I love mcjoan - and you do, too!
Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 08:06:59 AM PDT
Whether you know it or not. I'm not sure about the etiquette of calling a poster by name in a diary title, but i'm hoping this will be forgiven. We all owe a debt to mcjoan.
Appropriately for Valentine's Day, i have a valentine for mcjoan. Since we seem to have a brief lull in the FISA storm, now seems as good a time as any for a little recognition. How do i love thee? Let me count the ways...
- You are keeping us on task with FISA. If we can pull this sucker out and get something like a favorable outcome with FISA, i'll give mcjoan a lion's share of the credit. We sometimes like to delude ourselves at DKos that we make a difference with our little rantings, but mcjoan's posts on this crucial issue are nearly always calls to action, as well. And i know that without her posts i wouldn't have had the knowledge, gumption or information to call up and email my congress critters. I'm firmly convinced that our calls have made a difference, we've had some interesting conversations with staffers posted in threads and that means we're getting through. Not to give you a big head, mcjoan, but all of the people of this country owe you and love for this important work you've done, whether we know what's going on or not. Too few of us know the seriousness of this issue, anyone correct me if this is hyperbole, but this fight goes to the heart of what our country is about.
- You are unfailing with up-to-date information and, more importantly, instant translation. We've all learned that the rules of order in both houses of congress are, well, indescribable. Especially over the last few days we've learned that even as we're glued to our little CSPAN feeds (or TVs, for those of you lucky enough to be able to watch TV during these times) we often can't tell what's happening even though we're looking right at it. You are there to hold our hands, explain what you know, or provide us with bigger picture comments to keep us on track if things get really confusing. You have patience, mcjoan, truckloads of it.
- You are unflappable. Sometimes a lot of negativity floats around in the posts, people want to give up, people think the whole effort to try and persuade congress is futile. But you keep rallying us and you don't stoop to telling people to piss off, even though no one would begrudge you if you did.
- There are plenty of congress folks to scold on this issue, but you also remind us to thank those who side with us and not give up on those that have been our allies. This is important, too, because without remembering we have allies none of us would have the hope to try and this would just turn into a bitterness fest.
- Last but not least, you keep folks like me at this site because, you are one of the few posters (Kagro X springs to mind as well) who almost never stoops to candidate/campaign posts. Yes i realize the presidential campaign is important, blah blah blah. But it's not the most important thing going on. Hell, it's not even the most important thing happening week-to-week or day-to-day. I can't even stand to look at candidate diaries or stories or polls anymore, so without you keeping us looking at what's really important i (and i suspect i wouldn't be alone on this) would quickly find myself ranting elsewhere and pestering someone else with my stupid questions.
Please feel free to add your own ways you love mcjoan or other non-candidate diarists/FPers, sonnet form or not. Or even general Valentine's Day wishes out there. Feel the love, people!
Tags: Valentine's Day, props, love fest, non-candidate diary (all tags) :: Previous Tag Versions
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