Today’s Des Moines Register has this Jane Norman story “Harkin raises money, perhaps to run again” about how Tom Harkin has raised $362,000 in the last quarter of 2006. Aside from wondering why else Tom Harkin would raise money for his Senate account besides a re-election bid, the article points out that “Harkin is doing everything to indicate he will seek re-election in 2008.” Although there were some rumors that he might retire, those have been pretty throughly debunked. The Register’s headline writers should start actually reading the news stories before they write the headline.
I suppose the “hearts Huckabee” line is going to catch on soon and then become very, very uncool, so I’m sorry about that.
Today, though, Republican Presidential Candidate and Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee announced endorsements from Blue Bunny Bob Vanderplaats, best known for losing a statewide election a few months back, and Danny Carroll, former President Pro Tem of the Iowa House representing Grinnell. He lost last November, too.
But more importantly, recall the story we broke last October, detailing how Danny Carroll is implicated in a scandal that made its way to the Iowa Supreme Court and resulted in the suspension of a lawyer’s license to practice. Basically, he helped the lawyer steal over $40,000 (and a free trip to Vegas) from a struggling old lady in Grinnell.
Well, I guess we can always trust Danny Carroll to “stick to his principles,” eh? We can if you believe Mike Huckabee himself:
Danny Carroll earned great respect during 12 years in the General Assembly as a conservative leader who always held true and firm true to his principles yet worked so successfully with people from across the political spectrum to accomplish meaningful results in health care, tax policy, education and economic development. Iowa ’s social conservatives know that Danny Carroll has always been a clear, strong voice on the issues that matter most to them.
It sounds like, not only is Mike Huckabee talking out of the side of his mouth, but Crooked Danny Carroll might be positioning himself to run for something again. We will be watching him.
The Iowa State Senate has a bill before it to classify salvia divinorum, a drug that’s legal in most states and many European countries, as a Schedule I drug. It is a hallucinogen derivived from the sage plant that was traditionally used by Mazaztec shamans in the mountains of Mexico. While it is considered non-addictive and to have limited potential for abuse, it’s being banned partially because a 17 year old who used it later committed suicide.
While there are very justifiable reasons to prevent people from using any hallucinogenic drug, the bill before the State Senate would make salvia a Schedule I drug. This means that saliva has “a high potential for abuse and no medical purpose in treatment.” However, not only is salvia not addictive, but, more importantly, it also has a medical purpose. Early research into salvia is showing a lot of potential for medical use, it could even lead to drugs that would treat Alzheimer’s and schizophrenia. Not only that, much of this research is being done by a doctor at the University of Iowa.
There’s a lot of legitimate reasons to regulate salvia or even ban it from being used recreationally. But to classify it in the same catagory as heroin seems short-sighted. The state legislature should take steps to guarantee that medical research into the properties and potential of salvia can continue, regardless of whatever restrictions are placed on its recreational use.
