Here we go again

USA Today is carrying this story about the US Supreme Court hearing oral arguments in the fight over the constitutionality of a hard-fought, and recently enacted law requiring parental notification in cases where unemancipated teens are seeking abortions.

This is personal for me.  As a member of a very prominent Non-Custodial Father's coalition in NH, I was heavily engaged with the NH legislature and the Governor, to see this law through committee and to the floor for a vote.  It was hard fought, bitter and nasty at times, but worth every minute of the long drawn out process.

I was divorced in NH, and through the hostile-to-fathers family law travesty, er I mean, legal system, I lost contact with my 4 children for several years.  After sometimes painful and ultimately joyous reconciliations, I have been blessed with becoming the proud grandfather of 3 beautiful babies.  My wife now, having had 5 of her own children has been blessed with 3 of her own grandchildren...the ultimate yours, mine, and ours story.

One of my daughters considered abortion as part of the emotional phases any young woman goes through when confronted with the knowledge that she has become pregnant.  One of my wife's daughters also made this consideration.  Thankfully, in both cases we were able to participate in the discussion; able to provide support and reassurance, and a little guidance.  We were able to talk through some of the fears that a young woman can convince herself will become reality when no one is there to help her see the upside, the positive, the hopefulness that can be found if she works hard enough to seek it.

In the absence of those discussions, it becomes decidedly easier to see the downside.  Easier to convince yourself the world is ending, the sky is falling, and life is about to cease.  There is a reason parents are responsible for children until they reach a certain age.  However much we may be resisted as authority figures, or "fuddy duddies", or out of touch, we are still needed to bring reason, wisdom, and a little insight about what the future MAY bring to their children's lives.

The liberal factions of this country, along with their media constituents, continue to put up the argument that

Women are going to get abortions no matter what, whether it's legal or illegal, whether they're 13 or whether they're 50. ... Any limitations put on it is heading backward in time,

 and this has successfully scared away state legislatures fearing lost votes.   Sadly, seekers of votes don't get much exposure to the individual stories like mine and so many others, leaving them able to sleep at night with the decisions they make on the floor of the House or Senate.

This issue is just as much about Parental Rights as it is about abortion rights.  The media is only focusing on the abortion side of this.  The parent gets the back seat once again.  

Interestingly enough, if you have the courage and the patience to read through the now-infamous Senate bill (S1042) that drew so much media attention because of the 79-19 vote asking the President for regular status reports on the war, you'll find some very interesting amendments.  These amendments contributed to significant delay of its ultimate passage, and they dealt with Parental Notification rules regarding abortions of unemancipated daughters of GI's deployed overseas.  

I find it interesting that the passage of Parental notification rules can slip through under the media radar, yet tiny little New Hampshire can splash all the media fronts over the same issue...maybe it's because they're rooting for its defeat in New Hampshire while they are satisfied with its existence in US law if the cost of that is a little more anti President/anti Iraq war fodder for future sales and advertising revenue.

No End But Victory

This is from the Founder of "No End But Victory", a movement I have just joined and plan to fully commit my time and energy to. To whomever reads this little blog of mine, AND wants to engage in this (not jump in and troll, throw red herrings, or otherwise disrupt something we feel very strongly about) PLEASE sign up, join in, spread the word, and give something back.

Josh Trevino writes:

My name is Josh Trevino.  I founded Tacitus.org, co-founded Redstate.org, wrote speeches for the George W. Bush Administration, and now work at a small think tank in California.  So, I know a bit of what I speak below.  This is a long e-mail -- but it needs to be. Please bear with it till the end.

As you know, the calls for a cut-and-run from Iraq are growing stronger.  On this very day, the Democrats and Republicans in the United States Senate have duelling amendments before that body which each, in their own way, fuel the political impulse to abandon Iraq to the murderous elements that would destroy it.

Within living memory, we have seen what happens when America abandons its national commitments, and deserts the brave people who stood tall and believed its promises.  The faint-hearted and the wavering painted our commitment to the people of Indochina as a cause in itself of the bloodshed and grief there -- and then stood mute when they achieved their objective, forced America's retreat, and years of genocide followed in its wake.

A generation later, they're trying to do the same in Iraq.  For the sake of an Iraqi people only now grasping the responsibilities, perils, and blessings of liberty, we cannot let them force America to shrink from the awesome responsibility it has shouldered.  For the sake of American honor -- and those who have died in this cause -- we cannot repeat the mistakes of 1991, when the cost of our reluctance was counted in Kurdish and Shi'a dead.

This is not a partisan issue.  This is not a left- or right-wing issue.  This is an American and Iraqi issue, and all men of good faith must now come together to remind our leadership that whatever our politics, and whatever we thought of the decision to go to war, there can be only one end:

Victory.

The anti-war, cut-and-run crowd, which fears not defeat, nor dishonor, nor an Iraq under the terrorist heel, is well-organized. Its online haunts are well-known enough: Daily Kos, Atrios, and the rest have a massive readership, and they present the appearance of representing a substantial segement of public opinion in the United States.

But we know that this is not so.  We know that Americans don't want to retreat: they want to win.  And their support for the war varies in direct proportion to their perception that the American political leadership is willing to achieve that.  History shows this clearly: the United States Congress turned against the war in Vietnam long before the American people did; support for the 1983 Lebanon intervention collapsed only after the Reagan Administration decided to withdraw; and support for the Somalia intervention was strong until the moment the Clinton Administration elected to retreat.

The President has done an admirable job in holding the line.  But both American political parties show signs of capitulation.  It's time for us to raise our voices and remind them that all of us, Americans and Iraqis, demand one thing of this war:

NO END BUT VICTORY

To that end, there is a beta site for your perusal here:

http://noendbutvictory.com/

It is my intent that this website serve as a rallying-point for those who want the best possible future for Iraq and America.  You are receiving this e-mail for the following reasons:

1.      You are invited to contribute at-will, and under your own terms, to this site.
   
   
2.      Your help is solicited in disseminating word of this site.
   
   
3.      Your opinion is solicited in constituting a governing board of editors for this site.  (I am providing hosting and bandwidth pro-bono, but I do not intend to control the site content on my own.)
   
   
   
4.      If applicable, your assistance in contributing web design skills is appreciated.  Mine only go so far.

   
   
   

Thanks for reading through this entire e-mail.  Mike Krempasky's pioneering work on sites like confirmthem.com, notspector.com, and rathergate.com proved that issue-driven activist sites can and do work.  Please join us in making noendbutvictory.com a similar success story.  There is nothing to lose -- and there is the honor and gratitude of posterity to gain.

With respect,

Josh Trevino

joshua@trevino.at