Yesterday, when posting Reviews on the front page, kos wrote:
Steve Gilliard:
Sniff. I miss him.
Steve Gilliard was the third guest poster kos asked to blog for him when travelling and unable to post, and that first guest blog post was almost five years ago, on April 3, 2003. I won't be able to post on the five-year anniversary of that date, so with that date less than two weeks away, and such a recent reminder of his excellent work, I'm going to ask you to join me on the flip with a vast array of links to his work here on Daily Kos.
There's nothing I can say about Steve Gilliard's writing that hasn't been said better by people who knew him well, and read him long before I became acquainted with his writing. I came to Daily Kos after he'd moved on to writing his own blog, so I didn't find his writing until much later. And much of it on Daily Kos I still hadn't seen until this week.
Before I go any further, I should point to the prime resource for Steve Gilliard's writings at The Group News Blog. Their Memoriam sidebar reads:
Blogging because if we didn't, Steve would totally kick our asses. RIP, Brother. And eff the effing Yankees.
Although Steve's own blog began operation on August 6, 2003, well before Daily Kos moved to Scoop that October, he continued contributing to the front page into September. He signed up for a Scoop account, and made 1200 comments through January 2007. (Note: MissLaura was the one who noticed I'd only mentioned 50 comments; this paragraph was greatly revised after her correction in the comments.) These are searchable on the current site, but under two accounts: stevegilliard (userid 1565) accounts for the bulk of them, but in 2004, he created steve gilliard (userid 9795) and used it to write 50 comments in a two-month period between April 14 and June 13, 2004. Here are links to search comments as stevegilliard and steve gilliard.
The problem with finding Steve Gilliard's work on Daily Kos is that virtually all of it is at the archived, Movable Type (pre-Scoop) site...and that site has no way of distinguishing between authors of front-page posts. No searching, no nothing. The same is true of comments: the comments are displayed in a separate window, and there isn't a way to externally link to a particular comment in the thread, only to the entire thread itself.
Steve's first comment on Daily Kos (hat tip to taylormattd's Top Comments diary on First Comments) was on October 1, 2002, responding to Markos's diary NJ Dems have GOP boxed in. The diary was from the previous afternoon, and talked about scandal-plagued Senator Robert Toricelli's announcement that he was abruptly ending his run for another term as Senator from New Jersey (with Forrester as Toricelli's GOP opponent):
Forrester deserves this fix. He ran a campaign based on "The Torch is a crook", not what he would do for New Jersey.
This guy's views are opposite of the mainstream of the state's voters and he knows it. And if he whines, fine, McGreevey will pull the election and even if the Dems lose completely, unlikely, they would just make it clear that McGreevey would appoint (Menendez, Pallone, Andrews) if the Democratic slate won.
It's the Carnahan vote all over again.
Posted by sgilliard at October 1, 2002 09:22 AM
His original signature was sgilliard, but he changed it to steve gilliard before the month was out [Update:] with his second comment on October 11. It would become steve_gilliard in summer of 2003.
I have somewhat limited space here, so I want to start with Steve's commenting in the weeks before his first front-page story on April 3, 2003, immediately before the invasion of Iraq five years ago. Originally, this diary was going to run on Friday, and was going to include Steve's comments and front-page stories, but as I'm taking over tonight's diary for va dare, who is not feeling well, I'm taking the chance to split it into two sections. So tonight, links to all of Steve's comments starting on March 12, 2003, one week before the U.S. invaded Iraq, and going through April 2, 2003, the day before he started on the front page of Daily Kos. Eventually, I hope to expand this into links to all of Steve's comments and all of his front-page posts, and place both into the dKosopedia. I'll be sure to announce in Top Comments when the project is complete.
In the list below, I've given the diary titles with a link (all written by Markos unless otherwise specified) that Steve commented on, and then a link to the comment thread. For Open Threads, I haven't bothered to link to the diary, just the comment thread. I hope this is a readable format; I expect I'll go with a bulleted list in the dKosopedia version. [Late note: I've just changed it to a bulleted list in the actual diary, for easier reading.]
March 12:
• Iraqi 'drone' made of duct tape has two comments from Steve
• Kurtz serves up bad news galore for Bush has two comments.
March 13:
• Turkey driving a hard bargain has one comment from Steve
• Blair: resolution 'less likely' also has one comment
• Senate passes abortion bill has one comment
• White House controls press has three comments
March 14:
• Candidates stump in Spanish has two comments from Steve
• Coalition of the Three to stage summit has one short comment
• In the "rest of day" Open Thread, Steve had two comments
March 15: Markos set up an Open Thread for Iraq comments only, and Steve made nine in all. There were only two other diaries that day, and Steve didn't comment in either of them.
