People are lamenting the "tone" of the primary season lately. Aside from the fact that it's a contest that matters, I think those who lament the good stuff of Daily Kos being gone now are wrong. True, the fire hose is gushing with more force than ever. Wednesday, there were 731 diaries posted! There was not a single day in 2007 that had close to that many. It's my opinion that pretty much everything we all love is still here. You just have to dig a little more to find it.
We have had some GBCW's - Radiowalla most recently. But others couldn't quit us, and have returned: Grand Moff Texan, SallyCat and Granny Doc come to mind. So, I'm gonna list some of the other Kossacks I'm grateful to have on my screen (and in my life) below the fold.
UPDATE: ErrinF!!! All of us that lived through that flurry of XXX my f***ing YYY, kos diaries have a wonderful shared memory. A memory that still can make us crack up, belly laughing till it hurts to remember it. We have a lot of shared history. Irreplaceable shared history.
And I'm grateful to everyone who posts entertaining pictures and cartoons, with special mention for SarahLee, who recently posted this:
There's a few more pix, and a YouTube at the end. I have been informed that the cartoon to the right (which I found posted in a comment earlier today) should be credited to xkcd.
I'm putting this together quickly, so do not feel slighted if I didn't include you. Just like Friday Night at the Movies (and please do join us tonight for that), I'll kick myself in the comments for every one I forgot to include on the first draft. That said, here goes. I'm a pretty big geek on the nuts and bolts of congressional races, so this area is dear to my heart. That's where I'll start:
Great analysis and prognostication from plf515, superribbie, Nathaniel Ament Stone and BENAWU
fbihop does a great job of keeping up on New Mexico news
AmericanRiverCanyon keeps us up to date in the ongoing effort to replace John Doolittle in CA-04, and with an exceptionally delightful writing style
clammyc covers many congressional candidates in his online radio interviews, too
Lots of good candidates post here, and are posted about, aside from the onces mentioned. Some of 'em have a pretty good chance of election this time, too. Or at least I'm rooting for 'em. These include Martin Heinrich (NM-01), Darcy Burner (WA-08), Charlie Brown (CA-04), Gary Trauner (WY-AL), Dan Seals (IL-10), Donna Edwards (MD-04). To name a few. There's some good prospects for the Senate, too, including my own Congressman, Tom Udall (NM-03) who looks good to replace "Pajamas" Pete Domenici here in New Mexico.
I'm especially interested in the West, since I live here. So mcjoan's coverage of same is much appreciated, too.
But there's plenty more I'm glad for:
Maps! I love maps. dreamingonempty and Meng Bomin look at the unfolding election with maps
And poblano! What wonderful analysis poblano's been doing. Even gaining the notice of friggin' Bill Kristol in the NYT.
I've long compared kid oakland to Tom Sawyer. He's got a great ability to get people to roll up their sleeves and get busy. kath25's been giving him a run for his money lately. (Now finally, she's getting a little rest and catching up with her own life since the Texas primary is over.)
Speaking of the primaries, and all the candidate diaries it's become au courant to complain about? There's been so many first time diaries (or diaries from people who almost never write them) describing activities on the ground. I must have read half a dozen reports of democracy in action on the ground from Texas caucuses. And other states earlier on. kainah wrote last night about an astonishing turn of events, the rush of high-end Democratic candidate (and surrogate) visitors to Wyoming, of all places!
And there's plenty of people who work specific topics, and I wouldn't want to miss for anything. They're all still writing:
dengre's one of the leading scholars on the Culture of Corruption anywhere. If you don't read his diaries, you aren't fully up on that topic. Starting from the small "grain of sand" of the Marianas Islands, his work has connected to far more than one might imagine.
Unitary Moonbat's still writing on history. Lately, it's been a upgrade of his earlier Persia series. As long as the sabers are still rattling, isn't it a good idea to know something about the place McCain is cavalier about in his butchery of an old Beach Boys hit? But the Cave of the Moonbat has hosted stories from many corners of the world, and through millennia of time, too.
Winter Rabbit writes about history, too. And Native Americans past and present. Often including photographs from visits to the locations covered.
OrangeClouds115 still writes about our food supply and farm policy. And food's something that concerns everyone - no exceptions there.
Ditto on nyceve, who has stayed on health policy doggedly. And bonddad (amongst many others), keeps our worries and anxieties about the economy up to date, too.
A Siegel is remarkably prolific on energy. I am in awe of the variety of new material he keeps bringing to the table.
Jerome a Paris adds additional perspective on energy and economic matters, as well as his POV from overseas. Many others do that, too.
The best polls come from BiPM, who also keeps us all laughing. But DrSteveB is reprising his demographic Tuesday series. I'm glad for that, cuz there's so many new users, we're ready for a do-over.
Rants! We all need a good rant from time to time. On that score, I've been thinking that Hunter's overdue for one. But Bob Johnson and Grand Moff Texan have turned out some superlative rants, too. And, truth be told, some of the best ones come from people who rarely write them.
DallasDoc is, IMHO, the best commenter around. Rarely diaries, but pretty much ups the quality of any of the many diaries he adds comments to.
Even Keith Olbermann stops in sometimes, to entertain and also to scold. Both are welcome. (Speaking of rants, his "special comments" are amongst the best of those...
Troutfishing and dogemperor do great work tracking religious right wingnuts and their scary ambitions for our country, and the world.
And then there's the various digests and distillations, to help us find our way through the hundreds of diaries and news stories that appear daily. jotter's "High Impact Diaries" are must reading for me, and dmsilev often produces interesting meta-geeky-analysis of how the site runs. The Rescue Rangers do a terrific service, combing all the posted diaries to give overlooked gems a second chance. Ditto on Meteor Blades Eco-Diary Rescue (and just for being MB, too). Overnight News (Magnifico &al) and BREAKING! The Earth! from jillian also help us keep up with the world at large.
noweasels has a huge heart full of compassion, and breaks our hearts - over and over - with IGTNT. Together with the other contributors to that series, of course.
Global warming is one of my top issues/interests personally. There's several people posting on that, including ClimateLurker. David Brin, whose novels I've enjoyed reading (Kevin Costner totally didn't "get" The Postman IMHO), posts good stuff on science in public policy, amongst other things.
There's so many more - but I'll leave that to the comments. Any many Kossacks I appreciate for very occasional diaries that still stick with me. I won't try and list all those, because it will take forever, and I'd rather post this and have others add to the list. Hopefully, this diary plus the comments will give anyone who stops through adequate material to make for happy time online here on dK.
MULTIMEDIA Everyone knows that PhillyGal is the queen of pootie pix, but it's hard to beat SarahLee's recent plea to chill out. It definitely got me laughing:
kestrel9000 illustrated his quirky upsidedown text substitute session of "Ask a Kossack" with this gem:
And, speaking of buhdydharma, here's a western song (kainah inspired me to find this) with ponies for everyone who posts a comment about something they like!
