No original thinking in the "10 Questions…" post by Ha Bibi above - it was a cut and paste from HumanEvents.com which calls itself "The Headquarters of the Conservative Underground." Yawn.

Agy - The Help is both heart-wrenching and heart-warming. It is told through the voices of two African American women who spent their lives working for white people, loving and caring for their children, cleaning their homes and cooking their meals. I’ve had strong reactions to this book - anger, sadness, but mostly a loving appreciation of the author’s treatment of her characters. It’s a wonderful read, I promise.

Thank you, Roxanne, for these intriguing recommendations. Seeing a list of titles I haven’t read and some I haven’t even heard of is like finding a friend’s special surprise gift on your front porch. Another novel, a beautifully written and powerful account of domestic life in the deep South during the sixties, is The Help. The author, Kathryn Stockett, has that enviable ability of creating characters who leap off the page and straight into one’s heart.

Judge Sotomayor is an excellent choice for the Supreme Court. A brilliant scholar, a woman, a Latina - she will be a truly balanced, moderate voice on the Bench. I celebrate the President’s wise selection.

C  Hardy - No one is preaching to you, but as you so clearly stated, we have a right to express ourselves and our disgust that on Memorial Day you and other posters would choose to villify our President. I doubt that our service men and women would do the same about their Commander in Chief. They have shown great respect and enthusiasm for him since January 20th. As for my not posting here often - I was one of the original contributors to this website, back in the days when writers wrote more enthusiastically about the topics offered and more courteously to one another. I loved checking what was posted each day and I often added comments that were part of interesting and lively exchanges. Several months ago, when the negative responses and the nasty remarks began to outnumber the truly thoughtful and thought-provoking posts, I, and several other regulars on wow, got tired of the immaturity and sniping. I try to use my time constructively, and I realized that constantly having to either defend my position or ignore the negativity was not how I wanted to spend it, so I posted less and less. Today’s Memorial Day topic drew me and I was appreciating what was written until I got to yours and deber B’s posts. Then it all started going south, with potshots at the President. And I do consider that sad, especially today.

C Hardy and deber B - your two posts above are examples of precisely why I rarely visit the wow website any longer. Today, on Memorial Day, you still find it necessary to make snide criticisms about our President about whose speech writing you know absolutely nothing. You just can’t get it through your heads that we finally have an honest, intelligent leader in the Oval Office. How sad. 

I have family members who served in the military, who died on foreign soil, and others whose bodies and minds were broken by their service.. What I know is that they all realized the risks when they enlisted, perhaps hoping to serve in times of peace and not during war, that their reasons for joining were not lofty and idealistic, that they had realistic goals - becoming educated, seeing other parts of the world, receiving a steady paycheck and three square meals a day, supporting their families - all those in addition to wearing a military uniform. When we lose women and men during wartime, we tend to place them on pedestals, but they would be the first to tell you that they would rather be remembered as people who just did the jobs they were trained to do. I am overwhelmed with sadness for every life lost, every potential unrealized, and every family which will never feel whole again.There is no justice in war - which has destroyed and continues to destroy lives whether military or civilian.

Bill Gates, Jr. chose as his wife a woman whose strength and values echoed those of his mother, Mary. Melinda Gates has always been a splendid and equal partner for Gates. She seems to always keep him centered and focused. The senior Gates’ dedication to his family and the Gates Foundation is quite a guy, himself. This tribute to the strong women in his life just accentuates all his positives.

Since only the two people involved know the dynamics of their marriage, it is ridiculous for any of us to pass judgment on the Edwards. However, the thought of Elizabeth Edwards’ tell-all book makes me uncomfortable. It has probably been a cathartic experience for her and it will undoubtedly be an embarrassment for him, but for the life of me, I can’t fathom why she would expose their personal lives to the public, particularly when there are children involved. As for Elizabeth’s remaining with John - well, Hillary made the same choice and it seems to be working out well for her and Bill.

I say the mom is right - mostly because we women have had to work twice as hard for three times as long to be acknowledged as possessing even 8/10s of the brain-power as men.

So many of us live with debilitating illnesses and we cope in whatever ways our spirits, our medical care, and our bodies allow. Michael J. Fox has chosen to turn his illness into a positive by being open and frank about all his symptoms and challenges and by creating a foundation that will expedite the research to bring about a cure for Parkinson’s disease I admire his mettle and the way he conducts his life. When a cure is found, Michael J. Fox will surely be acknowledged as one of those who worked to make it possible.

Frannie - I don’t watch "reality TV" often but I have watched the Gosselin’s program off and on because I think the sextuplets are adorable, and one of my daughters lives near them and sees them occasionally. What you should know is that they are paid an enormous sum for their program, a sum which allowed them to purchase a million dollar (plus) home recently, and that all their trips, clothing for the children, toys etc. are provided for them in exchange for the marketing exposure received by the companies that supply them. Apparently, they also have several "nannies" that are rarely seen on TV. I don’t believe they have any financial problems, and, of course, do remember that they explicitly chose to have the sextuplets through fertility treatments. It just seems to me that a mother who constantly says "all we do is for the children" ought to be spending the greater part of her time with them instead of promoting the books she’s written about them. Methinks Kate doth protest too much.

The irony is that Kate Gosselin, who is traveling around the country, publicizing her books and giving advice to parents, appears to spend very little time at home rearing her own eight children. Her "parental expertise" is reminiscent of Phyllis Schafly’s insistence that wives shouldn’t work outside the home when all the while she, too, was on the road and building her own career.

I also agree with Frannie Em. Some Republican moms and their daughters would have been good to see. The McCains and the Bushes, yes. The Palins - not so much - although they, too, may exemply that "the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree."

Michelle Bachmann - dumb as a piece of wood. Not all her chairs are up at the table.

How about that! I’m delighted that Sen. Specter finally saw daylight, and I hope his switch to the Democratic Party motivates Norm Coleman to get off the dime and do what the majority of Minnesotans want him to do - let the democratic process prevail and concede to Al Franken so we can seat him in the Senate.