The Washington Post headlines a piece by Ann Gerhart with the question, “Birth control as an election issue?  Why?”  It’s the wrong question, but first let’s see how Gerhart sets this up: Decades ago, near the end of the Age of Aquarius, a Republican congressman from Texas argued passionately that the federal government should pay for birth control for poor women. “We need to take sensationalism out of this topic so that it can no longer be used by militants who have no real knowledge of the voluntary nature of the program but, rather, are using it as a political stepping stone,” said George H.W. Bush. “If family planning is anything, it is a public health matter.” Title X, the law he sponsored that still funds family planning for the poor, passed the House by a vote of 298 to 32. It passed the Senate unanimously. A Republican president, Richard Nixon, enthusiastically signed it.

That was 1970.

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I've been thinking about the current GOP presidential primaries. Santorum and Romney have ventured to the state of Napolean Dynamite. Ron Paul came here on Sat. "The Gem State" seems to be taking on a much higher profile than just the back drop for Kip's "Cage Fighting" and lines like "Your mom goes to college." Although Rex Kwon Do's "Break the wrist and walk away" may be a line that lives forever. But looming on the horizon are storm clouds. Super Tuesday will come and go. Other primaries will present themselves. All in all, it could end up in a brokered GOP Convention. I believe Idaho must lead the way OUT OF a brokered convention, wherein we get some unknown weiny-guy to accidentally stand up for the Grand Old Party. No, this can never be....

"If we could just take a little bit from each of them."

I've lost track of how many people I have heard say some version of this in the last couple of months. The "each of them" refers to the final four combatants for the Republican nomination.

You could take Newt Gingrich's verbal dexterity, encyclopedic grasp of politics and techno-optimism. Add in Rick Santorum's authenticity and religious conviction. Combine that with the essence of Ron Paul's principled passion for liberty and limited government. Stir vigorously and then pour into the handsome, squeaky-clean vessel of Mitt Romney (while keeping his business acumen and analytical skill). And voila, you'd have the perfect candidate.

According to CNN: "In fact, when pressed, many Republicans say the chatter about another candidate is inevitable in this long and inconclusive primary process. They also say it’s just not likely to happen."  Well, that's just it.  Stop and think of this for a moment since it's a whisper campaign.  The establishment is saying, "Hey, Santorum, screw you.  Hey, Newt, screw you.  Hey, Paul, screw you."  That's what they're saying.  They're saying, "Mitt, Mitt, we love you.  What happened?"  And now, if they go to an open convention, they're basically gonna be saying -- what do you think Santorum and Newt are gonna do?  You think they're just gonna lie down and let the establishment run an open convention and pretend these guys don't even exist?