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March 12, 2012 | | MISINFORMED Say it ain’t so. More than half of Mississippi Republicans believe President Obama is a Muslim, according to a new survey out from Public Policy Polling. In Alabama, the other state that votes in tomorrow’s GOP primaries, the number is almost as high, at 45 percent. In both states, less than 15 percent of Republicans identified the president as a Christian. Overall, the poll shows a virtual dead heat in both contests between Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, and Mitt Romney. “Any of the candidates could finish between first and third,” PPP’s president said. OUTRAGE The Afghan parliament is calling for a public trial against the U.S. soldier accused of killing 16 civilians Sunday. Lawmakers want the man, who allegedly shot dead nine children and three women, to face trial in Afghanistan, and passed a resolution saying that they've lost patience with foreign troops. The Taliban on Monday also vowed revenge. It's not yet clear what prompted the attack, but new details have emerged: an Afghan youth recounted how the serviceman, who seems to have acted alone, moved through homes like he was searching for targets, then even burned some of the bodies. NOPE The U.S. has scuttled a Texas law that would have required voters to show a photo ID in order to vote, arguing that it would have unfairly targeted the state’s Hispanic voters. What’s more, the Justice Department also argued that there was no problem to fix in the first place—Texas had not demonstrated any significant fraud that the new law would have corrected. It’s the second time the U.S. has struck down a voter ID mandate, the first time being a South Carolina law in December. Both states are appealing. GRUESOME Syrian activists and opposition groups said 26 children and 21 women were “massacred” Monday by pro-government gunmen in the besieged city of Homs. State media confirmed the deaths of at least 12 people, but instead blamed “armed terrorists”—a term Bashar al-Assad’s regime has used to describe the opposition. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also confirmed a dozen deaths, while the Local Coordination Committees said 45 people were killed—both claimed the attacks were carried out by shabiha gunmen who have been involved in the yearlong crackdown against an opposition uprising. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will be among ministers from 15 countries holding talks in a United Nations Security Council meeting, and Syria is expected to dominate the agenda. Not Looking Good Gas prices are up, which is bad news for President Obama’s approval rating, which has seen a significantly negative turn in response to the rising costs at the pump. While last month, 44 percent of those polled approved of Obama’s handling of the economy and 53 disapproved, now 59 percent disapprove while only 38 percent approve. More specifically, 65 percent of the public disapproves of how the president is handling the “situation with gas prices,” with only 26 percent saying they approve. | | 
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