Anyone who has spent 15 minutes on this site in the past week has encountered a righteous rant. It’s been a busy week for me and the odd minutes I have had to spend online have primarily been here, scrolling through diaries and muttering to myself (and the cats). Cruising through my own offerings, I find my normally verbose comments have been reduced to: "Damn straight!" or "Bingo" or "You’ve Got that Right!" or my personal favorite "You can have Steney Hoyer" (as I pawned him off on Kevin in LongBeach).
Of course, Hunter is Master of the Rant, although he is often too meta for some tastes. No meta this time, though, in No More Septembers. But he was certainly not alone. A (small) sampling of righteous rants I related to yesterday:
A rant is a widespread and distinctive form of emotional communication taking the form of a series of complaints or attacks, about a topic of interest, often political. According to Wikipedia, there is a scholarly field of endeavor devoted to ranting
The scholarly discussion of ranting begins with the observation that ranting is likely universal, probably evolutionarily conserved, and therefore putatively performs a vital function
So, hanging out on dKos and ranting with the best of them has a evolutionary advantage. I can see how that would be worth a PhD. So what has the study of ranting discovered?
The biological basis of ranting is found in a distinctive temporary excitation of the central nervous system. Functional-neuroimaging studies suggest that during a rant the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (the conscious reasoning center of the brain) is not activated. Instead activation is found in parts of the central nervous system which function outside conscious awareness, including those systems which process emotional reward. Other biologically based behaviours include the fear of falling, and the fear of the stranger's stare.
Feel smarter already, don’t you? Good, ‘cause that’s all the enlightenment I have for you here. To paraphrase the immortal Arlo Guthrie, I didn’t come here to talk about evolutionary psychology. This is a diary about Jim Hightower.
When I was growing up in Dallas, Jim Hightower was the Texas Agricultural Commissioner. He is best remembered in that office, which he held for a decade, for his support of organic food production, alternative crops (yes, hemp), regulation of pesticides, and his strong support for direct marketing efforts by small farmers. In short, he was the best thing Texas agriculture had ever seen.
And he was (and is) a Progressive Democrat. Before becoming Ag Commissioner Hightower had served for 8 years as editor of theTexas Observer, a great progressive political news magazine published in Austin since 1954. In 1990, thoroughly fed up with the havoc shrub had wrought on Texas, Hightower ran against his hand-picked successor, Rick Perry, narrowly losing to the electoral machinations of Karl Rove.
So how did I get from Hightower to rants tonight? Via va dare, who sent me an e-mail this morning pointing to a wonderful rant by Jim Hightower: Can You Believe This War Is Still Going On? In his brilliant exegesis Hightower explains shrub’s family values: the Brady Bunch does Iraq. You really want to read this, but I wouldn’t leave you without a little sample. Here is Hightower, winding up to let loose on George the Pious:
On Easter Morning, George W. made another of his periodic shows of Standing With The Troops. He attended church services in the chapel at Fort Hood in Kileen, Texas, after which he offered to the assembled media this pious little announcement: "I had a chance to reflect on the great sacrifice that our military and their families are making. I prayed for their safety. I prayed for their strength and comfort. And I pray for peace."
He prayed for our troops' safety? How clueless is he? George, you have the troops stuck in another country's vicious civil war. They're under attack from every direction by every faction, every hour of every day, hit by car bombs, roadside bombs, chlorine bombs, IEDs, suicide bombs, rocket fire, mortar rounds, snipers, and assassins. There is no safety in Iraq.
He prayed for peace? George, YOU made this war. Don't put it on God! The ONLY reason that America is in Iraq is because you, "Buckshot" Cheney, Rummy, and the rest rode us into an invasion and occupation on a pack of lies. God didn't do this, YOU did. Praying won't get it done. God helps those who help themselves. You have peace in your own hands.
So when you see a righteous rant that you think is a top comment, send it to:
topcomments at gmail dot com
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And now for tonight’s comments:
From Light Emitting Pickle:
From LithiumCola, in last night's Top Comments: Nail, meet head
From bronte17:
Simple, but beautifully stated by claude.
From creeper
big spoiled baby spells outthe difference between Gore and Commander Codpiece in NYPopulist's diary Gore Spokeswoman: Al is Overwhelmed by Support to Run.
From peace voter
nowness shines a light on the real reasons US troops are in Iraq in Anglico's pithy and highly recommended diary F*** you, Mr. President.
From greenies
john07801 eloquently captured the importance of remembering those who are losing their lives in Iraq in IGTNT: Every Day is Memorial Day. Very few people even read the IGTNT series, yet this person obviously puts a great deal of time into reading it to better understand the significance of the individuals who have died.
