The Joy of Israeli Elections

Israeli elections are always an interesting event, in part because of the large number of parties and their viability thanks to election laws that award a certain number of seats based roughly on the party’s share of the popular vote. Thus, niche parties can emerge with 1% of the vote to control the balance of coalitions.

The 2009 election just held resulted in 65 seats for the political right as a bloc, even though the nominally centrist party Kadima won the most seats (28). Labour, which had dominated Israeli politics for generations, came in a humiliating fourth. The nominally centre-right Likud, which had been predicted to win as many as 35 seats at times, vastly underperformed and ended up with just 27 seats.

Past the link is a picture of Avigdor Lieberman (no relation to Joe) celebrating after his party came in third. His party, Yisrael Beiteinu, is a unique one in that it is considered a niche party for Jewish immigrants from the former Soviet Union. In accordance with their political and religious beliefs, Mr. Lieberman advocates secularism and civil marriages. The link suggests that this is due to the difficulty many immigrants have in adjusting and integrating into Israel. Whatever the reason, this stance has put Yisrael Beiteinu at odds with other right wing parties such as Shas, which is ultra-Orthodox. Though, due to his unique position as the possible defector from the right-wing bloc, Mr. Lieberman can be considered the kingmaker of Israel at the moment. Because of his hardline stance towards Arabs, he has indicated that he supports Likud forming the government, but has not ruled out supporting Kadima.

At the heart of the post-election wheeling dealing is Shimon Peres, the President of Israel. Though the role is largely ceremonial, Mr. Peres does have an interesting history. He has served before as Prime Minister under Labour’s banner. Heavily recruited when Sharon left Likud to form Kadima, Peres ultimately joined the fledgeling party and became one of its top strategists. Since no party got a majority in this election, or even a clear lead, it will be up to Mr. Peres to decide which leader should form the governing coalition.

A wild card throwing a monkey wrench in the scheme of things is a unity party of Likud, Kadima, and Labour with Netanyahu (head of Likud) as PM. Rumour has it that Kadima would receive two juicy ministries (Defence and Finance, perhaps?) for its participation.  Such a coalition would be more centrist than what most voters expect, but part of Netanyahu’s interesting history is that when he served as PM back in the mid 90s, his coalition collapsed due to pressure from the right. I’d expect him to tread cautiously in coalition building, especially with Mr. Lieberman involved.

Update: Ehud Olmert reaches out from beyond the political grave to steer Kadima into the opposition.

Anyone Noticed Microsoft’s “I’m a PC” Ads?

And here I was wondering how MS would react to the Mac vs PC ads. Well, apparently there’s a $300 million ad campaign entitled “I’m a PC,” which showcases different “normal” people who use PCs. They were featured a while back on atdhe’s feeds, but I don’t know of any major networks that carried them. One particularly notable one was the hilariously stupid ad entitled “Food,” which is the second video on the main ad site. The BBQ and pancake guys were particularly… dull.

Though I have to say, the latest attempt is quite charming and cute.

The Irony of Justice

The no-doubt tragic case of a man who maintained his innocence through the trial and while in prison has been resolved.

James Joyner has some thoughts on why this is the case.

Public Service Announcement – Watch Dollhouse!

I’ve been a Joss Whedon fan for about a year, starting from when I picked up Firefly after being prompted to by an interesting quote on Amelia’s AIM profile. Though, I’m ashamed to say that I haven’t watched Buffy yet. Hopefully, I can make up for that with the amount of effort I’ve been doing to promote his ‘verse and exciting next show – Dollhouse.

The basic premise of the dollhouse is a place where anyone with money can hire “Actives” with programmable personalities. Rich businessmen can request the perfect escort, assassin, spy, or companion. My understanding is that the main character – Echo, played by Eliza Dushku – is beginning to remembers experiences from each programming. Ah, so much promise! There is just endless possibility in what the show can be and where it can go. Go and watch it and Sarah Connor (a good combo!) on Friday nights at 8 on Fox. I know I will be.

Unfortunately, when the schedule was first released, many derided Fox’s decision as creating a graveyard for its two most “cerebral” shows.  After all, Friday nights are not the prime time for television. To allay those fears, Whedon and Fox executives later confirmed that by airing on Friday, Dollhouse won’t have to score consistently high ratings for Fox to continue investing in the show. To that I say, “anything to avoid being cancelled.”

And what a good thing that will be – to see a Joss Whedon show air for multiple seasons. Joss has the rare touch that few writers and directors have in today’s TV scene. His characters are memorable, human, and motivated by complex reasons. No one is truly straightforward; rather, there is layer upon layer of character development that is lovingly crafted over a season. The dialogue is tight and crisp. The plot is never contrived. What more can you ask for? His shows rank up there with Veronica Mars, Desperate Housewives, Night Stalker, and to a lesser extent – The West Wing as my favourite shows (Editor: Notice a trend? Richard seems to have a thing for cancelled shows).