March 16:
• Another Iraq Open Thread started the day, and Steve wrote three comments therein
• He wrote eight comments in Markos's story Blair steels himself for 2-front war
March 17:
• In Perhaps they've heard the expression in Vegas, two sentences on Tony Blair and the war
• He had two comments in On war and Democrats
• In US/UK: 1441 is good enough, Steve had four comments
• In the Open Thread on Bush's speech, he made three comments
• In the following post Bush's declaration of war he made six comments
March 18:
• With the invasion of Iraq imminent, the morning Iraq open thread had three comments from Steve (it looks like four, but the first two are a double-post of the same text)
• In Blair asks for support in parliament, Steve makes three comments
• The story $90 billion for war nets one comment
• Chickenhawks pile on Daschle also gets one
• No US troops in Turkey, but overflights nets one as well
March 19:
• Turkey deals a blow to US gets four comments from Steve
• War rumors run rampant nets three
• The sole comment in Now they talk about costs! More WH b.s. is stark:
The war has started
Posted by steve gilliard at March 19, 2003 06:48 PM
• Steve then had six comments in the War Open Thread to end the day.
March 20:
• If we kill Saddam, what then? has four comments from Steve
• Iraqis start blowing oil wells gets six comments
• What happened to 'Shock and Awe'? receives four comments
• Forbes: dKos top warblog' gets a one-line comment
• Is the US negotiating with Republican Guard? gets two comments
March 21:
• As the invasion continues, the Open Thread gets two comments from Steve
• Pockets of resistance unfolding garners a single comment
• He wrote two comments in a single-picture diary entitled "Bush's Legacy"
• Is Saddam dead? Who cares? includes one comment
March 22:
• The Open Thread receives three comments from Steve
• Guerilla attacks; 4th ID gets one comment
• Sigh... about the death of a Marine gets one comment
• Pushing forth, avoiding cities gets three comments
• Some fraying on the edges gets two comments
March 23:
• The next Open Thread receives two comments
• Geneva convention; logistics has two comments
• Holy shit, people die in war? has one comment
• Urban combat in Basra has one comment
• Moore blasts Bush has one comment
• The face of war has one comment
• Underestimating Iraqi will to fight has two comments
• Let's not forget Afghanistan has one short comment
March 24:
• Open Thread receives one comment
• Not a quagmire. Yet. has two comments
• Apaches downed, rethinking strategy has two comments
• Bush gets war bounce has one comment
• Republican Guard; Nasiriyah; Civilian casualties has one short comment.
March 25:
• Why weren't the bridges blown? receives one comment
• Jose Angel Garibay has two comments
• Congress cuts Bush's tax cut in half has one short comment
• Big US victory, Iraqi overconfidence? has two comments
March 26:
• Open Thread receives two comments
• Stunning victories in Bush's War on the World has one comment
• Iraqi tactics are a boon to war effort has seven comments
• More From Officer X by billmon has four comments from Steve
• Thomas J. Slocum, 22 has two comments
March 27:
• Open Thread receives two comments
• Status report has three comments
• All's (relatively) quiet on the Iraqi front has three comments
• Jessica Lynch has one comment
• US storms out at UN has one short comment
• Perle resigns also has one short comment
March 28: Comments were down as the day started due to server and database problems. Markos migrated the "site data to a better, more robust database" and updated to announce that he was getting a dedicated server, with some likely downtime over the next 48 hours.
March 29:
• Victory no longer inevitable has four comments
• War status update 3/29 has four comments
• The silliness of counting Iraqi casualties has three comments
• Reality Check has one comment
March 30:
• Open Thread receives one comment
• Brass turns on Rumsfeld has four comments
• Clark in 2004? I'm leaning that way has one comment
• Unknown girl, unknown age, wounded has two comments
March 31:
• Open Thread receives four comments
• Just like Saddam (if not worse), but our ally has two comments
• Trigger happy yanks has two comments
• Anti-war GOP emboldened has one comment
• Who cares if Saddam is dead? has one comment
• 'A Lack of Character' by billmon has four comments from Steve
April 1:
• Open Thread receives two comments
• Finding a way out has three comments
• Eugene Williams, 25, Sgt has three comments
• Jessica Lynch rescued has two comments
April 2:
• Open Thread receives seven comments
• Bush is depressed has three comments
Steve was then designated by kos in the first post of April 3 as one of two guest posters, along with billmon, while kos was out of town. He did seven posts the first day, and posted daily for over two weeks, even when kos was back in town. We'll see these posts, and more, in Friday's Top Comments diary.
~~~~~
I'm happy to note that of the twenty-nine thousand comments written since last night, a number of them have been nominated for your consideration, having been emailed to the TopComments mailbox. If you saw any great comments that are not mentioned here, please do link to them in your own comments below. The address of that mailbox:
TopComments AT gmail DOT com
(change " AT " to "@" and " DOT " to ".")
Anyone can submit deserving comments to our address—the direct link to a comment is available from that comment's date/time—as long as they arrive by 9:30pm Eastern Time. Please always include your Daily Kos user name in the body of your message, so we can credit you properly. Both link and username are important.
