(From the diaries, as I dab a tear from my eye. I still have the program from his lovely funeral services on my night table. I can't believe it's been a year... -- kos)
In an article James Wolcott wrote for the June Vanity Fair on battling bloggers, his section on Daily Kos and Markos included the following:
Apart from the late Steve Gilliard, a blogger whose untimely death left an unfillable void in the warrior class, few have set a healthier example of consuming concern trolls for breakfast than Markos. So the site that bears his name is not for the demure.
Steve died a year ago today, and that void still echoes.
Last night's Blast from the Past: Steve Gilliard, June 1, 2003 diary from Meteor Blades reprinted a single excellent front-page post Steve made as a guest blogger on Daily Kos five years ago. If you've never run across Steve's writing, reading Steve's words, and the tributes from Meteor Blades and other Kossacks, is as good a starting point as any.
There were also great tributes published around the blogosphere last night and today. The Group News Blog, founded by the four bloggers who had stepped in to keep Steve's own blog, The News Blog, going while he was in the hospital during what turned out to be his final illness, was the home for many of them:
• Sara Robinson reprinted Who Gilley Was, written a year ago, with a new introduction.
• Jen posted One Year Later, a combination food/political/health piece.
• Jesse Wendel posted Steve, One Year Later here, and Gilly Day at Firedoglake.
• Lower Manhattanite posted Why I Write, an amazing essay that will make you want to read more of his work, too.
There are other articles inspired by memories of Steve, such as DrBopperTHP posted My Favorite R&B Tunes Steven would have Hated, and The Littlest Gator's The Makings of A Foodie, Early Memories. The Group News Blog is also the source of the best article on Steve Gilliard's writings, originally published this past December.
Articles at other sites in the past 24 hours include the lovely driftglass meditation, A Matzevah for Steve, which includes the reprint of Steve's article on Hunter S. Thompson and some great tributes in the comments; Kathy G's What would Gilly do? recounts how she first found Steve's writing in the dark days after the 2004 elections and why she kept coming back, linking to nearly two dozen of Steve's articles along the way; and Jill from Brilliant Hussein at Breakfast wrote Has it been a year already?
Three articles written a year ago:
• One Great Piece from Steve Gilliard from a story by Meteor Blades
• Steve by kos
• Remembering Steve Gilliard by Steve Baldwin, with links to dozens of Steve Gilliard's Netslaves.com articles
Steve was a professional writer long before he first commented on Daily Kos. His writing appeared on the net in the previous millennium: see this fascinating interview with him published during his five year stint at Netslaves.com from 1998 through 2003.
The first of Steve Gilliard's 220 front-page posts on Daily Kos on April 3, 2003, was a fascinating introduction to Steve and his information sources: Good morning from your substitute blogger. While guest blogging on Daily Kos, he wrote essays and commentary, analysis and short summaries: that first day he wrote six additional posts covering many aspects of the invasion of Iraq.
I thought it fitting to complete the list of links to all of Steve's Daily Kos posts today in this diary with his final 75 front-page stories. All but the last five were published through August 6, the day Steve opened his own blog The News Blog; in the two months leading up to that day, Steve was essentially co-blogging with Markos on Daily Kos, though he was officially a guest blogger. His final day on the front page, August 28, he substituted at the last minute for Markos who was travelling and had lost all his luggage (it wouldn't show up for over two weeks); he wrote four articles for Daily Kos while writing other material for his own blog.
The dailykos.net site where all these posts are archived has no search capability, no automated way of determining where Steve's posts and comments appeared. A complete set of direct links to these posts and comments seemed the only way to make finding his writing on Daily Kos less onerous.
My original plan was to have the links to all of Steve's front-page posts also listed in the dKosopedia today, but the dKosopedia web site is down for maintenance, and will be for a few days yet. These links will be posted there as soon as its maintenance is completed, along with the links to all comment threads containing Steve's comments starting from his very first Daily Kos comment on October 1, 2002 through April 18, 2003. The links: Steve's main dKosopedia page, and the sub-pages linking to Steve's front-page posts and to the comment threads he appeared in.
