I have a confession to make...one that I'm not proud of.  But I'll get there in a minute.  Let me start with the backstory.  My grandmother was a dedicated genealogist.  I think it came partly from being adopted.  But at any rate, she was die-hard, and I seem to be the one grandchild that has inherited this interest.  Perhaps it stems from the same place as the history major, I don't know.  But at any rate, I have picked up her mantle (she died in 1999), and have been working on the family history in her stead.  (No, that's not the confession :) )

If your life depended on getting a nail through a plank of wood (and feel free to try and construct a scenario where this actually could occur...I sure can’t), and you didn’t have a hammer, and all hardware stores were closed, would you sit around and bitch about the lack of appropriate equipment, and refuse to try, all the while letting the clock tick down, in the hopes that one would magically appear, or would you use whatever you had close to hand (pen in your pocket, button on your overcoat, etc), even if it wasn’t likely to be very successful, in the hopes you could accomplish something, anything?

The point of that ridiculously long, grammatically torturous metaphor is to point out the absolutely disastrous philosophy that all too many progressives seem to have, particularly some very vocal ones here on DK.  I haven’t been too involved with DK before, only a few comments here and there, but I am a certifiably expert lurker, and I find myself shaking my head all too much and wondering why people don’t see what they are doing to themselves, their ideals, and this community.  Yes, I am referring specifically to the candidate diaries, but also to an intrinsic problem in the way progressives seem to approach politics, action and their long-term goals.

I had hoped, for my first diary someday, to write something incisive or elegant, you know, a real debut performance so to speak.  But I found myself driven to post this tonight, instead.  If you haven't read CaliforniaBabe's  diary, you might read it first.  A little research goes a long way.