Mitt Romney got his must-win victory today in the Michigan primary. And given his personal fortune, the limited funds in his competitors’ campaigns, and the continued lack of a clear leader in the GOP field, he still has a shot for the nomination. But a significant amount of his support in Michigan likely was associated with Romney’s family ties to the state, and it remains to be seen whether he can attract enough supporters in other states to top John McCain and Mike Huckabee, who are leading him in national polls.
It’s been awhile since the Bush administration pointed to the 18 benchmarks meant to gauge political progress and national reconciliation in Iraq, but credit is due the Iraqi parliament for its passage of one of them — a law enabling former members of Saddam Hussein’s Baath Party to have government jobs or benefits. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, in a surprise visit to Baghdad Tuesday, overdid it in describing national reconciliation as moving along “quite remarkably,†but the law counts as welcome progress.
Meanwhile, the Iraqi defense minister said Monday that it would be another four years before Iraq would be able to take full responsibility for its internal security, and it would be at least until 2018 before it could defend its borders.
It’s not reassuring that World War III could have been caused by a ham radio prankster.
The tense incident on Jan. 6 involving Iranian speedboats buzzing U.S. Navy ships in the Strait of Hormuz almost erupted into armed conflict when a radio transmission, allegedly from the Iranians, said in English, “I am coming to you. You will explode in a few minutes.â€
Navy gunners came within seconds of firing on the boats. Now the Navy says the strange message likely was the work of the longtime high-seas prankster known as the “Filipino Monkey,†who has been harassing ships for years with radio abuse.
It’s a reminder of the dangers of hair-trigger tensions between nations. This could have been an international incident had not cooler heads prevailed.
State GOP leaders are putting a new voter ID requirement at the top of their legislative priorities, saying they fear that illegal immigrants are being registered to vote.
House Speaker Melvin Neufeld, R-Ingalls, pointed to “potentially thousands of those registrations out there, so it is important that we protect the integrity of this next election,†he said.
But there’s no evidence of illegal immigrant voters undermining the polls in Kansas — not one documented case.
Of far greater concern is the certainty that new photo ID requirements actually would dampen turnout by legitimate U.S. citizens. The fact is, many elderly who don’t drive and low-income residents have trouble producing or locating the right kind of identification.
Shouldn’t the goal be to help more people vote, not make it more difficult for them?
Vote ID supporters need to offer more proof that there is a real fraud problem. So far, it just sounds like more immigrant fearmongering.
Low public opinion of government may go deeper than Congress and the president. As Kansas legislators get back to work this week in Topeka, they should be mindful of where the Legislature scored in a new Survey USA poll, conducted for KWCH, Channel 12 — 34 percent approval, 46 percent disapproval. The disapproval was even greater among Wichitans and blacks (55 percent), and men, liberals and independents (52 percent), but 43 and 44 percent of Republicans and conservatives, respectively, disapprove of the GOP-controlled Legislature, too.
Some doctors are questioning the recent approval of Lyrica to treat fibromyalgia, a chronic pain condition that they say isn’t a real illness (other doctors disagree). Because Pfizer and other companies are poised to market the drug aggressively, millions of consumers might end up taking the drug who don’t need it, they fear.
Meanwhile, Congress is investigating the role of artificial heart pioneer Robert Jarvik in marketing Lipitor, the world’s best-selling drug. Jarvik, it turns out, may not be certified to practice medicine or qualified to offer medical advice.
And a recent study found that the pharmaceutical industry puts almost twice as much money into drug marketing and promotion as into research and development, contrary to the industry’s longtime claims that it is primarily research-driven.
Direct-to-consumer drug marketing deserves much more scrutiny.
Mitt Romney got his must-win victory today in the Michigan primary. And given his personal fortune, the limited funds in his competitors’ campaigns, and the continued lack of a clear leader in the GOP field, he still has a shot for the nomination. But a significant amount of his support in Michigan likely was associated with Romney’s family ties to the state, and it remains to be seen whether he can attract enough supporters in other states to top John McCain and Mike Huckabee, who are leading him in national polls.
