This is the second part of a Top Comments diary on the Daily Kos writings of Steve Gilliard, one of the original group of guest posters on this blog, who died last June. Part 1 was published on Wednesday, and featured Steve's comments in the three weeks before he debuted on the front page. That time period, March 12, 2003 through April 2, 2003, started one week before the invasion of Iraq, five years ago this week.
Steve's absence is still keenly felt. So far this year he's been mentioned in four DKos front-page stories, including one this past Tuesday by kos, fourteen user diaries, and over eighty comments, excluding those prompted by Wednesday's diary. His name has been used to tag a post on Daily Kos 77 times—make that 78.
Steve Gilliard's 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 day under two weeks away, I ask you to join me on the flip with a vast array of links to his work here on Daily Kos.
As I noted in part 1, 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 first found 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.
The prime resource for Steve Gilliard's writings is at The Group News Blog. Go there and read.
Finding Steve Gilliard's work on Daily Kos is difficult in that all the articles he wrote are 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.
Eventually, I hope to expand these diaries into a complete list of links to all of Steve's front-page posts and all of the comment threads he contributed to in the Movable Type era, and place both into the dKosopedia. I'll be sure to announce in Top Comments when the project is complete, and when I make significant additions. Update, Saturday afternoon: There is now a new Steve Gilliard dKosopedia page, with linked pages for front-page posts and comments. I still need to fix up the links on those pages—wiki format is different from Daily Kos autoformat—so the pages may look a bit messy for a bit.
Note that I couldn't get the normal bulleted lists to work with the autoformatting as explained in the FAQ, so I opted to use the special "bullet" character (•). If that doesn't work on your browser, please let me know and I'll go with my distant second choice, the "degree" character (°). The latter character is old enough that it ought to work on stone-age browsers, while the former is from the more recent HTML 4.0 spec, and there might be a few old browsers still around that can't handle it. It's more important that this is readable, and seeing \• heading each item in a list would definitely be off-putting.
In the first post on April 3, 2003, Steve was designated by kos as one of two guest posters, along with Billmon, while Markos was out of town. Steve's was the day's second post, and he did seven posts in all that first day. He then posted daily for over two weeks, even when Markos was back in town, and during a second out-of-town jaunt when Steve had the posting reins with new guest poster Ron K, Seattle, Billmon having finally opened the Whiskey Bar (his new blog) to customers.
Steve Gilliard's front-page stories, April 3 through 18, 2003:
Thursday, April 3, 2003
• Good morning from your substitute blogger was Steve's first front-page post, in which he introduced himself and gave his background; it also has four comments from Steve.
• Where is the Iraqi Army? was not signed, but the commenters assumed it was by Steve, and he made four comments. (The other active front-pager this day was Billmon, who wrote no comments to this story.)
• US to use tear gas in Iraq also had 2 of 39 comments by Steve.
• Is the US Plan working: A Russian View.
• Admnistering Iraq also had 2 of 24 comments by Steve.
• Armored Bulldozers. This also had 5 of 47 comments by Steve.
• The Battle for Baghdad? was also not signed, but Steve responds to the first comment and three other times, out of a total of 74 comments, while Billmon was silent.
Friday, April 4, 2003
• Who is the president? also had two of Steve's comments out of 158.
• Michael Kelly killed in Iraq also had a comment from Steve in the 86 total.
• US Marine commander relieved of post in Iraq also had 5 of 44 comments from Steve.
• The war is not over yet also had 11 of 121 comments from Steve.
Saturday, April 5, 2003
• The tyranny of ideas also had 2 of 22 comments from Steve.
• Raiding Baghdad was not signed, and both Billmon and Steve replied in the comments. I think it's by Steve, but I could be wrong.
Sunday, April 6, 2003
• David Bloom, 39, dies in Iraq was not signed, but only Steve has two comments, and one of those two hearkens back to his Michael Kelly diary on April 4.
• US convoy hit by 'friendly fire', BBC reporter hurt is an unsigned article with only 9 comments, and none by Steve or Billmon, so I can't be sure who did it.
• Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory also has two comments from Steve out of 77 total.
• A question for the pro-war crowd has 4 of 94 comments from Steve.
• The new rebuilders of Iraq has 2 of 26 comments from Steve.
Monday, April 7, 2003
• About Iraqwar.ru and casualities also has 11 of 162 comments from Steve.
Tuesday, April 8, 2003
• After Saddam: an Arab Congo? also has 6 of 122 comments from Steve.
Wednesday, April 9, 2003
• Looting breaks out in Baghdad, British control looting in Basra also has a comment from Steve.
• The Cost of War also has 2 of 162 comments from Steve.
Thursday, April 10, 2003
• On SARS also has a comment from Steve out of 32 total.
• How Iraq could devolve into Civil War also has 3 of 68 comments from Steve.
Friday, April 11, 2003
• But...but we won...didn't we? also has 2 of 163 comments from Steve.
Saturday, April 12, 2003
• Our addiction to proxies also has 2 of 57 comments from Steve.
• Morally bankrupt leadership also has 11 of 121 comments from Steve.
