DNA has made it official. Larry Birkhead is the father of Anna Nicole Smith's daughter Dannielynn. Press conference is live on CNN.

Howard Stern says he won't fight for custody, he'll do what he can to make sure Larry gets full custody. Howard will stay in the Bahamas, he says he wouldn't leave Anna Nicole's late son Danny alone.

Virgie (Anna's mother) and her lawyer say she's looking forward to working with Larry to have Virgie involved in Dannielynn's life. She said she just wants to be a grandmother, so I assume there won't be a custody fight. But Bahamian law provides for two guardians, her lawyer said, and it looks like Vergie may vie for being one of them.

Ok, that's over. Congrats to Larry Birkhead. And now Howard Stern's new lawyer, Lin Wood (lawyer for Richard Jewell and Jonbenet Ramsey's parents) can go after the media who maligned him.

Pretty well done:

The American people want the President and the Congress to work together to bring this war to an end, safely and responsibly. Congressional Democrats are willing to meet with the President at any time, but we believe that any discussion of an issue as critical as Iraq must be accomplished by conducting serious negotiations without any preconditions. Our goal should be to produce an Iraq supplemental bill that both fully funds our troops and gives them a strategy for success.

"With his threat to veto such a plan for change in Iraq, President Bush is ignoring the clear message of the American people: we must protect our troops, hold the Iraqi government accountable, rebuild our military, provide for our veterans, and bring our troops home.

"The President is demanding that we renew his blank check for a war without end. Despite the fact that the President persists in trying to score political points at the expense of our troops, congressional Democrats have repeatedly reached out in the spirit of cooperation. We renew our request to work with him to produce a bipartisan bill that provides our troops and our veterans with every penny they need, but in turn, demands accountability."

It's time for the Tuesday Open Thread.

I've been looking for a place to post this photo of my cousin Max, taken on his cell phone last week. He's the same age as the TL kid. What a cutie. He's given me permission to post it, with the caveat, "I dont mind as long as its not used to shed any negative light on Paris herself. After meeting her I would have nothing but positive nice things to say."

So please, no Paris insults in the comments.

And now, for your news and thoughts of the day.

Via Bowers, Move On hosts a Virtual Town Hall on Iraq with Dem Presidential hopefuls:

We're organizing three “Virtual Town Halls” to hear from 2008 Presidential candidates on the issues MoveOn members say are most important: Iraq, health care, and energy. On April 10th, we're focusing on Iraq. MoveOn members are asking candidates the tough questions about their Iraq plans, and we're gathering in living rooms from coast to coast to hear the answers directly. . . .

In case you have any doubt what my question would be, I want to know who supports the Reid-Feingold bill:

U.S. Senator Russ Feingold introduced legislation today to effectively end U.S. military involvement in Iraq. The bill, supported by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, requires the President to begin safely redeploying U.S. troops from Iraq 120 days from enactment, as required by the emergency supplemental spending bill passed by the Senate. The bill ends funding for the war, with three narrow exceptions, effective March 31, 2008. In addition to Reid, the bill is cosponsored by Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Chris Dodd (D-CT), Tom Harkin (D-IA), Ted Kennedy (D-MA), John Kerry (D-MA), Pat Leahy (D-VT), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI).

As of today, I (speaking only for me of course) support Chris Dodd for President.

My offer is this: nothing. Not even the $20,000 for the gaming license, which I would appreciate if you would put up personally. -Michael Corleone

So Bush has made his Michael Corleone offer to the Dems on Iraq:

President Bush on Tuesday invited Democrats to discuss their standoff over a war-spending bill, but he made clear he would not change his position opposing troop withdrawals. The White House bluntly said the meeting would not be a negotiation. [Bush said:]

It's time for them to get the job done, so I'm inviting congressional leaders from both parties — both political parties — to meet with me at the White House next week. At this meeting, the leaders in Congress can report on progress on getting an emergency spending bill to my desk. We can discuss the way forward on a bill that is a clean bill, a bill that funds our troops without artificial timetables for withdrawal and without handcuffing our generals on the ground. I'm hopeful we'll see some results soon from the Congress.

Levin and Obama have already caved. So why should Bush negotiate?

At 94, John Rodgriguez is California's oldest "lifer." But he didn't get a life sentence. He got a sentence of 16 to life. He's served the 16 plus another ten years for second degree murder of his wife 25 years ago.

He's in a wheelchair, his only prison violations were misuse of the telephone and the last time that happened was in 1992.

He participates in AA, a family has offered to take him in if released, and yet he stays in prison, an effective "lifer." He was a war hero, earning a bronze star in WWII.

Every time the Parole Board has recommended him for parole, the decision has been reversed by the Governor. Last year the reversal was by Gov. Schwarzenegger.

More...