Instead, here's a quick list of diaries here on Daily Kos where Steve's posts and comments can be found:
• Posts and Comments, April 3–18, 2003: Top Comments: Steve Gilliard on Daily Kos, part 2 (note: no posts April 19 or 20)
• Posts, April 21–June 6, 2003: Top Comments: Steve Gilliard on Daily Kos, part 3
• Posts, June 7–July 13, 2003: Top Comments: Steve Gilliard on Daily Kos, part 4
• Posts, July 14–August 28, 2003: This diary (see below).
• Comments, September 30, 2002–March 11, 2003: Steve Gilliard on Daily Kos, part 6
• Comments, March 12, 2003–April 2, 2003: Top Comments: Steve Gilliard on Daily Kos, part 1
I would be remiss if I didn't note that between January 27, 2003 and April 18, 2003, Steve commented or posted to Daily Kos every single day. That's an incredible stretch, especially when you consider he usually commented in three or more diaries in a day, and averaged more than one comment. That period of uninterrupted blogging may extend quite a bit further: I haven't yet had the time to check April 19 and 20 to see whether Steve made any comments. I do know from remarks others have made that Steve rarely took breaks from his blogging.
Finally, a quick search to find all of Steve's 1200 comments on the current Daily Kos site. One command, no waiting (well, half a minute...not bad!).
During the period covered in this diary, Steve shared the guest-posting reins with Ron K, Seattle, and would continue to do so until his final such posts on August 28, three weeks after his own blog had begun operations. Steve signed his posts "Steve Gilliard"; his comments were signed "steve gilliard" until late April 2003, when he changed to "steve_gilliard" (only his very first comment in 2002 used "sgilliard").
On July 1, due to acute overload on the Daily Kos ISP's server, Markos had to shut down Movable Type comments until a dedicated server could arrive and be configured for the blog's use. He patched in HaloScan comments on July 2, thinking it would be a stopgap of a week at most, and knowing that all the comments made under HaloScan would be lost forever once Movable Type comments were brought back on line. In the event, Movable Type comments were not restored until the morning of August 16, and an estimated 34K comments, of which approximately 300 would have been Steve's on his own posts, are permanently lost to posterity. With the exception of the August 28 posts, no comment information remains.
Steve Gilliard's front-page stories, July 14 through August 28, 2003:
Monday, July 14, 2003
• Execute the hostages
• It's freedom ....er Bastille day
• 16 words
Tuesday, July 15, 2003
• Black Thursday
• Korea-US drifting towards war
Wednesday, July 16, 2003
• Rapes rise, respect declines for police in Baghdad
• 'We knew, we just knew'
• Why the complaints matter
Thursday, July 17, 2003
• The rocket's white plume
• The politics of war
• What to do about George?
• Fixing Iraq
Friday, July 18, 2003
• Blair loses ground
• Please shut up
• Some rules of the road
Saturday, July 19, 2003
• UN to demand a quick turnover in Iraq
• They don't get it
• Politics, Iraqi style
• US data on Iraq sketchy
Sunday, July 20, 2003
• It only gets worse for Blair
• US to create Iraqi force
• An Army against itself
• The men of Ward 57
• How to volunteer at military and veterans hospitals
• 1st Cav, 25th ID may be deployed to Iraq
Monday, July 21, 2003
• Wolfowitz 'Leave Iraq alone'
• The Shia debate
• Surviving Ward 57
Tuesday, July 22, 2003
• The disappearing President
• WMD: doesn't matter any more
• CENTCOM: Uday, Qusay killed
• Who is the enemy?
Wednesday, July 23, 2003
• Beyond Saddam
• NYC Councilman killed in City Hall
Thursday, July 24, 2003
• Hussein Bros. firefight backfiring
• The war moves north
Friday, July 25, 2003
• Dick Cheney and his lies
• Heaviest week of combat since end of war
Saturday, July 26, 2003
• Can't they do anything right?
