A little more than two weeks until the constitutional referendum in Iraq, and the signs are remarkably good about this remarkable document’s passage: Registration to vote is heavy, and religious and political leaders of the Shi’ites this week renewed their commitment to a “yes” vote. And yet I just saw an MSNBC report by correspondent Peter Alexander, who said there was nothing new in Iraq other than more suicide bombing attacks against American troops. Alexander offered the nonsensical time-frame observation that since Hurricane Katrina came ashore, 42 Americans have died. I don’t know what that’s supposed to mean, but its intention is clear: To make people feel negative and depressed about the situation in Iraq when in fact Iraq is probably on the verge of a vote as historic, if not more so, than the January vote.