NB: I am filling in at the last minute for Chrislove at his request. I'm passing along that the diary you wanted to read will, indeed be appearing soon. I've peeked at it. It's a good one. Chris and I and the Top Comments Team regret the inconvenience. --CM
You know, I have long said that this community is more than just a collection of people with a common interest in electing more and better Democrats/Progressives/Liberals. This is actually a community. It consists of people who have interests in everything from Baseball to Classical Music; everything from Gaming to shooting Game. Frankly, often our interests overlap and intersect; there's no denying it: Democrats have varied interests, varied opinions and varied backgrounds from the "Classic Six" in Manhattan or the Townhouse in the Back Bay to the cabin in Vermont or Maine or the beach house on the Bolivar Peninsula (sadly, no more) or the sweeping ocean vistas of the Pacific Northwest or the crazy mishmash of glittery L.A. or the sands of desert States or the rusting belt that was "Industry" or the farms of Iowa or Minnesota or the horse country of Kentucky and the dangerously-close-to-Washington states like the Commonwealth of Virginia or North Carolina, and everything in-between, above, below, East and West. We are everywhere. We are Black, we are First Nations persons, we are White, we are Asian, we are Hawaiian, we are Alaskan, we are Latina/o and every possible permutation; We are Atheist, Wiccan, Agnostic, Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, Jewish, Christian, Pagan; We are women, we are men; we are Transsexual, Lesbian, Bisexual, Gay and Straight; we are every possible thing under the sun. But if there's one thing that we are, here on the Daily Kos we can all agree on is that we are here and this is our community. We have our own culture, our own patois ("pie" means something different to us than it does to my favorite waitress at Moody's Diner here in Maine) and very much like #OccupyWallSt, we have our own rules, conventions, and way of doing things. We really are a community, albeit virtual.
I want to talk about this more over the fold, but first, a word from our sponsor:
Here at Top Comments we strive to nourish community by rounding up some of the site's best, funniest, most mojo'd & most informative commentary, and we depend on your help!! If you see a comment by another Kossack that deserves wider recognition, please send it to topcomments at gmail by 9:30pm Eastern. Please please please include a few words about why you sent it in as well as your user name (even if you think we know it already :-)), so we can credit you with the find!
NOTE: Bowing to that newfangled DK4 stuff :-), you also may send nominations to the Top Comments group email. If you don't see a nomination you made to there in the diary, please pipe up - it means we're still trying to remember not to forget to check!
Follow me over the fold for more.
If you had asked me just a couple of years ago where I expected to be in ten years I could have answered confidently. I'll bet a lot of us could have. If you had asked me then, I had a very good job in my profession (didn't pay anywhere near what it should have but that is a different diary) and my partner was getting ready to finish his residency as a surgeon. We had a fantastic--enormous--rental in the "best part" of a diverse and quirky neighborhood in Boston. We had off-street parking which, if you've ever lived in Boston or New York City is practically worth another whole income. Then we split. It happens. He moved, I moved into what I won't call a "suburb" because it is actually surprisingly rural, just off route 128 (that's I-95/93 for you Rhode Islanders) and took up there with a second job and managed to get by for a couple of years. I soon lost my health insurance but otherwise I could make ends meet, eventually with a roommate that became a good friend. Then the financial crisis really hit and I couldn't manage. I moved to my family's cold-water cabin on an island off the coast of Maine until my uncle was kind enough to invite me to become the care-taker of his lovely condo in Portland, ME where I have lived ever since (when I'm not still up at that cold-water cabin). I was actually in a position where I was unable to keep my jobs. The one that paid the most was nearly 100 mile round trip, the price of gas was skyrocketing, and at certain times of year I would have to sacrifice hours at my other job just to keep them both. It is a horrible way to live.
