We have so many insightful and powerful diaries written here at Daily Kos. Our diaries inform, inflame, impassion, and even entertain. We Kossacks have strong voices and an even stronger will to be the change we wish to see in this country.
One of the richest, and perhaps most under-appreciated, areas of thought come in the form of comments attached to these diaries.
Here at Top Comments we strive to recognize and promote the talent of this community by highlighting outstanding comments found throughout the day by the diarist, and through nominations at made at TopComments at gmail dot com by your fellow Kossacks.
These nominations are subjective, and certainly not complete (as no one can read the complete site on a daily basis!). But we hope they will serve to shine a light where deserved, and to give the reader a good starting point in finding conversation on the site.
Please come in and make yourself at home! Join us beneath the fold...
I mentioned in my Top Comments diary on congressional retirements ten days ago that my own representative, Marty Meehan, had been one of the retirees. Today is the special election primary to elect his successor; as I type this, the polls have just closed, and the counting is beginning. Soon we'll have the candidates for the general election, to be held six weeks from tonight, and the Fifth Congressional District of Massachusetts will once more be represented in the House of Representatives.
In my town this was the only item on the various party's primary ballots; when the special general election is held to decide the seat, my town will be piggybacking a tax override in the hopes of paying for the contracts for municipal employees that were finally settled after spring town meeting; we'll also have a special town meeting on the matter as well. I think we can expect even better turnout than today...and we're within shouting distance of last year's big primary turnout for the Deval Patrick victory (he did very well in my town).
One of the candidates in this election was a favorite of the liberal blogs: Jamie Eldridge. The diaries here on Daily Kos were overwhelmingly in his favor. The polls don't look good: Niki Tsongas, widow of the late Paul Tsongas, is the frontrunner in this election, but she's far more centrist. As I type this, I'm reminded of Hillary Clinton in the Presidential race. This race has two women and three men on the Democratic side (one of the men is a DINO). Turnout today, on the day after Labor Day, is even lower than anticipated in some places—seven percent in one of the bigger towns—so it's anyone's guess.
We will get a Democrat for this seat. The question is whether we'll get a real liberal, a true progressive. I was planning to keep this diary updated as returns came in...but they've just called it for Tsongas. With 70% of precincts reporting, Tsongas has 37%, Eileen Donoghue has 26%, Jamie Eldridge is at 17%, and Barry Feingold at 16%. It looks like I keep Eldridge as my state rep, and he's a good one...but damn, he would have made an excellent addition to congress.
Update: Final Special Election Results, Democrats, all precincts reporting
Nicola Tsongas: 36%
Eileen Donoghue: 31%
James Eldridge: 14%
Barry Feingold: 13%
James Miceli: 6%
~~~~~
We had a goodly helping of nominations appear in our TopComments mailbox, which has the address of
TopComments AT gmail DOT com
I thank everyone who nominated today, and also thank those who looked but didn't find anything that struck their fancy. I'm still pushing a good Kossitude: as long as you tried, I'm happy. :) (If you didn't look, well, pooh on you. Capital P in fact. Like this. :P )
Your select nominees can appear in Top Comments: all that is required is that you submit your discoveries—the direct link to a comment is available from that comment's date/time—to our address; as long as they arrive by 9:30pm Eastern Time, you're likely to see them in that night's diary. Please always include your Daily Kos user name, so we can credit you properly.
watercarrier4diogenes was the first of several early-morning submissions:
CJB writes a hilarious description of a puppy that loves to chase light in lightnessofbeing's diary In My Experience - 3rd and Final Camping Edition.
FishOutofWater submitted this one:
From my diary Bremer's Letters Debunk Bush on Iraq Army Dissolution, Ernest T Bass cuts to the chase about Bush's priorities when the decision was made to disband the Iraqi army.
From an Anonymous Submission:
Again citing FishOutofWater's diary above, ghengismom gives the set-up comment, and gets Cato come back's winning response.
From Light Emitting Pickle:
Hunter made me giggle with an insightful comment about why we shouldn't give ponies to the GOP.
Major Danby says:
I know that TC largely celebrates wit, but this one from leveymg deserves more readership purely for its substance.
RiaD writes:
(Keyboard/monitor alert!) Skeptical Spectacle gives us his opinion of this administration. [Note from sardonyx: not for the weak of stomach.]
va dare sent this one:
Don't ask me why - something about the whole thread ... when I got to this comment by psnyder, Right There With You, I did indeed LOL. It felt good. [Note from sardonyx: the thread starts with the diary's tip jar, then to ghost2's reply, after which it splits up a bit, though one of the children is psnyder's...]
