Week's End: Wrap-up

By: Times-Dispatch Staff | Times-Dispatch
Published: February 04, 2012

Polls show public opinion is divided over whether the General Assembly should require an ultrasound exam before a woman can have an abortion. On the other hand, we bet there would be unanimous support for a bill forcing politicians to have their heads examined.
Regarding the ultrasound mandate, Fairfax Democrat Janet Howell claims to be "appalled that some legislators are insisting on putting government regulation between a woman and her doctor." Funny thing: That's not what she was saying five years ago, when she was sponsoring a legislative mandate forcing young girls to be given the HPV vaccine.
That year Howell received $4,100 from Merck, the pharmaceutical giant that makes Gardasil, the principal HPV vaccine. Since 2010, she's gotten more than $11,000 from pharmaceutical interests. But hey, it's probably just a coincidence.
National Journal — the mag that produced a 2005 poll showing George Allen a presidential favorite among Washington insiders — has cranked out a list of plausible running mates for Mitt Romney. No. 1? Florida's Marco Rubio. No. 2? Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell.
To which The Daily Caller's Matt Lewis replies: pffffft! "What are . . . McDonnell, former Gov. Tim Pawlenty and Sen. Rob Portman doing on the list?" he asks. "These guys essentially reinforce Romney's negative attributes (white-bred, moderate, establishment-types), and do little (or nothing) to fix his vulnerabilities." But the hair, man. Think of the hair.
Remember all the hand-wringing about mean-spirited, divisive rhetoric a few months ago? Well, get a load of this: At a recent Occupy Wall Street event in Oakland, Roxanne Dunbar Ortiz, a retired professor, advocated — well, hatred: "Passionate, organized hatred is the element missing in all that we do to try to change the world," she said. "Now is the time to spread hate, hatred for the rich."
Insert your own what-if-the-Tea-Party-had-done-it query here.
Russia is having a cow — sort of. It has imported 29 Holstein bulls from Virginia, and soon will import another 30, for breeding with inferior Russian livestock. File this under: "A little more than kin, a little less than kine." We decline any further ruminations.
Quote of the Week: Shikha Dalmia in TheDaily.com: "Forcing American companies to produce goods more expensively at home rather than wherever it is most cost-effective will mean higher prices for American consumers. Where is the patriotism in sacrificing the interests of 300 million American consumers to protect the jobs of a few American workers?"
If you are looking for an encouraging trend, consider this: America's cities are rapidly desegregating. A Manhattan Institute analysis of Census data finds that all-white neighborhoods no longer exist, all-black neighborhoods are disappearing, and the cities are more integrated than at any time since . . . 1910. Sometimes, it seems, "turning the clock back" isn't such a bad thing after all.

Week's End: Wrap-up

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