We have so many insightful and powerful diaries written here at Daily Kos. Our diaries inform, inflame, impassion, and even entertain. We Kossacks have strong voices and an even stronger will to be the change we wish to see in this country.
One of the richest, and perhaps most under-appreciated, areas of thought come in the form of comments attached to these diaries.
Here at Top Comments we strive to recognize and promote the talent of this community by highlighting outstanding comments found throughout the day by the diarist, and through nominations at made at TopComments at gmail dot com by your fellow Kossacks.
These nominations are subjective, and certainly not complete (as no one can read the complete site on a daily basis!). But we hope they will serve to shine a light where deserved, and to give the reader a good starting point in finding conversation on the site.
Please come in and make yourself at home! Join us beneath the fold...
Nothing says the end of summer quite like the first day of September. Sure, there's the start of school, and Labor Day, and the subsequent shunning of white shoes and other "summer" attire (which I thought seemed silly even as a child), but somehow the calendric changing of the monthly guard feels more definitive to me.
The rhythms change as summer declines. For the first time, a jacket or sweater may be needed if you're staying out very late. Many seasonal operations are winding down while others are pumping into high gear. There are changes from the sublime to the ridiculous: in the latter category, Halloween decorations and candy displays are already appearing, with orange predominating far earlier than it should, at least so far as nature might be concerned. Nature will supply the sublime over many weeks, as the foliage turns a succession of beautiful colors.
For me, after a summer of periods of no music interspersed with weeks of intense music making, the weekly rehearsals are just around the corner, and the concert seasons are soon to begin. The legislative and political seasons will start jostling each other in earnest, leading up to next year's primaries and elections. Life will get busier and more intense. And, all too soon, the snow will fly.
But that's still in the future. For now, the equinox is three weeks away, but that special time called "summer" is ending. And a large part of it ended at midnight.
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We received a few comment nominations today. I suspect people are busy finishing their August tasks before too much of September has passed them by. I'm happy to report that the address of our mailbox for top comments submissions—and we'd love to receive more good ones—remains:
TopComments AT gmail DOT com
(change " AT " to "@" and " DOT " to ".")
Anyone can send great comments to our address. Be sure to include the direct link to a comment—the URL—which is available from that comment's date/time; we need that to find your choice. Please always include your Daily Kos user name in the body of your message, so we can credit you properly. If you send a writeup with the link, we are able to include that, too, though we reserve the right to edit.
From Land of Enchantment:
I know it ain't good form to submit an exchange you're engaged it, but it would be wrong not to share this LOL comment from Zack from the SFV!!
Geenius at Wrok does some aikido on an insult, and comes out smelling like roses. And everyone gets to laugh, too.
From Progressive Witness:
Anton Bursh chimes in with what may be the most well-considered commentary I've seen about this year's pie-fight du jour in what is also a rich statement on the power of speaking up.
From sardonyx (your end-of-summer diarist):
In Glenn Melancon's diary Exposing Reagan's Big Lie, xaxnar exposes Reagan's talent.
In Avenging Angel's diary Unprecedented, about the Republican obstructionism in Washington, Heftysmurf tells us of a major shift in Heftysmurf's political thinking these past few years.
When hron refers to the lizard, ontheleftcoast says that there are so many in the GOP, there's a need for more specificity. When sockpuppet claims that they're cobras (with subsequent apologies), ontheleftcoast notes what snake they're definitely not.
Please add your own comment finds below!
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Top mojo is from comments made all day on Wednesday, August 31, 2011. The listing is courtesy of the wonderful new mojo generator created by mik, and only excludes tip jars and other first diary comments.
1) I also believe in redemption by ivorybill — 128
2) I have been writing the IGTNT diaries by blue jersey mom — 109
3) That USA Today article has a disturbing line: by zenbassoon — 99
4) for all who suffer and mourn, by mama jo — 95
5) I don't hate the president! by Helena Handbag — 94
6) Also, we live in 21st century America, not by blue jersey mom — 89
7) He's always been like this. by TomP — 87
8) I distinguish between Republicans by blue aardvark — 83
9) What amazes me by Ernest T Bass — 83
10) In the 1950s by NoMoreLies — 83
11) I think it's a good idea. by TomP — 78
12) Lift. The. Cap. by Dallasdoc — 76
13) MaineCare (Medicaid) is trying to shrink by commonmass — 73
14) Liz Cheney is complicit as well by trinityfly — 71
15) lawrence wilkerson is a high by maxnyc — 70
16) hai by Debbie in ME — 69
17) Thank you Al! and you too Bill! by beach babe in fl — 67
18) Scottish Highlands by Gooserock — 66
19) Amen. by gchaucer2 — 63
20) Bravo by denise b — 63
21) Irish potato famine. Brits continued to export by McCamy Taylor — 63
22) You really should inform yourself by cotterperson — 62
23) I'm afraid I got a kosmail by gchaucer2 — 60
24) Except Germany was Nazi... by Rich in PA — 60
25) Not to mention it's the day that NBC is holding by LaurenMonica — 60
26) READERS: To avoid the DIARY HIJACK, skip down by Tyree — 59
27) great post, well written and interesting by Tanya — 59
28) i hope by Bill McKibben — 59
29) We Rarely Seem to Get 3-4 Days Without by Gooserock — 57
30) Some History On Pete Peterson by frandor55 — 55
31) Happy Hump Day by Debbie in ME — 55
32) Disgusting. by raptavio — 55