It never fails.
I have written recently about my trials and tribulations. We all have them, there’s nothing new about it. But coping is always a challenge.
It has made it harder to contribute on Daily Kos. In Top Comments. I always have things I would LIKE to diary, but rarely the time to give those things their due. All too often I do a diary anyway, compromised. That bothers me more. But as motivated as everyone is right now, we are still short-staffed, and scrambling to post a daily diary, though we have posted daily since the series inception in 2006. Please let us know if you would consider writing for Top Comments,. We are VERY flexible. We can accommodate most any schedule or special needs. Just PM us!
As for topics, I had occasion to revisit a source that never failed for me - my favorite TV series of all time - The West Wing.
The episode to which I returned was … the episode in which Ainsley Hayes first assumed her duties as a West Wing employee, despite her opposition party status. Her first assignment is to speak to two WW staffers about testimony they gave before a Congressional committee that was problematic. The staffers blew her off, insultingly.
Sam Seaborn approached her immediately after, to chastise her for showing initiative in taking on that assignment. Deeply emotional about the trauma, Ainsley asked Sam if he could be mean to her tomorrow, after she had time to recover. She went back to her office, and, after a pause, Sam followed. In her office, someone had placed a hideous bouquet of dead flowers, with a little card that said BITCH on it. Sam asked her who did this, she demurred. But Sam knew, too, who had done it. And he went to their office and fired them.
Later in the day, Ainsley returned to her office again, but the entire space was dark. So she began to enter, with some trepidation. The first video shows the exchange with Sam and Ainsley about the bouquet.
The second shows her return to her office.
For me, the video brings tears. Because it shows four of the six most important people in the Bartlet administration (excepting only Leo and Bartlet himself) welcoming a Republican into their midst. They treated her as a fellow human being, appreciated, cherished, valued. They did it in a loving and imaginative way, sending the message more clearly and completely than any words ever could.
We are in the biggest fight of our lives, politically. Emotions are high, necessarily and justifiably so. I would never ask you to compromise the intensity of your efforts, to deny the outrages that we have experienced, that we continue to experience. It is not wrong to be angry, it is not wrong to channel that anger into our efforts and our advocacy.
But please don’t let us forget ourselves in this passion. Please don’t let us forget how WE would like to be treated, how we would like those we love to be treated. Relate humanly, always. It won’t undermine our efforts, and it will pay big dividends within us and for us.
Thanks for reading.
On to tonight’s comments! (First a note: We have noted a recent decrease in community comment submissions. We hope it means that everyone is focused on mid-term contributions. But if you find comments you find worthy, and have a moment to submit them, we would deeply appreciate it!)
Brillig's ObDisclaimer: The decision to publish each nomination lies with the evening's Diarist and/or Comment Formatter. My evenings at the helm, I try reeeeallllyy hard to publish everything without regard to content. I really do, even when I disagree personally with any given nomination. "TopCommentness" lies in the eyes of the nominator and of you, the reader - I leave the decision to you. I do not publish self-nominations (ie your own comments) and if I ruled the world, we'd all build community, supporting and uplifting instead of tearing our fellow Kossacks down.
Note: Please remember that comment inclusion in Top Comments does not constitute support or endorsement by diarist, formatter, Top Comments writers or DailyKos. Questions, complaints or comments? Contact brillig.
Highlighted by Dixiecollie:
Is this fun video comment by SJohnson about the terror that voting and responsible citizenship causes in some of our adversaries. (Particularly for Beto fans!)
Highlighted by bonniebluesky:
Is this comment by KeithDB, with a picture of Ted Cruz’s dinner!
Highlighted by Observerinvancouver:
Is this comment from BMScott on fallen, squishy gross apples!
TOP MOJO
Top Mojo for yesterday, October 21st, 2018, first comments and tip jars excluded. Thank you mik for the mojo magic! For those of you interested in How Top Mojo Works, please see his diary on FAQing Top Mojo.
TOP PICTURES
Top Pictures for October 22nd, 2018. Click any picture to be taken to the full comment or picture. Thank you jotter!
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Image permissions do not allow inclusion in Top Comments
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