Welcome to Top Comments, where we recognize comments made in the past 24 hours that for whatever reason are just too good to let fall by the wayside.
If you find a notable comment during the day click the date/time stamp to get a direct link, copy it then send to topcomments at gmail dot com by 9:30PM Eastern! Don't forget to include your screen name so we can credit you! Anyone can submit comments- if you didn't do so today, please do it tomorrow- your as-yet-unnamed diarist will thank you!
Even if you are not an undecided Superdelegate, you can mine for top Comments. If you are an undecided Superdelegate, your submissions will count double. So send those goodies in today!
This morning as I got my daughter ready for another episode of As Fourth Grade Turns, she showed me the book she was reading. She said she had to read it "soon" because the school librarian volunteer parent had to take it back to the town library. Whaaa? Turns out my daughter has waited patiently for her turn with this book, but the school library closes this Friday. So the volunteer went to the town library, checked it out, and will take it back after. I appreciate the effort, but here's my issue..
School doesn't end here until the middle of June (last day hasn't been announced yet, pending snow day calculations). The school library didn't open until several weeks after school started, either. So in an already (to my way of thinking, at least) short school year, there's a minimum of 6 weeks where the library isn't available. Oh, nearly forgot... the library is not available during weeks where MCAS (state standardized) testing happens, so that cuts another two weeks out.
(Yes, you've tuned into another round of "I am a rabid believer in public school, but..."
I remember going to school and having an actual, honest-to-god Librarian there, ready all year to help us find what we wanted and keep it all organized. Now we have parent volunteers- don't get me wrong, they work their butts off, but it's still the loss of a professional staff member for somebody's parent. Of course, that was back when the only cost to joining marching band or a sports team in high school was the fundraisers for special purposes. I didn't have to pay $195 to run plus fundraise my ass off all season.
Over the 5 years so far of Kid Brillig's foray into the local school system, I've grumbled and ranted several times, mostly to poor Mr. Brillig, chief member of the Casa Choir. We watched her learn to read in kindergarten and first grade, since the kids who did half-day kindergarten instead of the full-day class (which cost us only $3000, sigh...) weren't at the same level. Of course, Kid Brillig was reading better in kindergarten than her 4th grade BookBuddy, so maybe we were more sensitive to the whole reading thing than other families, but it killed us to watch her stagnate for two years. We put up with the teacher who sent home homework, notices and other items with misspellings and grammatical errors egregious enough to warrant a chat with the principal. We've seen lunch times so short I have no idea how the kids actually get enough nutrition to last the afternoon.
And, though it makes my blood pressure rise just to talk about it, we've seen the absolute lunacy that is Standardized Testing in the Age of NCLB. To be fair, I had a taste of this growing up in NY State, home of Regents Exams. At some point every year during high school, we seemed to stop learning new stuff and instead took practice tests (out of little green books, I can still see them). I see that now when Kid Brillig comes home telling us how she "didn't do anything new, we took a t=practice test today." The thing that utterly makes me scream is the traditional note that goes home at the beginning of each testing week. It very carefully tells us that we shouldn't make our child nervous about the test. And ::even writing this here is bringing me close to McCandidate rage levels:: her homework for the week of testing is to (a) get a great night's sleep; and (b) to eat a good healthy breakfast with protein in it.
Yup. The rest of the year, I apparently can let her stay up til midnite and eat Chocolate Coated Sugar Bombs for breakfast. But Not. MCAS. Week. Noooooo, come Testing Week the Powers That Be actually give a damn care slightly. No matter that it was all those weeks prior that really mattered. The weeks where they were, you know... learning.
I know that we underfund our schools to the extent that there is no money for extras like librarians, extracurriculars, or enough teachers. That thanks to mandates bumping up against traditional school days, there's no extra time for things like a half hour lunch or enough gym time to actually work up a sweat.
But I don't have to like it.
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OK class, lesson's over... time to head out to the Top Comments playground. Let's see who did their homework and sent in a nomination or two to the TC mailbox at topcomments at gmail dot com:
From Lava20:
*cruz* suggests where this comment came from.
From Land of Enchantment:
From Glinda, in Zwoof's Lie to me and tell me everything is all right. Let the healing begin. Please!
Boy Howdy asks a snarky question about superdelegates.
From kath25:
With McGovern's endorsement of Obama, multiple Kossacks asked if he was a superdelegate. (No, because he was never elected President.) Stroszek has a funny line about that situation.
From Indycam:
who assures us that this comment from GussieFN is "Pure British dry snark"
From geomoo:
This may be too, as they say, "explicit" for Top Comments [quoth your diarist "Never(more)!" Or in more modern language... if it ain't a troll comment, I ain't censoring it.], but there is some good hilarity. The discussion engendered by Melody Townsel's fevered and somewhat disturbed imagination is worth the price of admission. Apologies to Hillary supporters, but as Wavy Gravy said, "If you don't have a sense of humor, it's just not funny."
