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Remembering Tim Russert

Tim Russert and his son Luke, on Luke's first birthday. From the Big Russ and Me Photo Album.

A touching tribute a by Linda Keenan at Huffington Post:

There are three people who gave me a passionate love of news and the only one is left, John McLaughlin. The other two were my mother, who died a decade ago, and Tim Russert, who died today. This is one of the rare moments I'm happy Mommy isn't around to switch on the news, because this would have crushed her.

Tim Russert is already being lionized for the Washington powerhouse that he was, but I wanted to express what he meant to a little-girl news junkie growing up far from the action of national politics, sitting around wonkishly watching the news with her Mommy. For me, he was the superstar who made it out, but still wasn't ashamed of where he came from.

My parents were Reagan Republicans, and I came of age in Albany New York in the 1980s. My home was fervently Irish-Catholic, obsessed with Holy Cross and Boston College, and filled with laminated, well-worn novenas. It didn't matter that Tim Russert had worked for Mario Cuomo (disliked by my parents) or Pat Moynihan (respected by my parents, not for his politics, but for his intellect and, let's face it, his ethnicity). Tim Russert was our guy, and Mommy was intensely protective of the young journalist phenom she called her "big teddy bear".

More here.

Russert remembered for his fondness for church, faithfulness

An unforgettable lesson from the sheriff of TV news

Reactions to Russert's Passing

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Catching up

Having some trouble falling asleep, which kinda sucks as I need to get up for work in the morning.

Our power finally came on after midnight, by the way. Wednesday, we were out of town all day, and Thursday I was at work during the day, and only managed one quick post before the storm blew out power for houses on our street.


We've enjoyed some pleasant family time, both Wednesday at Put-in-Bay and hanging out together in the living room with no TV or computer as the sun set Thursday evening. Will share more about the mini-vacation as time and internet connection permit, but now I'd like to share some blog headlines from the last couple days. One less thing to be turning over in my head should make it easier for me to quiet my mind and fall asleep.

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More "clear skies"?

I was just reading something to Demetrius about the group of so-called former Clinton supporters voting for McCain. When I mentioned that the group was called "Women for Fair Politics", he mentioned that the name had that ring of "healthy forests", "clear skies", or any or those other Bush initiatives that is the opposite of its name.

The Dispatch reported today that Carly Fiorina is airdropping into Ohio to fan the flames with the supposed "angry" Ex-Hillary supporters.

Apparently the group, Women for Fair Politics, invited Fiorna to speak.

I wonder how a group called "Women For Fair Politics" which basically is no more than a single web page put up as a free blogger website and is curiously registered to a man, could get Carly Fiorina, "victory chairman" for the Republican National Committee, to drop everything and fly in to Columbus.

And then it hit me. it's because Queen of the Ohio GOP and Carly's RNC Co-Chairman, Columbus' own JoAnn Davidson, told her to.

Get right down to it and Carly Fiorina and her background are about as far from the policies of Hillary Clinton as you could possibly get.

More here.


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Good Night, Galaxy

Here's a beautiful picture of a small part of our home galaxy from The Hubble Heretage Project. Read the image caption and explanation.

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Wednesday Open Thread

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Blogging in Tongues

Via Time Magazine's blog Swampland

A group of Ohio bloggers has organized an ingenious protest against a House-passed bill that would require state agencies to use only English. (A goofy and pointless piece of legislation, considering they already pretty much do.) You can read about it at Jill Miller Zimon's Writes Like She Talks.

I actually added Jill's post to my Google shared items a little earlier, but I think this is worthy of some front page love as well.

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In case I haven't said it lately....

Thank you, Howard Dean!

Dean's 50-State Strategy for the Democrats
The party chairman's decision is paying off

Obama, Dean and the 50-state strategy

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Dogma's Kickoff Party

My mom, Ellen Garneau (also known as "Dogma" here), is running for the Vermont State House!

You are all invited to her campaign kick-off party at 5:30pm on June 22nd, at the Recreation Center on Furnace Rd in Pittsford. Any friends of ours (anyone that blogs here) is welcome to stay at our house while you're here. I hope some of you can come!

For more information on Dogma's campaign, or to make an online contribution, please visit www.ellengarneau.com

Thanks!

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Most amazing day

I have to head to campus now to finish up last minute stuff before giving a final. Before I leave, I thought I'd share the link to Rev. Susan Russell's post about preaching at the civil union ceremony of Bishop Gene Robinson and his partner Mark Andrew. (She included this poem by e. e. cummings in her post.)

i thank You God for most this amazing day:
for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky;
and for everything which is natural
which is infinite
which is yes
(i who have died am alive again today,
and this is the sun's birthday; this is the birth
day of life and love and wings: and of the gay
great happening illimitably earth)
how should tasting touching hearing seeing breathing any-
lifted from the no of all nothing-
human merely being
doubt unimaginable You?
(now the ears of my ears awake and
now the eyes of my eyes are opened)
- e e cummings

On a sad note, while Susan was out of town, she received news that her dog Harvey had died. (As a devoted pet owner, that sort of thing is one of my fears any time I leave home in any sort of overnight/extended stay.

I knew that the Brooks-Russell family had two dogs, Harvey and Luna--with their own blog, no less. Anyway, I added this part in case anyone wanted to share your condolences.

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On "sinners and tax collectors"

In today's gospel reading, the high ranking religious muckety-mucks of Jesus' day wonder aloud how much cred Jesus can have as a holy man, given that he is seen eating with "sinners and tax-collectors".

That always makes me smile...not for any deep theological reasons, but because of the childhood memory it evokes.

The very first definition I "fast mapped" for tax collector was "one who mooches a bite of your dessert". I learned this because those were the words my father routinely uttered while engaging in that practice. "Tax collector!"

Mind you, I had no idea what taxes actually were back then. I hadn't yet heard the expression about "death and taxes" being inevitable. I did know that "Tax collector!" was inevitable. And mostly harmless, as far as I could tell.

That is, until I learned that tax collectors were singled out as unsavories in the bible. "Sure, it's a little annoying," I (probably) thought, "but it can't be that bad!"

The actual details of this story are lost to time and no doubt distorted through retelling, so I can't say with certainty how this misunderstanding was actually resolved. My sense is that I realized that there must be other kinds of tax collectors, and I made a mental note to ask my father about it at the next available opportunity.

In any event, now you know why today, when I heard, "And as he sat at dinner in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and were sitting with him and his disciples," I mused to myself, "I hope someone thought to make extra dessert!"

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All things bright and beautiful

Happy Sunday




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