It’s quite a day…

While we’re thinking about the caucuses in Washington State today and the Huckabee Presidential Forum for GOP candidates tonight, our aching hearts are with our suffering fellow Americans. So many lives have been devastated by the mass of violent tornadoes and storms that slammed the Midwest and south these past few days.

The images on the news, videos, and first-hand accounts of survivors are chilling.

Excellent advice from Governor Romney:

My heart goes out to the tornado victims. Please give what you can to the @RedCross.

Did you hear the story of the baby girl found alone in the cornfield 10 miles away from her home?

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A baby girl found alone in a field in Indiana after Friday’s massive, tornado-spawning storms is being treated in a Kentucky hospital.

A spokeswoman for the hospital in Salem, Ind., where the girl was first taken said Saturday that authorities were still trying to figure out how she ended up in the field alone. St. Vincent Salem Hospital spokeswoman Melissa Richardson says the child’s family is from New Pekin, Ind., about 10 miles south of where the child was found.

Richardson says the girl is in critical condition at Kosair Children’s Hospital in Louisville, Ky. She says she can’t release the name of the girl or her family. …

UPDATE March 4, 2012:

20 month-old Angel Babcock was found alive, lying in a field surrounded by the bodies of her family following a deadly tornado in Indiana on Friday. The blonde-haired, blue-eyed child was found by rescuers forty miles west of Chelsea, in New Pekin, Indiana, and was taken to hospital where she is in critical condition. Angel’s older brother, Jayden, two, was found dead under a pile of rubble while the body of her baby sister, Kendall was found still strapped to her car seat. The body of her mother Moriah Brough, 21, was found by rescuers lying under a tree while father Joseph Babcock, 20, was discovered lying a few streets away.

Such a tragic story; reports are that little Angel has extended family who are with her in the hospital. May she have a full recovery and lots of love going forward.

UPDATE 2 – Afternoon of March 4, 2012: I’m sorry to report that little Angel has died of massive head trauma. In the midst of sorrow, there is comfort in believing that her family greeted their little darling with open arms. May the Babcock family rest in peace. And, may God bless their loved ones who must carry on without them.

There are no words…

Although there have been varying reports, the latest count on the death toll is at 38. It’s expected to rise.

We at MRC offer our thoughts and prayers for all affected by this great disaster.

Donations may be given to the Red Cross here.

► Jayde Wyatt

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

On the political front, Ireland’s Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Enda Kenny is in D.C. today to participate in the annual ceremony of Irish-American solidarity with President Obama. Obama will host a reception for the Prime Minister this afternoon. He also chose today to announce that he will has added Ireland to his travel itinerary in May.

Newly-elected Prime Minister Kennedy (who is politically center-right) is grappling with an inherited financial situation like our own – overwhelming national debt. He’s here to reassure the powers-that-be on Capitol Hill that, although Ireland is teetering near bankruptcy – and under EU pressure to raise business taxes (which would affect American enterprises on the Emerald Isle) that Ireland is still a good place for American businesses. (I’m glad PM Kennedy is here, but I think he’s talking to the wrong guy about his position of not raising taxes.)

Time to get our green on!

The Chicago River is sporting an emerald hue today and the White House Fountain has gone green. In the process, a White House worker waded through the fountain adding dye and slipped. Oops! It ain’t easy bein’ green…

In light of ongoing events in Japan… For the stoic resiliency of the Japanese people, for the deceased, for the survivors, for all involved in humanitarian efforts – including the U.S. military, the rescuers, and especially to those heroes battling at the nuclear power plants, I’ve included this Celtic traditional hymn which symbolizes how many feel when great adversity strikes. It’s a message of exercising faith when faced with uncertainty (insert whatever belief you may have) and reflects the challenges faced by the Irish – a courageous island nation and applies to another resilient island nation – Japan. Here’s Celtic Thunder singing Heartland. It’s dedicated to Japan:

When the winds are howling, vigil keep.
Shelter us and save us from the deep!

Chorus (sung in Gaelic):
A thiarna dean tracaire (Translation: Lord have Mercy)
A chriost dean trocaire (Translation: Christ have Mercy)

Here’s another inspirational do-or-die Irish anthem that portrays the attitude we’re seeing coming from Japan – Ireland’s Call. The song also reflects our feelings about Governor Romney. (If, when you click on the video it says it’s disabled; click on ‘Watch on YouTube’.) As you listen, substitute the word Romney for Ireland because, when all is said and done, the world is better off when there is a strong America. Governor Romney will return strength to America – and he won’t apologize for it. And, that’s no blarney.

“Hearts of steel and heads unbowing, vowing never to be broken… We will fight until we can fight no more, ’til our final requiem is spoken.”


UPDATE: Here’s a documentary podcast revealing memories of a few of New York’s older Irish citizens upon first arriving in America (first aired yesterday): To Love Two Countries


Rebel Ross suggests watching this video illustrating the history of U.S. economic growth and debt – ‘St. Paddy’s Day style’.

Videos of St. Patrick’s Day parades can be found here.

► Jayde Wyatt

Mitt Romney’s actions speak loudly.

Rather than spend the bulk of his time talk, talk, talking, he focuses on results. He is a worker and his record proves it. And, his hard work hasn’t gone without notice.

Those once skeptical about his conservative bonafides are far less skeptical:

Mitt Romney, conservative darling?

Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney has spent the better part of the last five years working to convince conservatives that he is one of them. And, if the latest Washington Post/ABC News poll is right, he’s done it.

Sixty percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents view the potential GOP presidential candidate favorably, while just 21 percent see him in an unfavorable light.

That’s an improvement from where he stood in early January 2008 – in the heart of the GOP primary fight – when 55 percent of Republicans and GOP-leaning independents viewed him favorably and 36 percent felt unfavorably toward him. And back in November 2007, Romney’s favorable score stood at 42 percent while 28 percent felt unfavorably toward him in Post/ABC data.

Perhaps more important for Romney as he gears up for a second presidential bid in 2012 are his numbers among the most conservative segments in the GOP. Sixty-eight percent of self-identified conservatives view Romney favorably; his numbers are even higher among the portion of that group who identify themselves as “very” conservative – with 71 percent seeing the former governor in a favorable light.

During the 2008 campaign, Romney struggled to convince Republicans and, in particular, conservatives that he was a genuine conservative despite some moderate-to-liberal stances he had taken on some social issues during the 1990s.

These numbers suggest that Romney may not have that problem in 2012, perhaps having (finally) won those skeptical conservatives over.[...]

(my emphasis)

While Romney is being noticed for his work ethic, Obama is being noticed for his trivial pursuits while world crises continue and the U.S. government limps along with a cat-and-mouse budget – like golf, choosing NCAA picks, attending a Chicago Bulls basketball game, and partying at the chi-chi D.C. Gridiron Dinner:

The Middle East is afire with rebellion, Japan is imploding from an earthquake, and the battle of the budget is on in the United States, but none of this seems to be deterring President Obama from a heavy schedule of childish distractions.
[...]
This morning, as Japan’s nuclear crisis enters a potentially catastrophic phase, we are told that Obama is videotaping his NCAA tournament picks and that we’ll be able to tune into ESPN Wednesday to find out who he likes.

Saturday, he made his 61st outing to the golf course as president, and got back to the White House with just enough time for a quick shower before heading out to party with Washington’s elite journalists at the annual Gridiron Dinner.

Read it all here.

Update – All White House events today are ‘closed‘ press. Uh… wait – except for one – an event where he’ll accept an award for being open to the press.

Obama’s plans for this weekend? He and the family are headed to RIO!

► Jayde Wyatt