Merkel Still Most Powerful Woman In Survey

(AP)  Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel topped Forbes magazine's list of the world's 100 most powerful women for the third year running, while U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice slipped to seventh from fourth last year.

Merkel, who became chancellor of Germany in November 2005, was cited by the magazine in its latest edition for her efforts to streamline Europe's biggest economy, increasing the national retirement age and putting more women in senior government posts.

The magazine was impressed with her because she "bulldozes through controversy," referring to her meeting with the Dalai Lama last year, her chastising of Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe and push "to make the euro a bigger player in global financial markets as the dollar wanes."

Sheila C. Bair, the chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., was No. 2, and Indra K. Nooyi, chief executive of PepsiCo, was third.

Rice fell to No. 7 and the magazine said she was "shoring up her legacy before the Bush administration leaves office" by engaging in more efforts for peace in the Middle East, working with North Korea and trying to engage Iran.

Several other female heads of state or government made the list, including Argentina's President Cristina Fernandez at No. 13; Chile's President Michelle Bachelet at No. 25; and Philippines President Gloria Arroyo at No. 41.

U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton was No. 28, down from No. 25 last year; U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was No. 35, down from No. 26; and U.S. First Lady Laura Bush was 44th, up from No. 60 last year.

[runningralph]

spadeisspade should not despair about Nancy Pelosi not being able to get legislation done. She is looking to line her pockets. But she was correct in her statement after the 2006 election that Iraq had becone a magnet for terrorists and for that reason the Dems thought the war in Iraq should keep going.

[metsobitso]

I have lost all respect for Merkel. Her people were once guilty of attacking Russia and killing millions of people in some of the most merciless ethnic cleansing in the history of the world. Now she sides with another mass murderer and the motives are the same, to secure access to oil in the Caucasus. The tactics are the same as those used all those years ago. The indiscriminate shelling of civilian towns, cities and villages and indiscriminate murder of men, women and children. The same duplicity of tactics used by the Nazis of promising the civilian population that they came in peace and meant no harm then launching an all out attack in the middle of the night. Rounding up the general population and herding them into barns and churches to be set alight. Running down hapless citizens in the street with their battle tanks. We have seen it all before. The last time this happened to the Russians, they drove the Germans out and punished them for their crimes against humanity. They obviously did not punish them enough. Merkel has reverted to her Nazi roots and this tie eating madman is as insane as her last leader Adolph Hitler.

[sistatee-2009]

Don''t forget Al Gore''s mother; Gia Earth. (eBay has copies of her on sale this very moment)

[ajaxtheleast]

It saves space.

Both Bush-kissasses in the same photo

[spadeisspade]

How is Nancy Pelosi even on this list? She can''t even empower her own party to DO anything (except set a record of the lowest amount of actual laws passed, and lowest congressional approval).