I. Our Inspirations
Each of us has, at some point during our lives, felt inspired by the acts or words of another person. I should explain that when I write "felt inspired" I intend a fairly broad definition of the phrase. Thus, over the years, I have felt inspired not only by famous speeches such as those made by Dr. Martin Luther King or President Kennedy, but also by the words and deeds of my family and friends.
As you may recall, I have already written about my Dad, who is an inspiration to me and has had a profound impact on who I am. Again, he is an intelligent, unbelievably hard-working auto mechanic who has a great sense of humor. He instilled in me a deep appreciation for, and an understanding of the value of blue collar labor. Although he was never paid in accordance with the back-breaking labor he performed on a daily basis during my childhood, my father's hard work helped build a good life for our family.
My mother is no different; she has also been an inspiration to me. Like my father, she grew up in near poverty. She was an only child, and had the added responsibility, at least as a teen, of helping care for my grandfather, who had suffered what I believe were a series of strokes about when my mother was in middle school. When I was little, she was a "stay at home" mom for quite a few years, but re-entered the non-home workplace when I was in grade school. She took what she describes as the perfect job: a teacher's assistant at our grade school. She was able to work nearly the exact hours we were at school, and could be at home when we finished the school day. Like my dad, she was a union member (and she still is to this day). She is the hardest working person I know.
It is clear my mother learned her work ethic from her mother. My grandmother was Irish Catholic to the core. Her maiden name was Flannigan, and she reminded people of that quite frequently. She was very well-read, exceedingly intelligent, and told me many times that one of her biggest regrets was not finding a way to attend college. She was also a staunch liberal democrat. FDR was an absolute hero to her, and the easiest way to get her angry was to mention the name "Hoover". In fact, as she got older, she started being a little more, erm, "free" with her use of curse words. I recall vividly one instance where she declared (to other, more conservative relatives), "that bastard Hoover is rotting in Hell as we speak!!"
As you might expect, my grandmother learned to hate Hoover (and republicans) during the Great Depression. She was a little girl living in Connecticut when her father lost his job. He was, unfortunately, too proud to let his siblings know he was fired, and he didn't ask for help. Instead, he accepted a terrible job for almost no pay somewhere in the Florida panhandle, and relocated his family. My grandmother's story about what happened to her family in Florida sounds as if it was written by Steinbeck. They ended up homeless, living in tents in shantytowns, and my grandmother's mother died of pnuemonia before the family was rescued by an uncle who had learned of their dire situation. Like many whose families were decimated during the Great Depression, my grandmother scrimped and saved every penny she earned as an adult, and she placed a very high value on hard work. My grandmother was also fiercely loyal to her family, and regularly expressed how much she cared for her loved ones. She too was an inspiration to me.
I've talked about being inspired by family members, but I have to be honest, the true reason I decided to write about this topic is because of a youtube clip I watched yesterday. I am talking, of course, about the wonderful address given by Digby at the Take Back America Conference where she accepted the Paul Wellstone award. I see that mcjoan has posted part of the transcript, but please folks, take the time to watch this video.
Digby claims to be inexperienced at public speaking, but I certainly couldn't tell. Although I have previously heard and wholly understand the points she made in her acceptance speech, Digby just has a way of describing things that seems perfect to me. The speech truly inspired me, and here we are.
II. One Year Ago In Top Comments
ek made this suggestion in the recent one year anniversary edition of Top Comments, and I thought it was a great idea. So let's revisit what we were talking about one year ago today:
The hard-working BeninSC wrote the Top Comments diary for June 20, 2006. It was ever-so-quaintly titled, "Top Comments of the Day", and Ben and the "comment rescue crew" selected a wide variety of great comments to highlight.
Top Comments was just a little bit smaller back then (only 14 comments in the diary last year), but I simply have to highlight this thread, wherein Ben and Robyn appear to be getting to know each other.
I love reading old comments.
III. Tonight's Top Comments
Via willb48:
lineatus nails the correct term for to describe the republican form government: Hypocracy.
Via tryptamine:
deepfish explains the most important difference between conservatives and Nazis
Via waitingforvizzini:
acerimusdux provides a thoughtful analysis of the nature of the Iraq supplemental bill, pork, and politics in general.
Via MissLaura:
Trapper John skewers the Bloomberg candidacy and all who would support it.
Via noweasels:
litigatormom on a new definition for blastocysts in DarkSyde's too true front-page diary The Strange Priorities of George Bush.
Also, I would like to recommend worried dem's debut IGTNT diary, which is a beautiful tribute to five courageous young men.
Via Elise:
clonecone and GOTV (two of my favorite people) note why Bloomberg isn't someone to consider as much of anything...let alone a candidate.
ablington and PatsBard start off a great conversation about mandating community service.
Via Asimbagirl:
I thought that this analysis from Kovie in Horsefeathers diary was very interesting.
This comment by pasadena beggar highlights how I feel much of the time - how is stuff like this happening in my country?
Top Mojo
Without tip jars, C&J, or first comments:
With everything:
We have so many insightful and powerful diaries written here at Daily Kos. Our diaries inform, inflame, impassion, and even entertain. We Kossacks have strong voices and an even stronger will to be the change we wish to see in this country.
