So, once again, I just read a comment, at the head of the comments in a diary, in a reply to a reply to the Tip Jar - by the same person who replied to the Tip Jar...
a comment kinda-sorta apologizing for "jumping the Tip Jar".
People - this issue has been addressed about elebenty-gazillion times, here at Daily Kos.
By me, by most every User whose UID is under 20,000, at one time or another...
So, for what I hope is the last and final time... please listen up there in the back rows, this applies to you, too... over the Fleur-de-Kos for the down and dirty on "Jumping the Tip Jar" and www.dailykos.com
First up, you needn't read any further than this for the short version:
There is no such thing as "jumping the Tip Jar" on Daily Kos
Please, stop apologizing for violating a rule THAT DOESN'T EXIST
The longer version:
1. "Jumping the Tip Jar" is not humanly (or inhumanly) possible, and has not been possible, since Daily Kos programming code started automatically posting a "Tip Jar" comment when the diarist publishes the diary.
a. a "Tip Jar" comment is auto-generated only if the diarist fails to manually create a first comment prior to publishing.
b. Manual creation of a "Tip Jar" requires posting the "Tip Jar" comment into the Draft version of the diary before the diary itself is published.
2. The term "Jumping the Tip Jar" came from the original DFA (DeanforAmerica.com) and quite likely other similar sites around the time the Dean campaign hit high gear in mid-to-late summer 2003... it meant to post a comment before the diarist had a chance to post a comment first. So it literally means to post BEFORE the "Tip Jar". Which, and I'm repeating myself here already, is not possible here on Daily Kos.
3. The apologizing for posting a reply to the "Tip Jar", in a separate comment from the comment you already wrote as a reply to the "Tip Jar"... in effect, you're putting not one, but two comments, right up top there... well, it's just more of what you say you are sorry for. Very zen, that. Or possibly not.
4. Even if it were possible to "Jump the Tip Jar" - there is no reason whatsoever to apologize for replying to the "Tip Jar". There is no such rule on Daily Kos, there never has been one. Users are free to post a reply to any comment, anywhere... we are 1st Amendment loving folk here in Orange Territory.
5. Let me repeat myself: There is not, and never has been, any such rule regarding replying to the "Tip Jar".
So, to sum up:
Reply to the "Tip Jar", if you want.
There is no rule about it, never was.
Don't compound the issue by replying to yourself & apologizing about the original comment.
My personal plea is
IF you reply to the "Tip Jar", do it for a good reason, such as:
I want to say something directly to the Diarist, and would like a response from him/her
I must point out a huge factual error in the diary, so the Diarist can cure or remove it before the community (and world) at large can see it
I'm an asshat and need to prove it, repeatedly
Back to your regularly scheduled programming...
Manual UPDATE:
What aoeu said here, and my reply which follows it.