The Talansky Scandal
The details of Morris Talansky's money transfers to Ehud Olmert back when he was industry and trade minister are now public. Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni (Kadima) is taking a second bite of the apple, this time with Defense Minister Ehud Barak (Labor), she said that Kadima must prepare for elections. Haaretz begins its editorial page with Ehud Olmert's term as prime minister, which began with Ariel Sharon's coma, is about to end with Morris Talansky's testimony.
Olmert is traveling over-night Monday to press the flesh inside the beltway. He's scheduled to meet with Bush, Cheney, Rice and McCain, as well as Senator Barack Obama and Senator Hillary Clinton. The fiction is the annual AIPAC lovefest. One of the subtexts is transforming Rosen and Weissman from traitors to heros.
The quiz for our Hero Twins is which post-Olmert arraignment of deck chairs each prefers: Tzipi Livni and Ehud Barak, another marriage of convenience between Kadima (formerly Likud) and Labor, or early elections. There may be some other issues the Twins may want to recheck for signs of wear, Lebanon, the Golan, Gaza, two religious states or back to one secular state, Michael Chertoff's sudden urge to buy, while the dollar crashes to its lowest point in 11 and a half years against the shekel, airport screening technology that barely works for nine million uses/year to secure a market eight times bigger.
Just for grins, the Hero Twins can opine on the value of a Fulbright, in Gaza. The United States State Department has retracted Fulbright scholarships from eight Palestinian students in Gaza because Israel will not grant them exit visas, just as it would not grant entry visas to Gaza to former President Jimmy Carter. Hurray for scholarship!!!