BEST OF 2008: MOST POWERFUL WOMAN IN THE WORLD: ANGELA MERKEL, GERMANY'S CHANCELLOR

I am a great fanof all things German and I am most happy to report that Angela Merkel is the most powerful woman in the world. As leader of the third biggest economy in the world, she has held the country together very well, keeping it on its moral trajectory (yes, yes, Siemens has paid for its corruption charges), and has poise and confidence in addressing world issues.

Angela Merkel has taken Germany to places that Germany has never gone to in the modern era: to the very top of global public esteem. I salute this wonderful woman!

(Caption: Powerful in the eyes of the beholders.
Photo credit: picture from: http://nazret.com/blog/media/blogs/new/angela_merkel.jpg)

ANGELA MERKEL -- THE MOST POWERFUL WOMAN IN THE WORLD (AND THE MOST POPULAR TOO!)

I am an ardent fan of Angela Merkel. She is the only female politician, next to Hillary Clinton, whom I would give any respect to as a leader. (Yes, I am an uber sexist and think women should not be allowed to move up to the top of the political or corporate ladders, because they will inadvertently ruin the country or the business they are entrusted to lead.)

Anyway, Angela Merkel was re-elected as the leader of Germany's Christian Democrats with a resounding vote of more than 95 per cent.

She is a capable leader of Germany and Angela Merkel also inspires confidence amongst the global elites and observers on her potential to contribute greatly to the greater global good.

Photo of Angela Merkel by Michael Kappeler for New York Times.

LIZ LEMON.... IS THAT YOU? A VP??????

John McCain's choice of candidate as vice-president would make or break his presidency bid, I'd thought. And when I saw his choice -- LIZ LEMON!!!!!! -- I thought Obama was doomed. Who on Earth could counter the brilliant choice of Liz Lemon as a vice-president candidate. It was an inspired choice, I thought.

Then I realized that it was NOT ACTUALLY the lovable Liz Lemon (the brilliant alter-ego created by Tina Fey for her superb television comedy series, 30 Rock), but someone called Sarah Palin.

I don't know who Palin is, and frankly, because don't care. I don't think a country like the United States can afford to risk having a woman as President. McCain is 72, and the chance is there that if anything happens to him, the most powerful country in the world would fall onto the lap of a 44-year old woman. It is a risk no American should be willing to take, I think.

(Don't take me wrong, I think Germany's Angela Merkel is a brilliant leader. But that is because Germany is a country with a superb due-process system in place and so Merkel only had to oversee Deutschland. But running a country like the US would, to a large part, be dependent on the personality of its leader. And the emotions of its leader. And a woman at the top spells trouble.)

Pictures of:
1. Sarah Palin and John McCain
2. The incomparable Tina Fey

TOP WORLD LEADERS

POLITICIANS WHO ARE IMPRESSIVE... AND OTHERS WHO ARE NOT

BEST POLITICIANS...
1. IMPRESSIVE: Germany's Angela Merkel is turning out to be a remarkable politician indeed. She is the first female chancellor of Germany and, by jove, she has got the idea of statesmanship down pat. She demonstrates elegantly that a country's leader does not have to make a lot of noise and preen in front of the media to get the job done. Sometimes, a leader just has to be there -- that is all that is needed done!

2. FANTASTIC: China's leaders Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao are also exemplary leaders - able to manoeuvre such a complicated country as China with suuch dexterity and speed. If they can refine the health aspect of the country -- in terms of food safety and putting a lid on environmental pollution, this will truly be the Chinese century.

3. WORTH WATCHING: Australia's Kevin Rudd is a breath of fresh air and a valid replacement of the decrepid John Howard.

4. HERO-WORSHIP POTENTIAL: Whatever you say about Bill Clinton, he is making himself out to be quite the humanitarian and beautifully positioning himself to be a respected elder statessman of global politics. Clinton deserves praise for all the good that he is doing.
(The only complaint I have against Clinton would be having had a duffer of a dullwit like Al Gore as his vice-president. I still find it hard to forgive Gore and that despicable bulldog-looking Madeleine Korbel Albright for coming to Malaysia and throwing this country's politics into slight disarray with uncalled for criticism many years ago during the previous Prime Minister's regime -- these two fools Gore and Albright unwittingly empowered the Islamic fundamentalist party PAS at that time through their stupidity and utter ignorance! The American ambassador at that time also deserves a thorough beating for doing a lousy job of being an amabassador at that time, feeding Washington biased reports after listening to the disgruntled arty crowd that didn't know the reality of life in Malaysia.)

MOST MISSED POLITICIAN...
1. ELEGANT AND CREDIBLE: Junichiro Koizumi is the former Japanese prime minister who made people sit up and watch when he took the stage, either in Japan or the world stage. An impressive man, he brought Japanese political bullies swiftly to their knees and it was the height of the good that politicians can do too the political machinery in their country. Now, if only he had done something about the distressing Japanese whale-hunts...



LAUGHABLE LOT...

1. PUPPET THEATRE: Afghanistan and Iraq now are ruled by U.S. puppets and the outcome of such political manipulation is not going to be good. Afghanistan's Hamid Karzai and Iraq's Jalal Talabani appear ineffectual and obviously actinng as U.S. puppets. As former Fed chairman Alan Greenspan said, the oil interest in Iraq is the main reason the Republicans' leadership is maintaining a military presence in Iraq and the whole world can see this. May the democrats win the U.S. election and George W Bush be booted into oblivion in history books for the evil that he has unwittingly done in destabilising the middle east (and thus endangering the liberal and progressive non-Muslim populations that live in Asian countries, especially in south east Asia).


MOST HATED...

1. VILE VILLAIN: Tony Blair should be collectively cursed by the population of this planet for being the despicable politician that he is.