Sunday, April 13, 2003
• Who runs Iraq? was not signed, but Steve wrote 6 of 79 comments. RonK, the other active front-pager while kos was out of town, does not comment at all, so Steve's the more likely author.
• POW's rescued by Marines, Tikrit falls also has 3 of 34 comments from Steve.
• The New, Improved Baath Party, now under new management also has 2 of 26 comments from Steve.
Monday, April 14, 2003
• A culture of fear also has 3 of 262 comments from Steve.
• The other shoe drops also has 2 of 41 comments from Steve.
Tuesday, April 15, 2003
• Open thread has a paragraph on tax day and Iraq, and one comment from Steve.
• Why should the Americans rule us? also has 3 of 72 comments from Steve.
• US Troops in Mosul Shooting also has 5 of 70 comments from Steve.
Wednesday, April 16, 2003
• The Sack of Baghdad also has 2 of 75 comments from Steve.
• A Bush tell all on the way? also has 2 of 58 comments from Steve.
Thursday, April 17, 2003
• The Greens, the Dems and 2004 also has 7 of 504 comments from Steve.
Friday, April 18, 2003
• The tradeoff: services or taxes also has 2 of 66 comments from Steve.
• The future of US foreign policy: the new era also has 2 of 47 comments from Steve.
If anyone can more definitively identify authorship on the handful of unsigned stories listed herein, I'd appreciate any help you can give, and will make corrections once I have an attribution. Many thanks.
Why did I pick April 18th to stop? Well, by one reckoning it's five years ago tonight. On the April 13th open thread that Steve posted, he noted that the day, among other connections, was Palm Sunday. That means April 18th was Good Friday, 2003, just as today is Good Friday, 2008. Five lunar years. (It proved to be a good choice: I later discovered that Steve made no posts on April 19th or 20th.)
I'm not quite done, however: Steve also wrote 53 comments in other posts during this period. The diary title and author, along with the number of comments Steve made on that post, are listed below.
Steve Gilliard comments in stories:
April 3, 2003:
• Fog of War? Or Fog of Lies? by Billmon has one comment from Steve
• The Holistic Shooting Match by Billmon also has one comment
April 4, 2003:
• Scenes From the Burma Railway by Billmon has two comments
• Defining Victory Down by Billmon has one comment
April 5, 2003:
• What the War is NOT About by Billmon has one comment
• Our Man in Baghdad by Billmon has one comment
April 6, 2003:
• Science Experiment by Billmon has one comment
April 8, 2003:
• Norm Coleman: another 'classy' Republican by kos has one comment
• Cattle Call 2004: 4/8 -- the money edition by kos also has one comment
April 10, 2003:
• Much work left to be done by kos has two comments
• Baseball Hall of Fame cancels Sarandon appearance by kos has two comments
• kos's What is it with racist Republicans? garners one comment
April 12, 2003:
• Bust a Deal, Face the Wheel by RonK, Seattle, has one short comment
April 13, 2003:
• Juxtapositions, and Perspectives by RonK, Seattle, has two comments
April 15, 2003:
• I'm back (and Open Thread) by kos has one comment
• Bush's favorability ratings by kos has one comment
April 16, 2003:
• First Abbas in Bahgdad, next Bosch in Miami by kos has one comment
• So will Gary Hart run? by kos has two comments
• Tim Robbins at the National Press Club by kos has one comment
April 17, 2003:
• Syria countermoves, scores against US by kos has one comment
• Still no WMDs in Iraq by kos has one comment
April 18, 2003:
• Massive protests against US by kos has five comments
Steve Gilliard comments in Open Threads:
He generally commented in threads that he set up while guest-posting: on April 4 (five comments), April 5 (two comments), April 12 (one comment), April 13 (two comments), April 14 (two comments), April 17 (one comment), and April 18 (one comment). The April 6 open thread is unsigned, but kos wasn't yet back, and Billmon has no comments in it, while Steve has two comments. Which of them would say "But PLEASE don't feed the trolls . . ."?
Steve also commented in several kos-created open threads: April 7 (two comments), April 8 (one comment), April 10 (one comment), and April 16 (two comments).
Steve signed his posts Steve Gilliard and his comments as steve gilliard (only his very first comment used sgilliard, and he didn't change to steve_gilliard for comments until summer of 2003).
Finally, I'm again giving the links with which you can find the 1200 comments Steve wrote on the current Daily Kos site (opened October 13, 2003) 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, during which the first account wasn't used. You can search comments as stevegilliard and steve gilliard.
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Though today is Good Friday, we're not going to lower our standards: only the Best comments have been nominated today, having been emailed to the TopComments mailbox. If you saw any great comments that are not mentioned here, and there were over twenty-nine thousand comments to examine, 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.
kath25 submitted the following nomination:
Grassroots Mom shares an anecdote in irishamerican's action diary.
From noweasels:
LOL! In honor of the holiday, mkfarkus presents the bunny pole dance. And check out lulu57's hilarious rejoinder!
