I was really excited yesterday to ALREADY know what my diary topic tonight was going to be. After penning over 900 Top Comments diaries (as I write this one, I show 937 of my diaries bearing the #TopComments tag) since 2007, the ideas for a novel topic come a wee bit less frequently.
BUT
That’s not what you’re reading tonight. I expect to give you my original diary tomorrow, as I fill in once again for cohenzee. I went to check in on Brandi Buchman's Proud Boys Liveblog and didn’t find it. Huh. That’s weird. So I head over to the bird site, which… even though my participation there has dropped to nearly zero, I do sometimes peek in order to find breaking news (despite the increasing piles of dreck there, some people I follow there haven’t decamped elsewhere yet) and discovered she’d been laid off. There’s lots of info on that in DRo’s Rec List diary.
I suspect that many if not most Top Comments readers consider themselves community members here at the site and not just ‘readers’ or ‘visitor clicks’ , and have been following the information provided by site management and the Daily Kos Guild regarding necessary layoffs. I don’t want to rehash all of that in the body of this diary. I’m absolutely not questioning that layoffs were necessary given the site’s bottom-line financials. I get it, it’s a tough business and there are reasons why.
What DOES bother me are two aspects of this sad necessary event:
First, the way in which folks found out they’d been laid off: via a 6am Eastern email, with a separation date of tomorrow. However… in Brandi’s case, she was quite literally at the courthouse liveblogging the trial today when she discovered her access to her account was gone and her liveblog diary was pulled. That’s just bullshit, and IMHO there’s no other way to paint it.
Second, that this looks suspiciously like unionbusting.
Every founding member of the union is now gone? That smells like really bad fish to me. And I just can’t put my heart into a fun, lighthearted diary tonight. However, just like DKG members have been doing and continue to do, I have a job tonight… to bring you the Top Comments, Mojo and Pictures. And so I will do just that, sad that we’ve lost good voices under really disheartening circumstances and in solidarity with the Daily Kos Guild.
Here at Top Comments we welcome longtime as well as brand new Daily Kos readers to join us at 10pm Eastern. 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 either to topcomments at gmail or to the Top Comments group mailbox 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!
TOP COMMENTS
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. 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.
From userexists:
I would like to nominate Gutenberg's "hail and farewell" to Brandi Buchman in DRo's diary emptywheel to aid in Proud Boys Trial Coverage.
From Aldous J Pennyfarthing:
I'd like to nominate Crashing Vor's comment in my diary RNC's Pollyanna McDaniel pretends Donald Trump will eventually endorse GOP nominee if it's not him.
[note: Yes I know it’s out of range and should have been in last night’s diary. Clearly the intention was to submit it, and I’m gonna bend rules today just because :)]
TOP MOJO
Top Mojo for yesterday (Sunday), February 26th 2023, 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
Something’s definitely borked with Top Pictures. Not sure if the person who resurrected it got laid off or if something else is wrong. I’ll look into it but there’s nothing I can do tonight.