• Dean on the offense
• Bringing in Baker
Sunday, July 27, 2003
• Five soldiers dead in 24 Hours
• Who's going to Iraq next
• More Bad News for Blair
• Marines fire at Shia protestors
Monday, July 28, 2003
• Condi Rice: liar or incompetant?
• Desperation in Iraq
• Begging for books
Tuesday, July 29, 2003
• Playing chicken with Sadr
• What is the DLC up to?
• Another day in Iraq
Wednesday, July 30, 2003
• Our priorities in Iraq, water, power, lights camera, action
• A few words about Bob Hope
• The battle for Iraq's phones
• Bush Speaks
• US alters tactics, limit contact with Iraqis in Fallujah
• Buying more trouble
Thursday, July 31, 2003
• No WMD, but plenty of war
• Another day, two more dead
• Pure idiocy
Friday, August 1, 2003
• A job for John
• Suicides an in issue in Iraq
• Iraqi family executes informer
Saturday, August 2, 2003
• Iraqis turn in attacker
• Gay hysteria
Sunday, August 3, 2003
• Afghanistan slipping back to warlordism
• Bush goes on vacation
Monday, August 4, 2003
• Bumbling the war on terror
Tuesday, August 5, 2003
• Casualities hidden, mystery illness hits US troops in Iraq
Wednesday, August 6, 2003
• Beyond water and light in Iraq
• Welcome to the Matrix
Thursday, August 7, 2003
• Markos announces Steve Gilliard has a new blog -- no, no writing by Steve here, though I imagine he wrote at least one comment that has been lost to posterity
Friday, August 15, 2003
• Bush and his friends strike again
The site switched back from HaloScan comments to Movable Type comments during the morning of August 16; comments Steve made to his posts under Movable Type will be noted as in prior diaries. But Steve only posted to the front-page on one more day, though it was a busy one, with Markos both on a long train journey and without luggage.
Thursday, August 28, 2003
• The War against the BBC has no comments by Steve in the 59 posted.
• North Korea: we're a nuclear power also has 2 of 203 comments by Steve
• Dick Cheney's big bonanza also has 1 of 98 comments by Steve
• U.S. Suspects It Received False Iraq Arms Tips also has 1 of 97 comments by Steve
Steve then returned to The News Blog, though he continued commenting on Daily Kos. I don't yet know how frequently he commented during the next seven weeks before the Movable Type site closed; he'd write 1200 comments in the following three and a third years of Daily Kos after it moved to Scoop.
~~~~~
Tonight, as always, we highlight top comments from the past 24 hours every day, as emailed by you to the TopComments mailbox, and also found by your diarist du jour. My thanks to those Kossacks who took the time to mail in comments. If you saw any great comments that are not mentioned here—and there are always tens of thousands of comments to choose from—please link to them in your own comments below. The address of that mailbox:
TopComments AT gmail DOT com
(change " AT " to "@" and " DOT " to ".")
Anyone can submit deserving comments to our address—the direct link to a comment is available from that comment's date/time—as long as they arrive by 9:30pm Eastern Time. Please always include your Daily Kos user name in the body of your message, so we can credit you properly. Both link and username are important.
ScottyUrb submitted the following nomination:
smash artist makes a good point after my less-than-successful attempt at posting a picture of my computer's desktop.
From jnhobbs:
The Termite gives us a little something to chew on in georgia10's story, Taxes, Tyrants, and Words, Oh My!
Sent by A Siegel:
Infuriated by George Will's Willful Ignorance, zbbrox cogently defines the basic principle of liberty.
Blue Boy Red State writes:
Sending this comment by cometman on suggestion of clammyc and on my own behalf.
From your diarist sardonyx:
Patriot4peace gives us some late-breaking news on Harold Ickes. Read the downthread comments for further clarifications.
oldjohnbrown gives us an alarming description of George W. Bush.
In a late comment to last night's Blast from the Past: Steve Gilliard, June 1, 2003, wetzel writes I really loved him.
dengre reminds of what is important, with a little help from Abraham Lincoln.
