama's staff was overly defensive. Martin and Smith have a very good account of how the race issue moved to center of campaign, and Scott Rosenberg notes that its about that time... August in an election year.
  

Update [2008-8-1 11:1:35 by Jerome Armstrong]:I just received this statement from Al Gore (this is in regards to the sodomy charges against Anwar):

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I agree with Rev. Wright: America has done a lot of bad things in history.  It was founded on an "empty" land that was subsequently emptied of it's original inhabitants.  It was then colonized with the help of unfortunate souls that were captured in a far away land.  A US sponsored coup overthrew the queen of Hawaii, and enabled our annual vacations there.  We can go on and on.  But inspite of all that, Rev. Wright is wrong.  America is not a bad place. America is not the US KKK of A, and it does not deserve damnation by God.  In fact, inspite of all it's flaws, the US of A is the proud holder of one of two "great" accomplishments in the history of the world.

The first was Alexander's conquest of most of the known world.  For this feat, Alexander earned the moniker "the Great", and his full name is now officially "Alexander The Great".  How did he do it ?  Well, quite simply, he had a flair for turning enemies into friends.  The best example of that is the classic story of "Alexander and Porus"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porus, and the aftermath of the classic battle of the Hydaspes River (modern day Jhelum, in Pakistan)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_t he_Hydaspes_River

King Porus fought the Battle of the Hydaspes River with Alexander in 326 BC. After fierce fighting and very heavy casualties on both sides, he was defeated by Alexander in a Pyrrhic victory. The battle is often considered to be Alexander's hardest fought battle, so hard that it caused his army to mutiny against him afterwards. In a famous meeting with Porus - who had suffered many arrow wounds in the battle and had lost his sons, who all chose death in battle rather than surrender -- Alexander reportedly asked him, "How would you like to be treated?" Porus replied, "As befits a king." Alexander was so impressed by the brave and powerful response of King Porus that he released him back to his Kingdom and gave him the captured land of a neighbouring Kingdom whose ruler had fled.

This was the last battle that Alexander fought and won, but it was symbolic of all his earlier victories.  In order to turn a foe into a friend, you have to show some compassion, some generosity, and a willingness to take some unusual steps (the campaigns of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton could have used these lessons a while back).  And THAT is how you win a war ~ you turn your enemy into a friend.  THAT is the only way to win a war (unless you want to destroy and annihilate your enemy).

Let us now roll our way through history. The only other example that I can think of when someone shows genuine compassion to a former enemy is the US and post-war Germany and Japan.  Yes, the US does do bad things from time time, but the US also came up with the Marshall Plan, and the Berlin Airlift to help two countries that it had previously fought in an epic struggle.  That is how WWII was won.  That was the second "great" accomplishment in history (if anyone thinks there are other examples that ought to be included in this list, please chime in).

There is nothing that is wrong with America that cannot be cured by that which is right in America.  The US does not deserve the harsh condemnation of history, inspite of all it's misdeeds.  

Those that are apologizing for Rev. Wright should go back and reread history !!

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http://www.ocregister.com/opinion/americ a-obama-wright-1998925-rev-bless

I have never read the OC register, or heard of Mark Steyn.  I do not know of his political affiliations.  But he expressed the reason behind my anger quite well.  So I quote...

The song the Rev. Wright won't sing is by Irving Berlin, a contemporary of Cole Porter, Ira Gershwin and Lorenz Hart, all the sophisticated rhymesters. But only Berlin could have written without embarrassment "God Bless America." He said it directly, unaffectedly, unashamedly - in seven words:

"God Bless America

Land that I love."

Berlin was a Jew, and he suffered slights: He grew up in the poverty of New York's Lower East Side. When he made his name and fortune, his marriage to a Park Avenue heiress resulted in her expulsion from the Social Register. In the Thirties, her sister moved in with a Nazi diplomat and proudly flaunted her diamond swastika to Irving. But Berlin spent his infancy in Temun, Siberia (until the Cossacks rode in and razed his village), and he understood the great gift he'd been given:

"God Bless America

Land that I love."

The Rev. Wright can't say those words. His shtick is:

"God damn America

Land that I loathe."
I understand the Ellis Island experience of Russian Jews was denied to blacks. But not to Obama. His experience surely isn't so different to Berlin's - except that Barack got to go to Harvard. Obama's father was a Kenyan, he spent his childhood in Indonesia, and he ought to thank his lucky stars that he's running for office in Washington rather than Nairobi or Jakarta.

Instead, his whiny wife, Michelle, says that her husband's election as president would be the first reason to have "pride" in America, and complains that this country is "downright mean" and that she's having difficulty finding money for their daughters' piano lessons and summer camp. Between them, Mr. and Mrs. Obama earn $480,000 a year (not including book royalties from "The Audacity Of Hype," but they're whining about how tough they have it to couples who earn 48 grand - or less. Yes, we can. But not on a lousy half-million bucks a year.

God has blessed America, and blessed the Obamas in America, and even blessed the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, whose bashing of his own country would be far less lucrative anywhere else on the planet. The "racist" here is not Geraldine Ferraro but the Rev. Wright, whose appeals to racial bitterness are supposed to be everything President Obama will transcend. Right now, it sounds more like the same-old same-old.

"God Bless America

Land that I love."

Take it away, Michelle.

Everyone has their own beef with history.  I can sympathize with the lot of black slaves.  I can also sympathize with the lot of the Jews, and of the Palestinians, of those in Sudan today, or ... well, just about anyone.

But there is a constructive way to go about addressing those injustices, and then there is Rev. Wright.

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