Finally, a couple of top comments found by your editor du jour, sardonyx, with the aid of the intermittent Search function:
TocqueDeville has some thoughts on the "conspiracy theorists" meme and how it sometimes allows people responsible for bad things to slip off the hook. From Turkana's diary Cheney's top aide: "We're one bomb away" from our goal.
A nice thread from DavidNYC's front-page Looney Toons diary starts with JML9999 invoking Albert Einstein and ImpeachKingBushII the Three Stooges.
No Top Comments diary would be complete without that day's top comments by number, aka top mojo—those comments which have received the highest number of recommendations from Daily Kos users like you. Today's batch is supplied by your diarist and mojomaster, using cskendrick's mojo-to-Excel method with the scintillant sardonyx touch.
First, Top Mojo excluding search-identifiable tip jars, first diary comments, and C&J comments:
1) I am proud to say by ghost2 — 133
2) give if you can by dday — 126
3) I've told this story before, by latts — 81
4) if it takes forever by KnotIookin — 80
5) I wonder if she's been called by donnamarie — 65
6) C'mon Paul... by Scarce — 62
7) The least relevant part of Kos' argument by chumley — 58
8) George isn't lying. by Cato come back — 57
9) What an amazing story. by countrycat — 56
10) Front Page by donnamarie — 54
11) First of all, you don't know anything about by Brandon Friedman — 53
12) Right there with you. by psnyder — 51
13) I'm a mom.... by countrycat — 51
14) From Comey's testimony: by sidnora — 50
15) You fucking hack. by Bob Johnson — 49
16) Sticking your tongue out by Stoy — 48
17) These bushies have a high tolerance for by wuod kwatch — 47
18) al in 2008, GORE/OBAMA OR GORE/EDWARDS by bluecayuga — 46
19) o really by Carnacki — 44
20) AR, you've been a great contributor to this site. by chumley — 44
21) As soon as I saw the word "spit" by citizenx — 44
22) Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!!!!! by VirginiaBlue — 43
23) Also glad to see this by eugene — 42
24) Must be off the meds again. by kestrel9000 — 42
25) Hmmmmm by Rimjob — 41
26) Perhaps I'm looking too much into it, but by NYPopulist — 40
27) Does "one" wonder or do "you" wonder? by Brandon Friedman — 40
28) He did? by LithiumCola — 40
29) Outrageousness and illustrations help, too...; ) by Dood Abides — 39
30) Not to mention: by Greasy Grant — 38
31) you forgot about by terrypinder — 38
32) I think adding manure to the soil... by Bill in Portland Maine — 38
33) The checkbook, dialing hand and legs are ready. by dallasdave — 38
34) Go to my blog by bonddad — 38
35) Anything that sidetracks Michelle Malkin by citizenx — 38
Top Mojo with No Exclusions:
1) Tips for Al by NYPopulist — 415
2) Tips by davidkc — 313
3) Stick your tongue out! nt by rerutled — 276
4) Tips for a new handle by Brandon Friedman — 261
5) Tips for one justice system for blacks and whites by blueintheface — 256
6) Good night by Carnacki — 218
7) the more we learn, by Turkana — 192
8) Tips for the truth by FishOutofWater — 190
9) Tip Jar :-) by DJShay — 164
10) Tip Jar - 4 September by Jerome a Paris — 157
11) I am proud to say by ghost2 — 133
12) Tip jar... by uniongal — 126
13) give if you can by dday — 126
14) The kittens are fine by mango — 93
15) sniff by bumblebums — 90
16) I've told this story before, by latts — 81
17) if it takes forever by KnotIookin — 80
18) Tip Jar by AAbshier — 76
19) Tip Jar by LithiumCola — 65
20) I wonder if she's been called by donnamarie — 65
21) Happy Tuesday! :-) by Common Sense Mainer — 64
22) C'mon Paul... by Scarce — 62
23) Tips by david mizner — 62
24) Sad news by histopresto — 58
25) The least relevant part of Kos' argument by chumley — 58
26) George isn't lying. by Cato come back — 57
27) What an amazing story. by countrycat — 56
28) Front Page by donnamarie — 54
29) Tip Jar by Eddie C — 54
30) Look into my eyes... by Debbie in ME — 54
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