Early last August I was sitting at a panel at YearlyKos when I felt the buzz of my phone against my hip. I flipped it open and looked at the Caller ID; it was a dear friend who knew where I was. "Huh," I thought, "Something must be wrong. She wouldn't call now if it weren't an emergency." So I slipped quietly out of the panel to the hallway overlooking Lake Michigan and took the call.
"Glori, " she asked, "I just heard. Are you OK?"
And thus my life changed.
More after the flip.
I've been away from the site for a while. By way of explanation, some of you may know that I work in the mortgage industry. What you may not know is I work tangentially in Secondary Marketing, which is the division directly in the path of the firestorm that came to be known as the subprime mortgage crisis. Said friend's mother works in real estate, and the news coming down the wire was things were getting very bad, very fast. She was calling to see if I knew anything. I didn't. I'd been in Chicago, revisiting places from my college days and meeting old friends for the first time. We talked for a while and then I hung up, thinking I'd deal with it when I came home.
Little did I know...
So, I haven't been around much the past year; work, as they say, has been hell. I was a little surprised when Ben asked if I'd do this Second Anniversary Top Comments; although I've been in and out (but always reading, even silently from work), I honestly can't think of a "founder" less qualified to do it. So, rather than reflect, since I can't, I'd really like to look forward in this diary, and comment a touch on what i've seen as I've breezed through the site at odd hours of the night, waiting for releases.
It strikes me that we are a resilient bunch, we progressives. This year we've emerged, bloodied, from the primary battles; and while the scars are still fresh and invective still being tossed across the DMZ, we will pull together to ensure President-Elect Barack Obama takes the oath of office next January, current inside-baseball grudge matches aside. We've seen recent rumblings from SCOTUS that they are no longer amused by the petulant boy-king, the most recent being the restoration of the right of habeas corpus. We're watching the preznit's poll numbers dwindle to nothing, articles of impeachment being read out in Congress, and the American people finally waking up to what we've known all along -- that this administration needs to go. And go now. And along with them the utter bullshit that's made up so much of their game.
I like to think that Daily Kos, the bloggers and commenters here, and people all around America (and the world) that do what we do, are a large part of the 180 this nation is taking. Our voices were small at the beginning, but kept growing in strength and number until finally, we could no longer be drowned out by the fear mongering, hate, and outright lies the administration brought into play. We changed the tone of the discussion, and finally the discussion itself. We are changing the way things are being done.
We have a lot to be proud of. We also have a lot left to do.
And so, we keep doing what we're doing. My own story may illustrate this: the blogs and comments are a large part of what made me more aware of what was going on. I came to dKos a little over two years ago, knowing nothing about politics but tired of what I was seeing happening. I am now the 'go-to' person for many of my friends when they have political questions. I can intelligently discuss finer points of the political process and have strong opinions on candidates. I try to persuade my conservative friends to vote the right way. Frightened by Florida, i volunteered to help with Election Day work and am now an Inspector, in charge of her own polling place every Election Day. And while I can't volunteer for campaigns, I can throw money at them and have done so for the first time in my life, so that those of you who can, can keep moving the work forward.
The credit belongs to all of you.
This work must continue. because there's another 'me' joining the site as I type this, someone who's tired of the direction this administration is taking this country and wanting to learn more to help. Keep writing diaries, keep writing those comments. Let's band together and continue to change this country.
And I'll continue to come home as I can.
::
As a special treat, sardonyx pulled together a full listing of the diarists that have contributed to Top Comments over the past two years, along with the number of diaries they've presented. it's a pretty impressive list, and I'm adding it here with his comments:
We've had 729 so far: 363 in the first year (no diaries July 2 and December 31, 2006), and 366 the second year (every day including leap day!). Yours (ed's note: meaning me, gloriana) will be the 730th (and your 26th).
