Our baby girl is here (thanks for the post below Kim). I like to think of myself as kind of a manly man, but I’ve gotta tell you – looking into our new baby girl’s eyes brings tears to mine. Tears of happiness to be sure. But I’m also feeling the enormity of life, of existence, of being. She is so fragile and innocent, so close to still being in the womb, yet when I look into her eyes I see a soul in there. I see a little girl who will one day love, and regret, and rejoice. Life is good indeed, but creating life is a whole other ball game.

Mrs. 1999 has successfully delivered a beautiful baby girl! and a big one too, 8-1/2 pounds!

Mother and Child are doing very well. Jeff will have more to post later.

Congratulations on the latest addition to the 1999 family!

Via Blogs for Bush comes this link to Slugger O’Toole’s Ill wind may not blow to the Whitehousereprint of an Irish Times column by Newton Emerson.

It begins:

As the full horror of Hurricane Katrina sinks in, thousands of desperate columnists are asking if this is the end of George Bush’s presidency. The answer is almost certainly yes, provided that every copy of the US Constitution was destroyed in the storm. Otherwise President Bush will remain in office until noon on January 20th, 2009, as required by the 20th Amendment, after which he is barred from seeking a third term anyway under the 22nd Amendment.

Go read the rest.

An Ohio law requiring parental consent for abortions for girls under 18 years old, passed seven years ago, but held in limbo due to court challenges, has been affirmed as constitutional and enforceable by the US District Court in Cincinnati.

There is an exception, where a judge can give the consent in lieu of a parent.

The law also requires women to meet with a doctor 24 hours prior to an abortion so the doctor can tell the woman about the procedure, the risks and alternatives available.

The ACLU filed suit to stop the law one month before it was due to go into effect.

According to the AP:

“Plaintiffs’ evidence does not demonstrate that H.B. 421 imposes undue burdens on the abortion right even when viewed in a highly deferential manner,” said the opinion by Judge Sandra Beckwith, though she said the law might prevent some women or girls from getting abortions.

The ACLU has not yet decided if it will appeal, attorney Carrie Davis said.

Most states have laws requiring either parental consent or notice. In Ohio, minors had already been required by state law to notify their parents but they had not been required to obtain a parent’s consent.

The federal court ruling means the new law is now in effect unless a higher court orders it suspended during an appeal, said Kim Norris, spokeswoman for Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro.

As a parent, I have to give my consent for my daughter to be given an acetominophen tablet at school. I should certainly have to give my consent for a surgical procedure.

Sandy Berger was sentenced today to 100 hours community service and two years probation. He will also pay $6,905 to cover the administrative costs associated with his probation. (CNN)

In addition Sandy Berger must give up access to classified government materials for a three year period and pay a fine five times more than what prosecutors asked for.

Judge Deborah Robinson set the fine at $50,000 saying:

The court finds the fine is inadequate because it doesn’t reflect the seriousness of the offense.

(FOX News)

Please read both news stories. Note that CNN mentions nothing about the increase in the fine or why it was increased…

Welcome Blogs for Bush readers! Please look around…

I don’t have a transcript (anyone know where one might be?) but there were a couple questions yesterday from the press that seemed a little, well, off…

One reporter asked Mike Brown what he had to say about Nancy Pelosi’s call for his resignation and/or firing. He said that it was up to the President. A second reporter asked if he had submitted his resignation. He said that he serves at the pleasure of the President of the United States.

Then we get to what was really off:

A reporter asked him why Operation Blessing was on the FEMA list of approved charities on their website. Mr. Brown said that apparently, one of his staffers had checked it out and added it. The reporter then went on to say (paraphrase) : Operation Blessing is run by Pat Robertson, do you think it should be there?

It seems to me that the reporter was “suggesting” that because of Pat Robertson’s admittedly stupid remarks about Hugo Chavez, the charity, Operation Blessing, (on whose board Pat Robertson sits) should not be approved to assist in the relief effort.

In the words of General Honore, “That’s B.S.”

Pat Robertson is on the Board. That’s it. One member. That doesn’t disqualify the charity.

The About Us section (first graf):

Operation Blessing International Relief and Development Corporation (OBI) is a non-profit 501 (c) (3) humanitarian organization based in Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA. Since 1978, Operation Blessing International has touched the lives of more than 179.7 million people in 96 countries and all 50 states, providing goods and services valued at more than $1.1 billion. Operation Blessing is governed by a national board of directors that includes founder M.G. “Pat” Robertson.

Greed in the face of adversity is a post I just found at the Jawa Report.

Planned Parenthood has a link on their main page that says “Help those affected by hurricane” but when you click the link, the page it takes you has the disclaimer:

Support Planned Parenthood and their patients during this time of great need. By clicking here, 100% of your tax-deductible contribution will go directly to helping Planned Parenthood affiliates and health centers in this region serve women and families who have nowhere else to turn.

(bold mine)

Further down it says “Click here to donate to Planned Parenthood’s Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. And you can send a check to Hurricane Katrina Relief, PPFA etc, etc.

Although their disclaimer is pretty prominent, Hurricane Relief should apply to everyone affected. They seem more interested in getting their clinics set back up instead of helping people get their lives set back up.

Via One Big Swede

Hurricane Katrina: Blog for Relief Weekend
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The American Red Cross. Clicking the Donate Now button will bring you right to the Red Cross site.

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What happens to a nation with a two party system, where one of the parties moves away from rational policy and reverts to base gutteral emotion? What happens when that party’s leaders fall back on the rhetoric of hate, anger and bitterness rather than offering viable policy alternatives? And what happens when the mainstream media ideologically supports that party and therefore fails to provide any meaningful scrutiny of it?

You end up with a country with a two party system in name only. One party continues to be actively engaged in governance, while the other party moves further and further away from the playing field content to shout insults from the sidelines. Insults that simplify, easily assign blame, that are aided by hindsight and insulated from accountability while being cloaked with the impression that a utopic solution has been forgone.

Facilitated by an irresponsible media content to engage in agenda journalism we end up with political discourse of the rediculous. To be sure, the ruling party is making mistakes. Policies can be improved. Viable alternatives exist. But real solutions are lost in a discourse of the absurd.

We saw it happen in Iraq, and regrettably we are seeing it occur with Katrina. Healthy discourse, open, honest debate, and an objective media which holds both sides accountable in the process, are essential to a functioning democracy. At the moment it appears that America has none of these.