How can the Iraq Debacle be ended? Some say only after the 2008 election:

Matt Stoller makes it explicit:

My strategic end goal is to end the war. To do that involves a process of showing that the Democratic caucus is unified behind putting restrictions on Bush and his ability to fight the war, and then using that pressure to remove Republicans (and wayward Democrats) from office in 2008.

Some think that the House Iraq supplemental funding can lead to a confrontation with the President in the Supreme Court:

If [Bush] ignores [the House proposal], we sue and the courts enforce it. if he ignores that, we're in massive constitutional crisis.

Gov. Bill Richardson thinks deauthorizing the Debacle and invoking the War Powers Act can lead to a Supreme Court resolution:

the Congress authorized the war and the Congress should deauthorize the war. Then, there will be a legal fight - the administration will say "well, we don't recognize the war powers act." Then you go to the Supreme Court.

Are any of these options realistic? Or acceptable? Waiting for the next election could work but it is morally unacceptable and, imo, not likely to work. As for counting on the Supreme Court, assuming a bill could be enacted, issues of standing and the political question doctrine preclude these avenues. The reality is, as it always has been, the Congress' power to end the Debacle lies in the Spending Power.

Carl Levin and Barack Obama must be pleased to have gotten the David Broder Seal of Approval:

From the start, Democrats ought to concede one big point: Absent any readiness on their part to cut off funds to the troops in Iraq, those forces will be there as long as George Bush wants them to remain. Once that point is conceded, Bush should be called upon to pay some attention to the Democrats' demands -- and the public opinion that supports them.

Levin and Obama are one step ahead of you Broder:

We're not going to vote to cut funding, period," Levin said. "But what we should do, and we're going to do, is continue to press this president to put some pressure on the Iraqi leaders to reach a political settlement."

Obama is not going to play chicken, he'll just be chicken. Of course, as Matt Yglesias points out, bargaining with the Decider is just plain ridiculous.

Neocon Paul Wolfowitz, former Deputy Defense Secretary who is now President of the World Bank, has responded to charges he improperly granted a promotion and raise to his girlfriend. (Background here.)

Too funny is Wonkette's photo of Wolfowitz with holes in his socks "at a mosque in Turkey, where he was meeting with extremists to plan new attacks on America."

Gwen Ifill speaks:

For all their grit, hard work and courage, the Rutgers girls got branded “nappy-headed ho’s” — a shockingly concise sexual and racial insult, tossed out in a volley of male camaraderie by a group of amused, middle-aged white men. The “joke” — as delivered and later recanted — by the radio and television personality Don Imus failed one big test: it was not funny.

[Imus'apologies] seem[] forced and suspect because he’s done some version of this several times before. I know, because he apparently did it to me.

. . . It was not until five years later, when . . . I was a Capitol Hill correspondent for the network — that I discovered why people were asking [why she did not appear on Imus' show.] It took Lars-Erik Nelson, a columnist for The New York Daily News, to finally explain what no one else had wanted to repeat.

“Isn’t The Times wonderful,” Mr. Nelson quoted Mr. Imus as saying on the radio. “It lets the cleaning lady cover the White House.”

More:

It's rare that a federal circuit court of appeals issues its ruling on the day of oral argument. But that's exactly what happened in the case of Georgia Thompson, the Wisonsin state procurement supervisor who was convicted of depriving the state of her honest services based on a vote to award a contract to a travel consultant to a donor of Democratic Governor Jim Doyle.

According to one judge on the panel:

"I have to say it strikes me that your evidence is beyond thin," federal Appeals Judge Diane Wood told prosecutors. "I'm not sure what your actual theory in this case is."

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Finally, the justice system has corrected itself and freed Wisconsin's unwitting political prisoner, Georgia Thompson. The former state procurement supervisor went to trial and to prison on the basis of evidence so flimsy it's scary. If such weak proof can put her behind bars, are any of us safe?

The larger question involves U.S. Attorney Steven Biskupic:

Is his quickness to put the heat on Democrats the reason he was spared in the purge of U.S. attorneys? Is he a "Bushie," as a White House aide called top prosecutors who toe the party line?

More...

MSNBC is suspending the simulcast of Don Imus' radio show for two weeks.

NBC News President Steve Capus released this statement late Monday:

"Beginning Monday, April 16, MSNBC will suspend simulcasting the syndicated 'Imus in the Morning' radio program for two weeks. This comes after careful consideration in the days since his racist, abhorrent comments were made. Don Imus has expressed profound regret and embarrassment and has made a commitment to listen to all of those who have raised legitimate expressions of outrage. In addition, his dedication ' in his words - to change the discourse on his program moving forward, has confirmed for us that this action is appropriate. Our future relationship with Imus is contingent on his ability to live up to his word."

What do you think? Is that enough punishment? What should CBS do?

Update: CBS has also suspended him for two weeks.