Current top TC diarists (through June 13, 2008)
Note that in case of a tie, the order is determined by who started writing for TC earliest. Separated into blocks of ten to make your reading easier, but I don't think they should be displayed with such breaks.
va dare: 77
Elise: 69
sardonyx: 62
carolita: 61
emeraldmaiden: 61
BeninSC: 38
kath25: 38
Ambrosius: 35
MissLaura: 29
Cronesense: 28
taylormattd: 26
gloriana: 25
noweasels: 24
Carnacki: 23
brillig: 23
cskendrick: 22
asimbagirl: 20
jlove1982: 14
Light Emitting Pickle: 14
monkeybiz: 9
silvercedes: 7
nonnie9999: 6
Progressive Witness: 4
AnonymousArmy: 2
MuffledDrum: 2
jessical: 2
pfiore8: 2
vertexoflife: 2
iliketodrum: 1
BuffaloGirl: 1
Craig Burnham: 1
OrangeClouds115: 1
::
Remember to keep those cards and letters coming! You can contribute your favorite comments of the day by sending them to topcomments AT gmail.com. Please remember to include your username so we can properly attribute you!
Land of Enchantment sends in:
A new twist on a tried and true comment from trashablanca, in OPOL's praise of a Netroots Nation Scholarship candidate.
BentLiberal gives us two:
Gooserock provides an enlightened comment on death based on his experience playing wakes as a musician.
Septima makes a telling comment on what the media covers and what it doesn't in Darksyde's great diary, An Open Letter to the Media.
va dare found this one:
In DarkSyde's diary re: Tim Russert's passing and the media's failure to report fully on the Iraq War, mauro7inf chides the author and others - here and elsewhere: I am ashamed in the Progressive movement.
A Siegel contributes these:
In my call for combining political smarts with energy smarts, notrouble brings insights from converting cars to electric vehicles to the question of improving gasoline efficiency
Staying with gasoline use, amid ETF's praise of coasting, socialwave points us to hypermiling and provides perhaps the best one-sentence statement about how we can think about driving more efficiently and ETF has a comment about the power of courtesy.
From OrangeClouds115:
I'd like to honor a few people that left comments in my diary today.
Mem from Somerville had a great idea about fundraising against the CA gay marriage ban
Browneyes donated against the ban!
Angry Mouse shared a great memory from the 2004 SF gay weddings
From Carnacki:
klizard on the importance of events in Pakistan in MediaFubar's excellent diary on events in Pakistan.
Regarding the 2nd anniversary of Top Comments, it's the fine work of the people like gloriana who have made it an institution and important part of Daily Kos. (ed's note: ::blush::)
carolita found this one:
pepper mint has a little 'splainin' for the GOP in Lucid Iguana's McCain campaign fails Lit 101.
noweasels sent in:
It was so great to hear that the Obama campaign is raising money for -- and sending volunteers to -- Iowa; and this apparently was not the first time our next President used his incredibly organized campaign to help out, as you can read in this comment from kossack Rene Wallin who also posted this terrific photo.
OrdinaryGal speaks for so many of us in this heartbreaking comment in TomP's superb diary on the tragic and preventable death of 17-year-old Maria Isabel Vasquez Jimenez. Please read it and take action.
From sardonyx:
leevank on why the Supreme Court's habeas decision is very important.
In last night's Open Thread and Diary Rescue, in response to Trix's post of Human ovulation caught on film for the 1st time, nonnie9999 decides to skip the eggs tomorrow at breakfast and starts off a punishing thread that pecks up nearly 100 responses, none of it chicken scratches. Modesty prevents any further characterization.
loralei points out that sexism affects both men and women.
