Mitt Romney faced reality today in deciding to bow out of the presidential race. As a person trained in doing risk analysis, he surely calculated that his likelihood of winning the nomination was too remote to justify him continuing to spend down his kids’ inheritance. But he portrayed his withdrawal as doing what was good for the Republican Party and, somehow, the war on terrorism.
“If I fight on in my campaign all the way to the convention, I would forestall the launch of a national campaign and make it more likely that Sen. Clinton or Obama would win,†Romney said today at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C. “And in this time of war, I simply cannot let my campaign be a part of aiding a surrender to terror.â€
The Pitch, a Kansas City newspaper, did a brutal satire of John Sebelius’ “Don’t Drop the Soap†board game. It made a mock board game called “The Idiot Son of an Elected Official†in which you try to avoid DUIs and pregnancies, and get out of having to do homework because “Mommy’s the law.†The goal is to reach South Padre Island, where you can party and make tasteless jokes about prison rape.
An article in the January issue of GQ magazine reported on the bizarre and illogical world of pathological Hillary Clinton-haters, who despise her for conflicting (and often made-up) reasons. Stanley Fish, a professor of law at Florida International University, recently wrote about the phenomenon in a New York Times blog: “She is vilified for being a feminist and for not being one, for being an extreme leftist and for being a ‘warmongering hawk,’ for being godless and for being ‘frighteningly fundamentalist,’ for being the victim of her husband’s peccadilloes and for enabling them.â€
Fish noted that the mainstream media pundits also have gotten into the act. “If she answers questions aggressively, she is shrill. If she moderates her tone, she’s just play-acting. If she cries, she’s faking. If she doesn’t, she’s too masculine. If she dresses conservatively, she’s dowdy. If she doesn’t, she’s inappropriately provocative.â€
Fish observed: “Compared to this, the Swift Boat campaign against John Kerry was a model of objectivity.â€
Amid all the focus on elections and Super Tuesday, it’s worth noting the lonely death of Abdul Razzaq Hekmati at Guantanamo prison in Cuba. Many Afghans regard Hekmati as a war hero for his resistance to Soviet occupation in the 1980s. He also organized a daring 1999 escape of three prisoners held by the Taliban.
But in 2003, Hekmati was accused — falsely, say Afghan officials — of being a Taliban commander himself and sent to Guantanamo prison.
Five years later, on Dec. 30, he died there of natural causes — cancer. Under the military tribunal system, he never had the chance to defend himself in court, call witnesses or clear his name.
This is American justice?
The Supreme Court is expected to decide soon whether Guantanamo detainees have the right to challenge their detention in federal court. Meanwhile, 275 prisoners continue to languish there in legal limbo. And Guantanamo continues to be a black mark on America’s good name.
To his credit, Senate President Steve Morris (in photo), R-Hugoton, is expressing caution about proposed crackdowns on illegal immigrants and businesses. Getting tough on those who forge documents and pay employees in cash to dodge the law is appropriate, he said in a Hutchinson News article. But “I don’t think we need a law in place that is punitive, that punishes everyone for the sins of the few,†he said. He also said: “I think the feds have a big responsibility to step up to the plate and take care of it.â€
Kansas Attorney General Stephen Six, on the job a few days, had more than a few words to say to the Kansas City Star’s Prime Buzz blog about his goals and priorities. He said he found that the “criminal division is well-staffed,†that the consumer protection division and online fraud and crime need attention, that he plans to let his predecessor’s case against Wichita abortion provider George Tiller “run its course,†and that he’s concerned about the privacy of abortion patient records. “We’ve taken every step in this office to keep the records that are here confidential,†he said.
He also mentioned the office’s need for stability, continuity and, less obviously, newer technology. “I think we’re just ahead of Guam in the size of our attorney general’s office, and I just don’t think it’s been fully developed to take advantage of that potential to help the people of Kansas.â€