From cronesense
From LithiumCola's diary, Deleted - With Apology, our very own Robyn has a classic line that had me saying,
"Ain't that the truth!" This needs to become a new meme!
From Allison in Seattle
geomoo provides some wondeful empathy and support to a soldier in Iraq and enlightenment for the rest of us in cosoldier’s Just Another Reason to Bring Us Home, a GREAT diary to bring focus to, also, a soldier trying to get Conscientious Objector status in Iraq.
From me
Rusty1776 has written one of the great keeper diaries of dKos. Fabulous doesn't do justice toLeadership on Daily Kos. And the comments have also set a high standard:
Major props to vigilant meerkat and janisanfran for taking on Pelosi up close and personal -- you are dKos heros.
Hootenanny provides some surprising information about Palast's reporting on Katrina in drational's On Why Greg Palast is Dangerous.
Top Mojo excluding search-identifiable tip jars, first diary comments, and C&J comments:
1 - Dallas County.....Velvet Revolution.....102
2 - Michael Moore on Bill Maher........super simian.....96
3 - Nah.....emptywheel.....93
4 - Great Diary.....cohenzee.....85
5 - Al Gore puts on jeans and a t-shirt,.....big spoiled baby.....72
6 - No, he only helped Democrats get elected in 2006.....judybrowni.....71
7 - I couldn't agree more my friend! n/t.....One Pissed Off Liberal.....70
8 - I would never suggest that Greg Palast.....vome minnesota.....59
9 - A Gore Presidency would transcend history.......4democracy.....58
10 - The whole first post:.....ezdidit.....57
11 - I like the tone of your diary......Asinus Asinum Fricat.....55
12 - My hope is that he can change the process.....NYPopulist.....54
13 - Brilliant and inspiring diary.....vigilant meerkat.....53
14 - And it is a pattern......Bob Johnson.....53
15 - IOKIYAR.....Democratic Consultant.....53
16 - Thanks, He Says (A Little Embarrassed).....AaronBa.....52
17 - WOW.....PatriotTCB.....48
18 - Right. Like "BREAKING: Rove indicted!".....Bob Johnson.....48
19 - "Tell no man".....Tigana.....46
20 - Thanks for this, and thank you for your service.....blue jersey mom.....46
21 - When he said.....delphine.....46
22 - Iris Triangle (photo).....Kayakbiker.....45
23 - General Hayden's response when asked Valerie's.....groggy.....45
24 - Thank you dear......Anglico.....44
25 - I thought you.....Dreaming of Better Days.....44
26 - No more excuses.....TomP.....44
27 - * sigh *.....Kingsmeg.....43
28 - What is your defense?.....HarveyMilk.....42
29 - Good Diary, NYPopulist.....JekyllnHyde.....42
30 - I didn't see combat.....Anglico.....41
Top Mojo with No Exclusions:
1 - The man ahead of me in line.....NYPopulist.....378
2 - Being a veteran.....Anglico.....293
3 - It's time for Kossack leadership.....Rusty1776.....252
4 - As an entertainer, he is excellent.....drational.....168
5 - tips.....thereisnospoon.....153
6 - Shockwave's shot glass.....Shockwave.....139
7 - Dallas County.....Velvet Revolution.....102
8 - Michael Moore on Bill Maher........super simian.....96
9 - lol.....Plutonium Page.....93
10 - Nah.....emptywheel.....93
11 - Great Diary.....cohenzee.....85
12 - Insidious treason.....Rusty1776.....79
13 - The picture of my dad was taken.....Frankenoid.....73
14 - Al Gore puts on jeans and a t-shirt,.....big spoiled baby.....72
15 - Tip jar.....Pivot.....72
16 - No, he only helped Democrats get elected in 2006.....judybrowni.....71
17 - I couldn't agree more my friend! n/t.....One Pissed Off Liberal.....70
18 - Bless them......noweasels.....67
19 - I would never suggest that Greg Palast.....vome minnesota.....59
20 - consider this a sigh of relief.....teacherken.....59
21 - A Gore Presidency would transcend history.......4democracy.....58
22 - The whole first post:.....ezdidit.....57
23 - I like the tone of your diary......Asinus Asinum Fricat.....55
24 - My hope is that he can change the process.....NYPopulist.....54
25 - And it is a pattern......Bob Johnson.....53
26 - Brilliant and inspiring diary.....vigilant meerkat.....53
27 - IOKIYAR.....Democratic Consultant.....53
28 - Thanks, He Says (A Little Embarrassed).....AaronBa.....52
29 - Right. Like "BREAKING: Rove indicted!".....Bob Johnson.....48
30 - WOW.....PatriotTCB.....48