::
Top Mojo (cskendrick/sardonyx-style) excluding search-identifiable tip jars and first diary comments:
1) many thanks by nika7k — 152
2) This doesn't embarrass you? by Keith Olbermann — 129
3) Thanks So Much for Speaking Out by BentLiberal — 129
4) Finally, a Tim Russert diary I can recommend. by haruki — 120
5) Insightful analysis by mcthatch — 113
6) Well said, DS. Short version: by Crashing Vor — 108
7) Gosh by nika7k — 104
8) This was a thoughtful and compelling diary by Septima — 103
9) Can we please, just for a second... by briankelley — 103
10) Yes by Keith Olbermann — 101
11) The Obama campaign helped when my by Rane Wallin — 87
12) I meant to add that I am a Big FOX changer---- by dotster — 81
13) Lets take a look at the websites by concordepa — 78
14) Guess who is about to write a letter? by Lava20 — 77
15) Christamighty... by CC Lee — 76
16) 50+ Obama People Will Be Sandbagging by isucyclones94 — 73
17) He had index cards by davefromqueens — 72
18) What I do is... by kharma — 72
19) This place is so amazing.... by dkmich — 71
20) I am ashamed in the Progressive movement. by mauro7inf — 70
21) I like this diary much more... by pat208 — 70
22) Thanks for the advice! by OIL GUY — 68
23) Grampy McBush by Jeff Y — 68
24) The self-absorption of the media in a time like by Superskepticalman — 66
25) how about this, instead? by Gottschalk — 66
26) Obama has done this before for something by Muzikal203 — 66
27) I'm rather new here, by Shelley99 — 65
28) Great work! by Red no more — 63
29) Hope your family is well by marketgeek — 61
30) Index cards? by Dallasdoc — 61
31) Here's my thing by socratic — 61
Top Mojo with No Exclusions:
1) McCain can't handle real questions by davefromqueens — 741
2) tips for change by realwischeese — 426
3) T/J: Thank you for your time and consideration by MisterOpus1 — 387
4) Welcome To Iraq by DarkSyde — 383
5) A Research Posse Assignment by dengre — 330
6) Pretty complicated financial set up for a guy by 8ackgr0und N015e — 260
7) Tips by JedReport — 249
8) Tips by nathguy — 212
9) Tip Jar by OIL GUY — 208
10) not going to post a tip jar by Gottschalk — 186
11) many thanks by nika7k — 152
12) Enough already...delete this diary by SallyCat — 130
13) Thanks So Much for Speaking Out by BentLiberal — 129
14) This doesn't embarrass you? by Keith Olbermann — 129
15) Finally, a Tim Russert diary I can recommend. by haruki — 120
16) Insightful analysis by mcthatch — 113
17) Well said, DS. Short version: by Crashing Vor — 108
18) Gosh by nika7k — 104
19) Can we please, just for a second... by briankelley — 103
20) This was a thoughtful and compelling diary by Septima — 103
21) Yes by Keith Olbermann — 101
22) 1 by JeffLieber — 91
23) We're doing great! by LithiumCola — 90
24) How about a link in your diary? by ksh01 — 89
25) The Obama campaign helped when my by Rane Wallin — 87
26) I meant to add that I am a Big FOX changer---- by dotster — 81
27) Lets take a look at the websites by concordepa — 78
28) Wow, just wow. by blue jersey mom — 78
29) tipped for activism by SarahLee — 78
30) Guess who is about to write a letter? by Lava20 — 77
::
And finally, our own va dare adds a Keith-style Special Comment. I'll end with it, as our beloved Keith does, and note only that she speaks for me as well:
When Carnacki launched this effort in June '06, Delaware Dem wrote: I think you are completely insane:
I once tried to do what SusanG does two years ago, compiling what I thought were great diaries of the day. This was before the Recommended List.
It was completely impossible and I gave up quickly. Thus, I have such admiration for SusanG.
But you are talking about Comments!
Comments Man!!!
You know what many millions of more comments there are then diaries????
So, you are insane.
But, hey, I never stopped a man from killing himself!
LOL
(Yes, I think it is a great idea).
Sometimes I think we should have taken Delaware Dem more seriously. Reading even a portion of the 20,000+ comments a day is a mind-boggling task - many have tried but only a few have agreed to do it regularly and report at the end of the evening.
If you've ever read any of the nightly TC nominations, you know that, all too often, Top Comments hang limp when viewed outside the context (diary AND thread). When pulling TC-duty, I try very hard to find bits of wisdom, insight, hopefully inspiration, that can stand alone. The name of the comment's author is, of course, the last thing I look at so I'm not looking for my personal posse - neither my 'site-buddies', blog-stars, clique nor any particular cohort.
Over the last year of candidate wars, it's been the peaceful aspect of our mission that keeps me coming back as a TC diarist. It's a free space - free of angst, free of hostilities, free with hugs, crying shoulders, and solid advice. With recipes, sunrises and sunsets, pooties and pie, health- and welfare-updates for pets, self, and/or SigOther(s).
I'm glad to be here and glad you're here with us.
::
Thanks for coming, thanks for being. Enjoy!