They came to this "make believe" convention to choose a leader, but even the mad/loud drumming and the other attempts to rouse the "delegates" fell short, because the  drama of a delegate- driven convention was missing. 85% of the voters had already cast their votes by various computer, cell phones etc and as soon as it was announced that Mulcair had won 30% on tghe first ballot, (only Singh of all the candidates endorsed Mulcair) the final outcome was clear. It took four ballots, before he emerged with 57% to 43% for initial front runner and establishment choice, Brian Topp. His eventual victory was won with the support of voters from hors de Quebec ( only 13,000 voters were signed up in Quiebec. Obviously he had a lot second-choice support).
     The "street fighter" had won over the dour backroom operative. Topp had been the choice of the party elites, including former leader Ed Broadbent, but from the early days of this long, drawn out campaign , he failed to fire and it caused panic, so much so that there was the feeling of "anybody but Mulcair". The other candidates had their regional backing (the members that they had signed up), but little else. The fact that this was a leadership race that  will be decided by members at large, there would be no possibility of mounting a reaguard action to stop Mulcair on the convention floor. There was no room to maneuver, to make deals ( for example Joe Clarke had made a deal with Flora MacDonald in 1979, (two Red Tories), that whoever finished ahead of the other will go through and the other will drop off and endorse . Clarke had just a few more votes than Flora and so he continued and with other deals with Crombie, Crosbie and Wilson, stopped Mulroney and became leader of the Conservatives.( Mulroney would get his revenge five years later.) That was a convention filled with tension, drama and horse-trading, everything that this one lacked (no wonder the TV anchors were complaining of boredom) I remember at an NDP delegate- convention, one candidate, Simon de Jong, pleading with his mother to tell him who to give his delegates to.
     The ennui must have gotten to Mulcair, because when he was called upon to give his victory speech, it fell flat. He had an opportunity to rouse the convention and to connect to the TV audience but all he could muster was some jumbled words and the moment was lost. Thomas who?      

     It has been more than ten years with billions spent, thousands killed and wounded and still stupid/ vile/ callous actions have succeeded in undoing much of the good that has been done. The Taliban were routed in Kandahar, their home base and in nearby Helmond, but they have been given a new life, a new set of propaganda weapons to rally support,  because of the actions of a few American soldiers. They are either too stupid to learn and/ or refuse to do so and thus continue to give succor to the enemy. Marines urinating on corpses can be excused on the grounds of the heat of battle, but the uirning of the Koran (sacrilegious) has to be the height of stupidity or of racist/religious arrogance, and now to be followed by the wanton killing of 16 viilagers/ civilians,( 9 of them children, one of them 2yr.old) while they slept and then setting their bodies on fire.
     The withdrawal cannot come too soon.
     Netanyahu's visit to Washington, and his speech to AIPAC, muddied the Iranian issue so much that the attention of the world turned to this "imminent threat. It's attention had already been shifted to the "hammer" that Assad had been using to quell the challenge to his regime. The Israeli ruse allowed for it to go hunting for , what it called "preventive targetting"of those whom they claim was about to attack Israel. With the targetted killing of two officials of the Palestinian Resistance Committee (PRC), Islamic Jihad, an Iranian-backed group, responded by  launching at least 35 rockets at Israel. 20 of those rockets were intercepted by Israel'sIron Dome anti-missile system ( you can say that this was a boon for Israel, as it was able to test this system). Eight people were wounded in Israel, but Israel's four dyt attacks resulted in 23 Palestinian killed and 74 wounded (mostly civilians).
     Thwe world suddenly awoke from its torpor and the UN and Washington expressed "concern" . So far Hamas has stayed out of the fight.
     Meanwhile in Syria the battle between the Assad regime and the opposition continues. Former UN head Kofi Annan held talks with Assad about a ceasefire, humanitarian aid and talks, but nothing was agreed upon. Both sides are accusing each other of massacres and civilian casualties continue to mount.
     There is no end in sight. Assad will not back down. The images of Mubarak, ben Ali and especially Gadhafi must be fresh in his mind and he does not want the same fate and this will get bloodier. 
  

     Putin was returned to the presidency with a commanding 64% of the votes, while Ahmadinejad suffered a setback in the parliamentary elections in Iran, a preliminary for next years presidential elections.
     Putin won handsomely in the regions, in the rural areas and in the Caucasus, in the Urals, in Siberia but not in Moscow and St.Petersburg, where the young and middle class who benefitted the most from Russia oil and gas riches under Putin's stable tenure, voted against him. His margin of victory over the Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov was 46%. There is no doubt the he made full use of the state resources eg. television and other media to gain an edge over his rivals, but even though there are claims of fraud, by the opposition, it would not have mattered, because a majority did vote for him. This majority ( long neglected), in the regions where he is still a hero and where he is seen as the only one capable of building and leading a strong Russia and able to deal with the corruption and to make Russia string and respected again (he will be helped considerably by the Iranian situation which has seen the price and demand for oil and gas rise rapidly) and very importantly make sure that the neglected regions get their fair share of the revenues from "their"resources.
      Putin is here to stay and that means until 2024. Internally and especially externally (missile defence, Syria, Iran and european expansion), expect Putin to be tough and nationalistic.
     Ahmadinejad has been weakened and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has tightened his grip on power. His  loyalists won more than 75% of the seats, much at the expense of Ahmadinejad. He is a lame duck president and has been taught a lesson for being seen as daring to challenge the authority of Khamenei. It does not mean that there will be a change in foreign policy or the nuclear programme. Khamenei is on record as saying that Islam does not tolerate nuclear weapons. The inscrutable Ayatollah is also devious. What he means is not clear, and may have been a counter to Ahmadinejad's nuclear posturings. The population is hurtuing from the embargo and an appeal to Iranian nationalism is there for him to use, should need arise to arouse passions. This can be dangerous in these times of "war talk", especially by  Netanyahu of Israel, who leads a very tentative coalition government.
     Two men who started as the hope of the people. One has returned in glory and the other is fading into oblivion.