I apologize to everyone ... sshd is fine problem was my trying to install debian over a RedHat 6.2 distribution. I assume I got caught in the linux version of dll hell.
I spent another day reinstalling, this time with /usr clean and not just / /boot /var clean. I assume mismatched libraries in old /usr crossed up with newer debian code. In any case, my system is stable (w/ debian unstable) again. Lesson is never install on top of another system. Heitzso