God loves goats reminds us that politics is like driving.
No Top Comments diary would be complete without that day's top mojo—those comments which have received the highest number of recommendations from Daily Kos users like you. Today's top mojo is supplied by sardonyx, using his own revision of the amazing cskendrick's mojo-to-Excel magic.
First, Top Mojo excluding search-identifiable tip jars, first diary comments, and Cheers and Jeers:
1) Holy shit, rigso. by blueintheface — 165
2) THIS is how to write a unity diary!!! nt by blueoasis — 154
3) Me three! by Urizen — 141
4) Me too! by Ann Galloway — 120
5) arrrrrrgggg..... by smash artist — 114
6) Young Hillary Clinton learning to fight by John Campanelli — 105
7) She's definitely locked up the State of Denial by Steven R — 104
8) Yes, and I think it's about time we begin by rontun — 96
9) thanks, this is heartfelt, as I became more by rigso — 91
10) Maybe I'm naive by Jeff Y — 89
11) Sexism AND racism... by blksista — 88
12) can we have a fourth? by sunspark says — 82
13) Well, .... if you insist... I guess I'll join in. by HoundDog — 76
14) Barack's first 100 days by deben — 75
15) Oldies but goodies...past diaries by Sharon Jumper — 74
16) Congratulations! by writerswrite — 73
17) I fucking hate Bill Kristol. by Intercaust — 71
18) Just When I Think We Can't Sink Any Fruther by webranding — 71
19) You hit it perfectly, my friend! by Translator — 68
20) Why this would come as a surprise to any... by LtdEdishn — 65
21) In the interview with Olbermann, the General by Rick Winrod — 65
22) Welcome on board! by leftyboy666 — 63
23) Done! by islandinthesun — 62
24) LOVED his classical sense of humor ... by sundancekid11 — 62
25) lol by lukery — 61
26) As a 33 year old Asian woman.... by politix88 — 59
27) To a real hero and patriot. by DWKING — 59
28) I look forward to her gracious, party unifying, by ablington — 59
29) give me a break! by sunspark says — 58
30) you need advance staff for general elections by slinkerwink — 57
Top Mojo with No Exclusions:
1) Tips for a good fight, by rigso — 707
2) grrrrrr....... by clammyc — 592
3) Tips for Hope by broui — 435
4) do with this what you want by teacherken — 393
5) tipjar by lukery — 374
6) Please Tip Smash Artist by bink — 358
7) General Odom sir, may you have the last laugh by Shockwave — 356
8) tips and recs for Running Brave by Deoliver47 — 299
9) Tips for being on the ball today by Apocalypse Please — 295
10) Tip Jar by Jesselyn Radack — 286
11) Drip Drip Drip lots of tips Please! by Sallyport — 274
12) The weird thing is... by smash artist — 251
13) Tips for by Jezreel — 238
14) I'm referring my recent hair loss... by JeffLieber — 203
15) How ironic... by David Kroning — 177
16) Holy shit, rigso. by blueintheface — 165
17) !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! by Troutfishing — 160
18) Tip Jar by ask — 157
19) THIS is how to write a unity diary!!! nt by blueoasis — 154
20) Thank goodness. Get well, Ted! by dlh77489 — 144
21) Me three! by Urizen — 141
22) Happy Monday! :-) by Common Sense Mainer — 127
23) Me too! by Ann Galloway — 120
24) Going against the wind by Magnifico — 117
25) arrrrrrgggg..... by smash artist — 114
26) This is a tip jar. Stay Thine Trollfingers. by Mikeguyver — 111
27) Tips for Good Karma? by Mr Magu — 111
28) Young Hillary Clinton learning to fight by John Campanelli — 105
29) She's definitely locked up the State of Denial by Steven R — 104
30) Yes, and I think it's about time we begin by rontun — 96
31) Tips for the flood by smash artist — 96
© sardonyx; all rights reserved
All quotes are the property of the original authors or the websites that held them