Because one of those jobs was part-time and the other was for an institution which is not required to pay in to UI, when I had to pick up and move to Maine from Massachusetts, I was on my own. I live on a very few hundred dollars a month that really should be for my retirement. I have come to the realization that now, at 42, unless I become Donald Trump, I will have a very meager retirement if I have one at all. If I live that long, because I don't have access to medical and dental insurance. Even under the Affordable Health Care Act, what I would have to pay would send me on the dole. I am poor. I'd like to think I take that well, because I have some lovely things. I grew up with fairly lovely things. I'd sell them, but then I think of my nephews. I would rather starve than deny them their own inheritance. These things are not particularly valuable, financially. But they are very valuable for the family. Others are valuable financially. For instance, my collection of early cylinder records, for which there is a certain market but because I collect these for their historical value, I intend them to go to the Cylinder Project at USC. I value these things for their history far more than for their monetary value. For me, it would be like killing my pet rabbit. Of course, I have not made enough money in several years now to take a tax deduction on them. Even some of you would say I should sell them. I would rather burn them than subject them to a collector who does not want them preserved for prosperity. You don't sell history. You make it. Which is what I intend to do, because since I cannot make money at the moment...but I digress. Let's have some Top Mojo:
1) Wow, Michael Moore by david mizner — 195
2) Getting closer to the time for pitch forks and by Wendys Wink — 157
3) then ask him again an hour later by kamarvt — 136
4) Obama trying to water the garden by 4mygirls — 134
5) That's why Warren will win. Complete with the by zenbassoon — 116
6) OWS by Tasini — 114
7) asdf by MinistryOfTruth — 104
8) Agree. by rexymeteorite — 101
9) Someone needs to remind Mr. Scott by Siri — 99
10) here is the point by Tasini — 91
11) T&R'd - This is why . . . by Celtic Merlin — 89
12) powerful storytelling by citisven — 87
13) Optics count by kestrel9000 — 86
14) Divest from the Koch Brothers by mole333 — 84
15) Excellent diary, priceman. by GiveNoQuarter — 82
16) Not the, what six times the number of registered by Robobagpiper — 80
17) Agreed by MinistryOfTruth — 78
18) Love back to you Jesse. by One Pissed Off Liberal — 76
19) Thank you, david mizner by priceman — 75
20) The Black Block by Horace Boothroyd III — 74
21) The thing is you can see the OWS protesters by Horace Boothroyd III — 71
22) In fact MM, among others by david mizner — 71
23) I can only hope the pressure by Siri — 70
24) Wow, I'm sure he was trying to make a point, but.. by SuzieQ4624 — 70
25) Assholes by Horace Boothroyd III — 70
26) Closed Minds Open Few Doors by BobBlueMass — 70
27) but they didn't go after Wall Street, they by theKgirls — 69
28) That was my first word when I started watching by The Troubadour — 69
29) that's what happens when authority tries to f with by bnasley — 69
30) Thanks for your continued leadership by smiley7 — 68
So After the Pity Party, Pay it Forward
I do it all the time. In the last year or two, several Kossacks have helped me out tremendously. One, in Boston, had a number of us in "low income" situations into his gracious home every Friday night (well nearly every Friday) for dinner and a movie. Everyone always brought something, but our host went out of his way to see that the main course was hearty. This went on through a long winter, and even later. We had a great time, a nearly-weekly meet-up and while it cost me nearly more in parking tickets than it might have to eat at home, it was worth it. This Kossack knew that there were a few of us around that could never afford to go out (it was true) and created a wonderful atmosphere. It was a blast. He was paying something forward.
In the last year or so I have had some pretty horrendous computer problems. Several Kossacks have helped me stay on line and very lately, one actually assisted me in acquiring a new laptop. For someone like me, who is actively seeking employment, that is a major help. It is, as some more conservative folks might say, "teaching a man to fish". I cannot tell you how much it is appreciated. Of course all those Kossacks know how I feel about it.
So, here I am and begin to wonder: "What am I doing to pay this forward?"
Well, here it is, and it began long before I ever had an offer for help from anyone and continues today:
Casa Commonmass:The Best Bed And Breakfast You Never Heard Of
Every Kossack who falls by Portland, Maine, has a standing invitation to stay with me. I'll not only put you up (in the Master Bedroom: it's too big for me, I don't like being reminded that I live alone, so I sleep in the smaller one off of the office) but I'll cook, entertain, get other Maine Kossacks together and make an evening of it. Several Kossacks have been through the Casa Commonmass system. As far as I know, they're all still alive and enjoyed it. I also host local Kossacks at my home as often as my small income allows. Local Kossacks like to have me out, too, and that's great: sometimes a game of pool or two I can't normally afford and a drink with friends is enough to pick me up for a week or two. We give it back, and we pay it forward. A couple of Kossacks who have helped me out with computer issues have--independently of that--stayed at Casa Commonmass. I would never turn anyone away.
We are completely awesome, we Kossacks. We're great to each other. We find a way to pay it forward, help each other out, and try, in our own, small way, to make this world a better place. If I could do it, there is nothing I wouldn't do for any of you. I've made a "rescue" myself more than once. Been "rescued" more than once. We have a great community here. Let's keep it up, and keep up working to #OccupyWhatIsRightAndJust. Thanks, Markos. Thanks, Tnichlsn, Keori, Indexer, Mayim, Middleagedhousewife, and all the others who have helped us out or been welcomed into our homes as we travel. Furthermore, thanks to all of you for working--and arguing--to make this world and this blog and our community a better place.
How are YOU paying it forward? Tell us in the comments!
Wait, Top Comments? We Don't Need No Stinking Top Comments...oh, YES we DO: Here's some:
From sardonyx:
In Joan McCarter's front-page story, Mitch McConnell: President Obama wants Super Congress to fail, itsjim notes that Mitch lacks a certain understanding of the actual facts involved.
Kossack Marykk sends us this:
http://www.dailykos.com/...
And sadly, the only other, from your humble diarist, from This Herman Cain Diary
This sad pronouncement (happy happy happy, joy, joy, joy!):
http://www.dailykos.com/...
Gotta love sports analogies. Gotta love them.
Thanks for joining us, and thanks for being great Kossacks. They don't call us Socialist [redacted]-sticks for nothing in the Hate Mail: we DO bend over backwards for each other!
--commonmass