ChurchofBruce sent the following link, and then BeninSC sent the link and the write-up, meaning you don't have to put up with the usual sardonyx spin:
Check Rob Cole for a pair of interesting comments on the netherworld of passport security. (The second is a reply to a reply to the first Rob Cole comment. Scroll down slightly. :-) )
Uniquely from BeninSC:
In Eddie C's excellent Got a Happy Story? Irish Delicatessen Edition, Cronesense eloquently recounts Not a happy story, but a very poignant one.....
The Gryffin isn't self-righteous. (But you probably knew that. :-) )
A bunch from sardonyx, your not-quite-daily diarist:
In kid oakland's diary the kitchen table vs. the kitchen sink, Dallasdoc makes a number of good points.
In dopper0189's My last Black Kos week in review diary, ommzms says some righteous anger is necessary - Right Now!
jhutson speaks as a white man. (*BeninSC* also nominated this one.)
Dave Barry solves FL mess! and edgeways, as a Minnesotan, offers to help implement Dave's favored (or at least printed) solution. Then Uncle Cosmo asks a question involving lutefisk, and things rapidly get out of hand.
In sea2008's diary Bill Richardson's Han Solo Moment, I liked the thread sea2008's tip jar started, where the diarist confesses I guess I'm recommending an Obama-Chewbacca ticket. Don't neglect Aqualad08's masterful analysis of Chewie vs. Yoda as the better number two...
Christin completely loses it, impressing many. mama hearts obama and SallyCat wanted to nominate, but the Tubes must have eaten their efforts, so I'm including it in my stack, and not only because of the Bach (birthday boy) reference.
And speaking of Bach, teacherken's What I commemorate on March 21 spoke to the musician in me when he celebrated the 323rd birthday of Johann Sebastian Bach, so it's being nominated despite being a diary rather than a comment.
No Top Comments diary would be complete without that day's 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 own revision of cskendrick's mojo-to-Excel magic.
First, Top Mojo excluding search-identifiable tip jars, first diary comments, Cheers and Jeers, and Mojo Friday comments:
1) even more significant by indybend — 186
2) All righty! And Bill says: by begone — 132
3) Well, I'm a 57 year old white guy by TJ — 118
4) Silence is never right by kid oakland — 112
5) Thank you by dopper0189 — 109
6) Oops. by Bob Johnson — 102
7) And in its name we say: "rAmen" by JR — 98
8) I think what you just said is key by jenontheshore — 87
9) You need to update your diary by Califlander — 82
10) not your last by terrypinder — 81
11) I don't trust Hillary by WahooMatt — 76
12) I love the endorsement at the end by oofer — 74
13) A little more from the article by Kab ibn al Ashraf — 72
14) When Clinton failed to defend Obama on Wright by Bill White — 71
15) So excited my "gracias" became by begone — 70
16) Hillary's hypocrisy on this non-issue = stunning. by Scoopster — 69
17) Here's the statement by ari — 69
18) The important aspect of this.. by Troutfishing — 68
19) good luck Ariel! by DSC on the Plateau — 68
20) Don't underestimate impact by mastrwik — 66
21) Richardson's criticism of the Clintons by beltane — 65
22) We've always known Hillary was the less by dansac — 63
23) Remember John Edwards' words by Dallasdoc — 60
24) No, Thank you! by MTgirl — 60
25) There's that word "significant" again by mlharges — 60
26) One friend of mine said that he was voting by dansac — 59
27) New to this by masterxi43 — 58
28) It's FANTASTIC by bumblebums — 58
29) Just leave it by theran — 57
30) It would be a nice tool to have by QuestionableSanity — 56
31) One appeared on my dinner plate last night by Kayakbiker — 56
Top Mojo with No Exclusions:
1) Tip Jar by dopper0189 — 547
2) Tips for someone, anyone calling bullshit on her by dansac — 427
3) I've never written a diary before... ?tips? by wasthatrhetoric — 374
4) Tips for Action by Populista — 307
5) tips/ect by Gottschalk — 240
6) Your support is welcome. by Troutfishing — 239
7) tip jar by laderrick — 234
8) Here endeth the lesson by wiscmass — 226
9) "That's typical of some of his advisers" by jkennerl — 199
10) even more significant by indybend — 190
11) Bless its noodly by TomP — 183
12) Tips, Flames, n/t by Vyan — 172
13) Maybe voters... by rashomon — 168
14) nice catch by Grassroots Mom — 159
15) I can hardly wait to read Chapter 2! eom by Geekesque — 140
16) Friday Tip Jar. Passport required. by Bill in Portland Maine — 135
17) All righty! And Bill says: by begone — 132
18) Tip Jar by jlms qkw — 131
19) Good Morning jlms qkw by vigilant meerkat — 121
20) good morning VM by jlms qkw — 118
21) Well, I'm a 57 year old white guy by TJ — 118
22) You're doing a great job so far by vigilant meerkat — 113
23) Silence is never right by kid oakland — 112
24) Here is a link from Yahoo News! by humphrey — 111
25) Amen by Ex Con — 111
26) God damn this is messed up by wmtriallawyer — 109
27) Fridays are always good by martydd — 109
28) Thank you by dopper0189 — 109
29) Mojo for a sore shoulder by DrSpalding — 108
30) Mojo heals by jlms qkw — 105
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