The words of John Donne came tumbling back to me as I read this Mr. Keillor and then I realized you had framed the emotion of the moment so perfectly as to viscerally provide a picture of the angst you carried that I could relate to.

Death in its many forms seems to stun us all when in close proximity … but the more haunting spectre is the loneliness and grief of the survivors of those who have an unnoticed passing …. Often not close at hand but instead in far off places …

I am a senior who has wept quietly inward for so long because of the irrecoverable loss felt in many places and hearts as the madness continues on the far side of the world … Your words have brought that reality back into stronger focus for me today …

Thank you … and forgive me my moment of wanting to feel that all the innocents should have their passing taken note of as nobly as you did for “Alma” ….

Garrison is one of my favourite (Note the 'Canadian' English spelling of 'Favorite') writers and has oft lightened or moved my heart & mind with his gentle musings ... but alas this subject matter is so very painful that the smile today was rather forced as I read his lines.

That my thought that the harsh reality of watching the lady in question as she did not wink, blink or raise a fluttering eyelash after Joe Biden's emotional moment of pain during the VP debate was perhaps just a momentary slip is now so evidently wrong.

That insidious darkness of her character that slithered suspiciously in my subconscious bloomed into a full reality and was wickedly driven home over the weekend by her similar cold refusal to refute a supporter who called out "Shoot Him" when she slurred Senator Obama during a stump speech.

The dark days are still abundantly a possibility and for those of us who wept through the deaths of the brothers Kennedy and good brother Martin L. King it is just to much.

"Who knows what evil lurks in the heart of men (women)" obviously Mr. Keillor has an inkling .... but he too is hoping against hope that the evil will be banished to a netherworld .... as do we all ....

Superb touch of the lingua franca applied to the desperate and heroic nature of our times. This is literature worth reading .... Thank you Garrison.

The producers of and the participants in the video are to be commended for keeping the content and comments concentrated on facts and speaking to the essence of what matters ... Bravo!

This video should be seen by all women in America prior to the election and it is a pity that it will likely only be seen by a few hundred or perhaps a thousand.

To all involved ... There is some consolation in knowing you have done your part in trying to inform others about the true nature and demeanour of the Governor of Alaska.

America requires someone to bind up the wounds of the nation (and the world) and that cannot happen should "Angry Old Man of the Desert and Whoopee the Ice Queen" (as the Republican ticket is so aptly adumbrated) become the nations first among equals. We believe that Barack Obama has shown himself to be the worthy 'that one' for the American people in this time of economic and social/philosophical trial and tribulation.

The finest leadership has been manifestly demonstrated during the campaign by Mr. Obama through his calm weathering of the storms of ferocious and vehement character attacks ... He has been, in his steadfastness, so alike the man described in the musing quote of Alexander Pope ...

"A brave man thinks no one superior who does him injury; for make himself superior to the other by forgiveness."

We do honestly pray for the well being of the Great Republic and earnestly trust to the wisdom of its citizenry to elect the wise and lean young man to the Presidency and thus restore the "Glory and the Dream" that once was the gatepost of the nation that lured the citizenry of the world to America. May the country be blessed with the wisdom so beseeched by those who continue to hope like Mr. Keillor.

Breathlessly the world awaits the inauguration of the person so many hopes have been cast upon. Let everyone give him the support he will need for indeed the world is in the midst of great upheaval and insecurity at this time.

Hope has prevailed ... "Let Freedom Ring" ... Surely Martin Luther King Jr. and the tens of thousands who bore the struggle and have passed from this world will now sleep more comfortably in eternity ....

America ... This is your finest hour!

The timely advice given and astute observations are no doubt but a small part of the torrent of such words that will follow from all corners of society ...

While we really like the cultured nuance in what Mr. Keillor has offered here, we ourselves are hesitant to proffer any lengthy words of intellectual, political or social guidance to one who has so adroitly navigated the shoals of public parsing and perusal as has President Elect Obama over the past two years.

We can but say that we like many tens of millions of others support him in this America's hour of greatest need ... for indeed "These are the Times that try men's souls".

PS: The Dog is fine ... but do also get a cat ... they are a comfort to stroke at 3am in the Oval Office ... especially when the magnitude of the task may occasionally overwhelm all other thoughts.