Don't miss this hilarious, and fitting end, to the whole deal. Crystal and Alexis have a catfight in German. What could more representative of this primary season?
From Rachel Griffiths:
In wmtriallawyer's diary
Yes to Unity. But Let's Not Go Overboard, Juan4all states exactly how I feel about "healing" the wounds so that a united Democratic party can go forward......
If possible, just keep it clean and leave it open to the air to heal naturally. Only take special measures to prevent further damage
I have no Top Comments of my own, and no excuse save that the dog ate my nominations I'm maid of honor at my best SL girlfriend's wedding and we had a rehearsal, and I was distracted by both the good weather and a virgin diary put up today by a dear friend new to dKos. Feel free to express your displeasure in the comments :-).
I did do my own Top Mojo, though... does that get me any extra credit? [UPDATED to credit the original mojo-to-excel magic spreadsheet goodness that brings you Top Mojo to our own cskendrick. Someday I'll get a perfect score! :-)]
Top Mojo excluding tip jars and C&J:
1) next : by voila — 210
2) bethrsingleton is a hateful troll by kate mckinnon — 182
3) Rev. Al mentioned this point this morning by Muzikal203 — 161
4) We worked for months to make it happen by FishOutofWater — 140
5) Because the Net by jiordan — 135
6) I don't know who you are... by David Kroning — 131
7) kinda by HoldEmAccountable — 122
8) Well said! by mamamorgaine — 117
9) The Internet by STOP George — 108
10) But if they see their shadow... by Boy Howdy — 105
11) Hillary wins by DOUBLE DIGIT (ie. 2) by darthstar — 104
12) Nice sentiments... by sheddhead — 98
13) Hillary won't drop out... by madame defarge — 96
14) So what's next? by Choom Gang Vets for Truth — 95
15) Okay, here's our counteroffer... by Jsn — 93
16) I'm awed by your strength, grateful 4 your wisdom by JohnB47 — 91
17) Full Speed, Ahead !! by Al Rodgers — 90
18) Now now by zenbowl — 89
19) Thank you by soms — 85
20) As a black person I find that comment by Shhs — 77
21) Well... by mayan — 76
22) As bad as she is... by Aqualad08 — 76
23) BWAHAHWHAHAHWHAHAH by Steven R — 75
24) Except that, Howard Dean by KFlake — 74
25) I'd rather have the mojo! by MoronMike — 73
26) WTF! Hillary is still ATTACKNG Obama by beholderseye — 73
27) every ethnic group in America by DrSteveB — 72
28) not an SD by lapis — 70
29) Richard Pryor by EntrWriter — 70
30) How about this by Zackpunk — 70
Top Mojo with no exclusions:
1) Tip me, please :D by EntrWriter — 920
2) Tip Jar - by johnnygunn — 813
3) Unity and Understanding Jar. by Delaware Dem — 663
4) Unity requires equality. by wmtriallawyer — 440
5) Tips... by mayan — 383
6) Tips by smash artist — 376
7) It's hard for "Ole John" by Granny Doc — 366
8) tips for victory by zenbowl — 337
9) Thanks again to all that are helping us! by Barry Welsh — 289
10) Tips for Truth and Reconciliation by Phoenix Woman — 243
11) Tips for acceptance by The Termite — 240
12) Tips for Ending this Now by Steven R — 234
13) Thank you! by DRStarks — 225
14) Rec this up for a huge fundraiser!!! by NMDan — 212
15) next : by voila — 210
16) Tips for tipping the win to Obama! by HoosierDeb — 187
17) bethrsingleton is a hateful troll by kate mckinnon — 182
18) Rev. Al mentioned this point this morning by Muzikal203 — 161
19) We worked for months to make it happen by FishOutofWater — 140
20) sucks to be so wrong and so loud by Steven R — 138
21) Tip jar for Obama by JedReport — 136
22) Because the Net by jiordan — 135
23) I don't know who you are... by David Kroning — 131
24) Tips / Recs for a Superdelegate Deluge! by ObamaManiac2008 — 130
25) Tips I suppose n/t by Boalt — 126
26) kinda by HoldEmAccountable — 122
27) Well said! by mamamorgaine — 117
28) Celebrate. Feel good. by Last Years Man — 111
29) The Internet by STOP George — 108
30) You're like some kind of ObamaManiac! by TooFolkGR — 105
31) But if they see their shadow... by Boy Howdy — 105
Floor's open... what comments do you wish I'd included?