SNIPPET OF THE DAY – AT 10:02 A.M. ET:

David Nelson, the elder son of Ozzie and Harriet Nelson, the brother of Rick Nelson and the last surviving member of the television family that perhaps more than any other stood for the Eisenhower-era middle-class American dream, died at home in Los Angeles on Tuesday. He was 74.

It may have been artificial, superficial, and sugar-coated, but "Ozzie and Harriet" had a serenity and decency that told us that family was a pretty important thing.  We could use a little of that today.

January 13, 2011