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 areas of thought—and perhaps the most underappreciated—are in the 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—no one can read the complete site on a daily basis! Nevertheless, 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...
The final rush was today: over a dozen emails plopped into my mailbox wishing me a happy holiday, and they were all from politicians I've donated to in the past, or who (presumably) want my donation in the future.
They were the end of a very long string of mail, snail and e, arriving over the past little while: pictures of happy families, Donate buttons for the candidate, requests to donate to a good cause, etc. Some are cute, some are annoying, some include everything but the kitchen sink.
One example in today's largess was Dick Durbin's "Happy Holidays" message, which starts with a graphic and button to donate to Feeding America, announces that he voted for the Senate health care bill, gives the Feeding America fundraising progress so far from his site (and links?), asks again for a donation, and then wishes me a safe and happy holiday season. (At the bottom, there's a link to his campaign web site, and an opportunity to invite my friends and family to join Dick's campaign. This is a guy who covers all the bases.)
Of course, my holiday, Chanukah, ended this past Saturday at sunset, so Dick (as with most of his political compatriots) is a bit late with his wishes. Funny how that happens most years. The next time Chanukah overlaps with Christmas is in 2011; in 2010, it starts quite early, at sundown on December 1. Holiday wishes next year? I guarantee it: they'll be beyond late.
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The emails from Kossacks today were not nearly so numerous as those from politicians, but I rather expect folks around here were busy with preparations and other useful endeavors. The trio of comments included arrived before the 9:30pm Eastern Time deadline. Many thanks to you all! The actual address of our mailbox for top comments submissions is:
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. As I say every time, both link and username are important. If you send a writeup with the link, we are able to include that, too, though we reserve the right to edit if necessary; should you only provide the link, then you have to take whatever writeup we create...and we can be extremely creative. Today, little creativity was required on your submissions, so I lavished a bit on my own.
From teacherken:
I wrote Is this nation willing to pay the price of love? to draw attention to an op ed urging passage of compensation for caregivers of severely brain injured veterans of Afghanistan and Iraq.
JaxDem broadened the picture in this comment, where she describes the impact of caring for her retired military husband, who suffers from absestosis. I focus on this comment because it is an example of how we learn because of the willingness of members of the community to share their own lives with us.
From Rian Fike:
I love when someone understands me. It makes me realize that I am not the only one. [Editor's note: the cited comment from Rian Fike's diary was by ParkRanger.]
From Predictor:
Hello, I thought this Comment by Zoskie was a propos given I had just spent hours secretly wrapping presents for my hoomans.
From sardonyx (this eve's diarist):
After Strange New World inveighs against people who move to a new place and immediately try to make it like the place they just quit, TrollKing notes that this feeling is nothing new.
AntonBursch's comment improves once it gets rolling, but it's primarily listed as a setup to BruinKid's two paragraphs on idealism vs. pragmatism.
Although the text claims that Anna M's comment would only be available for two more hours, the fact that I can still see it doesn't mean it didn't expire, as MTmofo's brief reply notes. (See, Anna: there are usually second chances.)
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Finally, we have today's top mojo using my revision of the cskendrick-devised mojo-to-Excel process.
First, Top Mojo excluding Cheers and Jeers, various pooties, search-identifiable tip jars, and first diary comments:
1) To believe that any alliance with Norquist by dengre — 251
2) She's trying to attack Bernie Sanders? by NMLib — 214
3) This is actually highly by Dauphin — 198
4) I'm so glad I don't live in a universe by beltane — 182
5) This has gone from a circular by Dauphin — 168
6) BTW it looks like a lot of Kosacks owe deoliver47 by chrisblask — 147
7) Thanks, Fish by Dallasdoc — 134
8) Yep by LaFeminista — 132
9) Sitting By the Lake by JekyllnHyde — 118
10) No it's Jane Hamsher who forgets she's in by marabout40 — 115
11) I made that point downthread as well. by blue jersey mom — 110
12) In Teddy's Memory by JekyllnHyde — 110
13) Kabuki at least has a purpose by Dallasdoc — 110
14) I couldn't agree more... by APA Guy — 108
15) I would say Jane Hamsher by MufsMom — 107
16) I'm pretty sure Vermont will pick Bernie Sanders. by Bush Bites — 101
17) Yep, notice how the Senate bill is financed by by buckhorn okie — 98
18) Yes by TarheelDem — 98
19) i am beyond sick by Turkana — 95
20) Respectfully, it's much much worse. The Dem by Terra Mystica — 93
21) Maybe she's distancing herself from Bernie by Sleepwalkr — 93
22) Dear Santa by heart of a quince — 92
23) And yet when there are multiple by LeanneB — 92
24) Except that we KNOW... by mistersite — 90
25) And today... by HeadnHeart — 89
26) It's "Won't Get Fooled Again", not the end of the by RFK Lives — 87
27) I think killing the bill by fl1972 — 85
28) thank you opol by sharistuff — 84
29) I finally removed myself from the FDL mailing by ShadowSD — 81
30) Democratic kabuki by Abe Frohman — 79
Top Mojo with No Exclusions:
1) My answer to this call by LaFeminista — 586
2) Tips for the investigators by FishOutofWater — 572
3) Tip Jar by EdgedInBlue — 564
4) The July 29, 1995 edition of the National Journal by dengre — 486
5) Tips for Teddy by Populista — 368
6) However you celebrate this time of year... by rserven — 254
7) To believe that any alliance with Norquist by dengre — 251
8) Tip Jar by fladem — 224
9) She's trying to attack Bernie Sanders? by NMLib — 214
10) This is actually highly by Dauphin — 198
11) Tip Jar by TomP — 184
12) I'm so glad I don't live in a universe by beltane — 182
13) Tip Jar by slinkerwink — 172
14) THIS is the tip jar by it really is that important — 172
15) This has gone from a circular by Dauphin — 168
16) BTW it looks like a lot of Kosacks owe deoliver47 by chrisblask — 147
17) Thanks, Fish by Dallasdoc — 134
18) Yep by LaFeminista — 132
19) Haven't we failed enough already? by LaughingPlanet — 120
20) Sitting By the Lake by JekyllnHyde — 118
21) No it's Jane Hamsher who forgets she's in by marabout40 — 115
22) In Teddy's Memory by JekyllnHyde — 110
23) Kabuki at least has a purpose by Dallasdoc — 110
24) I made that point downthread as well. by blue jersey mom — 110
25) I couldn't agree more... by APA Guy — 108
26) I would say Jane Hamsher by MufsMom — 107
27) Tip Jar by math4barack — 103
28) I'm pretty sure Vermont will pick Bernie Sanders. by Bush Bites — 101
29) Yep, notice how the Senate bill is financed by by buckhorn okie — 98
30) Yes by TarheelDem — 98
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