By now, everyone is familiar with the TNGOP Chair Robin Smith who stood boldly behind the traditional GOP fear-mongering hitpiece entitled Anti-Semites for Obama which sought to appeal to those well-known GOP allies, fear and bigotry, in asserting

The Tennessee Republican Party today joins a growing chorus of Americans concerned about the future of the nation of Israel, the only stable democracy in the Middle East, if Sen. Barack Hussein Obama is elected president of the United States.

The Chicago Tribune is reporting that Dennis Hastert,(R - IL 14) former Speaker of the House, has resigned.

Perhaps this isn't so much a diary as it is a general query, but here goes:

I recall some years ago watching a program (I think it may have been The Story of English) in which it was suggested that one device which has led to the exponential growth of human knowledge has been that of the cross-index:  The ability to take two apparently unrelated facts and connect them.

Diarist's note:  All the events in this story are true, however, in the interest of the privacy of the parties other than myself, names have been changed.

We had quite a galvanizing experience a few weeks ago.  My husband, an inveterate scavenger, found a pool table on Craigslist.  Now we've looked at several pool tables, something I desperately don't need.  But this one was in Clarksville, which is about an hour away, and it was a beautiful day for a drive in the country.  Clarksville is on the TN side of Fort Campbell, home of the 101st Airborne.

It may have been that my coffee was overcaffeinated this morning, when I opened my email and saw a note from a relative.  It was one of those "spam everyone you know" chain emails, and this is what it said:

Nostalgia is a wonderful thing, a little spiritual indulgence that each of us can - and does - partake of from time to time.  In my own case, my feeble efforts as a parent leave me often pondering how my own folks would have handled a particular situation, or how the differences in the times have changed the task of parenting.  Lately, I've been pondering whether some of the social changes don't account for changes in the way we use energy and whether a little reversion could result in a big savings - for each of us individually and for the earth.  Follow me below the jump as I explain.

It all starts at the local level.  Mark your calendars, break out your Democratic gear and get ready for the best political time in middle Tennessee!  The Sumner County Dems proudly present the 5th annual 3-Star Celebration!

Join us on Saturday, August 18 at 6pm as we celebrate our accomplishments in 2006 and get ready for the 2008 campaign season.
Sumner County Democratic Party

This is really brief for a diary, but I'm sure there are plenty of folk in Chicago and across the world who might stop for a moment to remember the incomparable Tommy Makem, who died last night of cancer at the age of 74.

Yes, we've reached the solstice and summer is upon us.  And out here in the fields, from Tyler, Texas to Tyler, Minnesota, from Gloucester, MA to Gilroy, California there are festivals, parades, and events of all kind.  And where there's fun, there are Democrats - all kinds:  those who know it, those who are young and grow into it, and those who just need a little help to come to their senses.  

Happy Father's Day!  We've done our celebrating around here, and the spousal unit is indulging in a little well deserved R&R, so I'm left with a few minutes to myself in the kitchen.  With my own family's celebration pretty much complete, I've been left to think about my own Dad.  Of course some pretty fine diaries about rail transportation, including BruceMcF's diaries on high speed rail, a favorite of Daddy's, always bring him to mind.  Of course Daddy was  more than a rail fan.  And that's where tonite's memories begin:

If you've finished your own Mother's Day celebrations or remembrances for today, I'd like to invite you to spend a few minutes with mine.  Mom's in a nursing home now, no longer ambulatory, and most of her memories have left her, so we weren't able to chat about all the things I'd like to thank her for.  But if you pull up a seat and help yourself to a tall cool one, I'd like to share a taste of Mom with you.

Nice to see you in the kitchen tonite! I didn't cook much tonite, it was too nice a day and I got wrapped up watching the deer and the wild turkeys in the back.  But there's always time for a little after dinner chat, so clear yourself a spot, grab a dessert or an after-dinner drink pull up a chair and join me.

Watching all the new life in the critter world took me back a bit today, want to go there?

Welcome to my kitchen!  Clear yourself a spot and pull up a seat around the table.  I hope you don't mind the papers, I've been writing a letter to the next generation in my family.  I was inspired today by Cookiebear's diary about the lessons of the Irish Potato Famine and have decided to write a bit of my own family's history down for the next generation, starting with one of my great-grandfathers.  Care to take a look?  Pour a Guiness or a hot Irish Coffee and follow me below the jump.

A couple of thing happened recently which caused me to have a bit of an epiphany.  The first was the showing of "An Inconvenient Truth" by the college Dems on the campus of the junior college where I'm an adjunct.  I'm proud to report that the room was packed and the gasps were audible. The second was one of those parental revelations when my oldest began lobbying hard for driving privileges - because he's finally been bitten by hormone fever.  Holy Smoke!  This kid is sixteen and a half!  He will be old enough to vote in the next election - my baby!

Sunday evening and the dinner dishes are cleared away.  While the washer runs, time to pour a drink and pull a chair up to the kitchen table for some after-dinner chat.  This week, I was particularly touched by two diaries, this one by Brahman Colorado, reminding us of the liberation of Auschwitz, and plf515's diary about his rabbi. Together, they reminded me of my own first glimpse of these issues as a child, and how important it is that all of our children learn the lessons of history. So here begins my tale:

In a letter to the editor published in the Washington Post on January 17, Cully Stimson has apologized for his earlier comments damning those who would give their time to represent alleged terror detainees, and has attempted to clear up any misunderstanding about his prior remarks.

Been working hard to get it all done before the big events start with your tribe?  Take a break and join me for a cup of your favorite beverage.  I don’t want to put dessert out before dinner, but you’re welcome to taste anything that’s cooking – just to make sure it will be perfect.  

As we rush the final preparations toward completion, we approach the Holidays not as a discreet event, but as part of a mosaic which includes all of our holidays past, and which carry the traditions and lessons learned from all of those who have gone before us. A look over the holiday letters of Christmas past may tell us quite a bit about where we were and how far we’ve come.  Indeed, those letters may be the first draft of the history that our children tell on us long after we’re gone.

Demswin06 posted a fine diary this morning entitled The Troops Want to Stay???discussing a staged event on Bob Gates' "listening tour" in which GIs urged Gates to continue on with the catastrophic disaster that is now the Iraqi civil war.

As I pondered the diary, I recalled a piece in last Sunday's Tennessean entitled Fighting Spirit Carries Marine.