JeffLieber submitted the following nomination, to which I've given the sardonyx treatment:
In Jeff's diary Wherein I burnish my parenting credentials..., gabbardd properly views reality.
From brillig:
In DarkSyde's beautiful diary That's It: I Support Obama, JoeW explains exactly why we need to support whoever ends up being the nominee.
terrypinder sent the following after laughing out loud (usual sardonyx writeup):
eataTREE expounds on Amazing Quantum Barack!
From asimbagirl:
I really liked this comment from Gooserock in pastordan's recommended diary today. It started off a really great discussion, and I learned quite a bit.
Progressive Witness sent in these nominations:
zonk reminds us to hold our own verbal fire before expecting the same from others with What I wrestle with in DarkSyde's diary That's It: I Support Obama.
In response to pontificator's It's Over, HoundDog sounds a call for vocal solidarity in one of our coming battles.
A couple from sardonyx, your diarist du jour:
In Rieux's excellent diary Obama Was a Lot Like This as My Professor, The Wonder Moron writes on English Common Law.
In MissLaura's front-page story Newspapers Weigh in on Obama's Speech, jhutson writes that Obama spoke to us as adults, and downthread, GreenMtnState looks favorably at Obama's speech from the perspective of the language of mediation.
a gilas girl has some issues with Matt Taibbi's language in a comment that should be a diary, from SusanG's Late Afternoonish/Early Eveningish Open Thread.
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 is supplied by sardonyx, using his revision of cskendrick's mojo-to-Excel magic.
First, Top Mojo excluding search-identifiable tip jars, first diary comments, and Cheers and Jeers:
1) They that sow in tears by jhutson — 235
2) Heh. by Adam B — 181
3) who knows by taylormattd — 167
4) We can do both. by godislove — 161
5) She wasn't the only one by MLDB — 147
6) Obama recognizes the contest by Steven R — 138
7) thanks to sfgate.com by itsolivia — 127
8) Dude, it sucks a-hole when you're forced... by JeffLieber — 114
9) the clinton lap dog media is by elephantitis — 111
10) America is changing - Grandma watched on line by FishOutofWater — 107
11) I started crying by LauraC — 103
12) I sat in my kitchen with tears streaming by phrogge prince — 99
13) It was what writer's call... by rainmanjr — 97
14) they will take this nomination from Obama by nevadadem — 95
15) There are by KibbutzAmiad — 91
16) Obama talked to us by zic — 85
17) wow! by Shirl In Idaho — 85
18) Look People. This guy is the next Lincoln. by gregoryjames — 84
19) Holy crap. by asimbagirl — 82
20) Hillary is baiting Obama hoping for a fatal error by FishOutofWater — 81
21) The criticisms of that speech by RickMassimo — 79
22) Obama got a big reaction when he by dotster — 78
23) Big deal by shoshaku jushaku — 75
24) Yes, I think Obama's speech by mofembot — 75
25) I support Obama, I don't believe in him by FishOutofWater — 73
26) The mirror... by Izaak Walton — 72
27) This speech was the proudest moment by beltane — 71
28) This is almost as bad as not reading the NIE by FishOutofWater — 70
29) So Clinton can't come right out and say.... by cometman — 69
30) When I read the text I thought.... by dweb8231 — 68
Top Mojo with No Exclusions:
1) Don't tip me by socratic — 841
2) Listening by DarkSyde — 654
3) tips for 82 year old change by jhpdb — 633
4) Tip Jar by pontificator — 590
5) Tips for truth nt by rdxtion — 556
6) tips/recs by LizzyPop — 538
7) Tips by kestrel9000 — 529
8) Tips and stuff by JedReport — 393
9) But it is where we start. by PocketNines — 299
10) I know the attacks might still come by Femlaw — 286
11) Cookie Jar by pastordan — 281
12) TIps/Recs by Steven R — 254
13) Tips and Thoughts by faithfull — 242
14) They that sow in tears by jhutson — 235
15) Tips by Billary Redux — 217
16) Tips by goodlittlesquid — 194
17) Heh. by Adam B — 181
18) who knows by taylormattd — 167
19) We can do both. by godislove — 161
20) Please support Melanie Sloan & CREW. by markthshark — 152
21) She wasn't the only one by MLDB — 147
22) Obama recognizes the contest by Steven R — 138
23) thanks to sfgate.com by itsolivia — 127
24) Dude, it sucks a-hole when you're forced... by JeffLieber — 114
25) Yuck. You might want to try another site by beachmom — 114
26) the clinton lap dog media is by elephantitis — 111
27) America is changing - Grandma watched on line by FishOutofWater — 107
28) I started crying by LauraC — 103
29) Tips... by RKA — 99
30) I sat in my kitchen with tears streaming by phrogge prince — 99
© sardonyx; all rights reserved
All quotes are the property of the original authors or the websites that held them