A look at a few random thoughts, after-the-jump ….
But first: Top Comments appears nightly, as a round-up of the best comments on Daily Kos. Surely ... you come across comments daily that are perceptive, apropos and .. well, perhaps even humorous. But they are more meaningful if they're well-known ... which is where you come in (especially in diaries/stories receiving little attention).------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Send your nominations to TopComments at gmail dot com by 9:30 PM Eastern Time nightly, or by our KosMail message board. Please indicate (a) why you liked the comment, and (b) your Dkos user name (to properly credit you) as well as a link to the comment itself.
As part of the Top Comments crew: something that takes some getting-used-to is not seeing the first comment on T/C diaries from rserven— who had received a PhD in 1981 — and whose last comment was this past June 27th, who died on July 5th at the age of seventy-four.
She always wrote as her opening, “Good evening” … which I always heard in Alfred Hitchcock’s voice. And it always featured a colorful diagram … which (in earlier days) the title of which was part of a song lyric, which sometimes I recognized … and others drew me to a search engine (although she did less of that in more recent times). Here was her last image … still seems odd not to see her here.
While I am more of a wine drinker in my dotage, I have long been a craft brew drinker — it is usually in the title of my Friday evening post on Cheers & Jeers.
And while I saw signs of this change the past 2-3 years: it was only when I visited a restaurant near my Amtrak station that I realized how much had changed.
Behind their bar, there is a large chalkboard with wine-by-the-glass offerings and beer availability. “On Tap” speaks-for-itself …. yet it had separate listings for “Bottles” and “Cans” — and there were many more canned beer choices than bottles … which a decade ago would have been the reverse.
Back then, cans were looked at as a sign of cheaper beer, and there was a fear that aluminum imparted a metallic taste (which appears to be false, since the advent of a BPA polymer coating became standard some time ago).
In time, other advantages to canning: a lower cost than bottling, a higher recycle % for cans over bottles, being less fragile and easier to stack. Also, the elimination of light (which can affect taste) — can lead to a longer shelf life. This matters, as brewers are producing more beers with shorter shelf lives, like the New England-style India Pale Ale (NEIPA), hence the preponderance of cans.
Now, glass seems to have been affected more by Covid supply chain issues, with prices up nearly 70% in some cases. I’ll admit that I still prefer bottles … yet the content is what really matters.
Finally, one feature that Markos used to feature regularly (until the war in Ukraine took a decided turn) was the lampooning of Tankies— who in the past were those who defended the Soviet Union having tanks roll down the streets of Budapest (in the 1956 Hungarian uprising) or Prague (in the Prague Spring of 1968) … finding justification somehow. Back then, it was more a matter of those supporting Communism (in general) or the USSR (in particular).
I’m sure those types exist today …. yet as Markos outlined, today it is more a matter of seeing everything the US does (in particular) and the Western allies/NATO (in general) as being Imperialist Running Dogs …. less a matter of supporting Russia then believing that if the US/NATO supports Ukraine, then maybe they shouldn’t. When I saw Markos at Netroots Nation this past August and thanked him for that series, he grinned and said … “They make it easy”.
Yet there is (I believe) a shortcoming in that pejorative.
Coming-of-age in the Nixon/Agnew era, I recall that any liberal who criticized US foreign policy (in general) and the Vietnam War (in particular) was met with a rejoinder such as:
“If you don’t like it here …. move to Russia!!” (they didn’t use USSR).
However, these days the GOP (or at least some of their members) have changed. Referring to President Nixon’s embattled press secretary Ron Ziegler: a famous quote of his can be paraphrased to the bold rejoinder above:
“That statement …… is no longer operative”
For as you’ve probably noticed: while few are as explicit in their support for Russia (or lack thereof for Ukraine) as the left-wing Tankies: several on the right either offer justifications for Russia (Ukraine was part of Russia in the past, dontcha know), or argue it’s wasted money to arm Ukraine, et al. Perhaps it’s unsurprising: in 2018 eight GOP lawmakers visited the Kremlin on the 4th of July.
Thus, I’m wondering if we need a new term for the right-wingers who seem to have a bromance with the Kremlin — Tankies ought to be reserved for the left-wing kooks. And perhaps it’s more difficult to coin a new term … as the wingers seem to be split as to motives:
1) Many do so because — if the Former Guy liked Putin— I trust his judgement
2) Some believe (though not admitting it) that Russia is helping the GOP cause — so, why not?
3) Some captains-of-industry (notably oil/gas) are unhappy following sanctions
4) And many love Vladimir Putin’s society: while he refers to Mother Russia, it is really a hyper-masculine society: no toleration of gays, feminism is to be avoided, et al.
I don’t know if such a term is forthcoming anytime soon … but it would be a welcome sight to me.
Let’s close with a song from fifty years ago: by the band Oregon.
Now, on to Top Comments:
Highlighted by radical moderate:
In the front-page story about the major announcement in Florida by 45 — this comment made by uato carabau.
And from Ed Tracey, your faithful correspondent this evening ........
In the diary by annieli about the latest bizarro talk by Herschel Walker— Mother Mags cites a late Dutch graphic artist in trying to explain.
Next - enjoy jotter's wonderful (and now eternal) *PictureQuilt™* below. Just click on the picture and it will magically take you to the comment featuring that photo.
TOP PHOTOSNovember 16th, 2022
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And lastly: yesterday's Top Mojo - mega-mojo to the intrepid mik ...... who rescued this feature from oblivion:
1) by annieli +1252) Post your community links here. by njm5000 +1064) Make America GAG again. by janmtairy +1048) the new 'hardcore' Twitter … by stevemb +9716) And thank you for it. It put a smile on m … by RoIn +7418) Twitter and Trump two things to ignore. by MRNUTTY +7222) [image] by FloridaSNMOM +7025) rinse, wash, Dump repeat by Denise Oliver Velez +6928) dump da dump dump by Denise Oliver Velez +6729) [embed] by Greg Dworkin +6630) Because we need this: … by DCapaddocia +63