This is a huge week for politics and it's going to get even bigger. Three members of the G8 are having elections, and other members are having more problems. Let's take a look at what's going on, shall we?
Japan: The Empire of Nippon's very own version of Bushie, Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, son of Prime Minister Takeo Fukuda, has botched it so badly he's resigned after only six months. The oxymoronic Liberal Democratic Party (which is neither liberal nor democratic) is having an election at the end of the month. The new PM, expected to be some guy named Taro Aso, who will probably call new elections almost immediately.
Russia: Just months into his first term of office, President Dmitry Medvedev has managed to launch a successful imperialist war against a much smaller neighbor. Believed to be a puppet of Prime Minister Vlidimir Putin, there is rumors that the their relationship might be souring. But who the fuck knows? It's Russia after all.
Germany: If one thinks of an election year as 365 days then this is one for Chancellor Agella Merkel, who faces an election exactly 12 months from now. The CDU/SPD "grand coalition" is fraying at the seems and Merkel may get the President of Germany to call new elections sooner rather than later.
Italy:Silvio Berlusconi is back in power? How the hell did that happen? Could it be that the slimy neofascist bastard who owns the media didn't fuck up as badly as Romano Prodi, the socialist who beat him in '06 despite the entire media being against him. He didn't do a good job, and in March his government collapsed, forcing new elections (after a nostalgic political crisis, which back in the day used to happen once every two months whether the country needed it or not), which Silvio won an extremely rare majority. he's there for the rest of the decade at least.
France: Nicolas Sarkozy's center-right coalition has a slight majority, and Nick ain't going anywhere soon.
the UK: the good news for Prime Minister Gordon Brown is that he's managed to outlast Sir Alec Douglas Home's term as Prime Minister. However, the deathwatch continues as most of the Labour party hates his guts and will try to get rid of him as soon as possible.
Canada: This morning, the Governor General dissolved parliament, and there's going to be an election October 14th. Prime Minister Steven Harper has been hinting at this for weeks, commercials have been airing for two weeks now, and with the other three leaders discredited, Harper might get a majority.
The US of A: If you don't know what's going on here politically, then you must have just gotten out of a coma. Go Barry!