Good evening! On the evening of Halloween last year I wrote a Top Comments diary about a remarkable experience Kathy and I had.
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We went to see the documentary made about Newtown, the December 14, 2012 murders of 20 six and seven year old children, along with 6 staff members at Sandy Hook Elementary School. The documentary was showing at select theaters around the United States, and screenings are on-going. In the diary I said I expected to return and publish a diary about the experience. I never did that.
Of course, the film showed nothing graphic about the massacre. There would be no way to appropriately show scenes no human being should ever have to survey. But the interviews were remarkable, indeed. The faces of parents who lost children … tell a truth no words could ever convey. Their eyes, even their infrequent smiles. They aren’t statistics. They are real. What happened to their children is real. And that day carries a reality that can never be denied, an intensity that can’t be circumvented or discharged. Without exception, none of those parents ever thought such a thing could possibly happen to THEIR children. Until that day, they had that in common with every one of US.
Only, it DID happen. And there are no do-overs, for them. No undo button. No going back, no second chance. And they speak to us because they don’t want ANY other parent or family member to ever have to go what they have been through, what they continue to go through.
I am not going to write more about the documentary, but what I am going to do is tell you there is an opportunity for most everyone to see this incredible film. PBS is showing it (nationwide, from what I understand), on Monday, April 3.
The Newtown film homepage says 9 pm Eastern and 8 pm MT, but the full schedule may be looked up on the PBS website, here.
One final word. The LA Times, in their review (quotation taken from the Newtown film website), wrote:
Legislative questions are not addressed, and even the killer’s name is not mentioned. Instead, viewers are given wrenching access to a place that more than three years later continues to grapple with an attack that claimed the lives of 26 victims, many of them small children.
If there is any way for you to do so, please make an effort to view this film. It’s important.
I have a family event this evening, but I wanted to post notice of this broadcast, and we had no diarist scheduled for tonight. brillig has graciously offered to add the comments and tops, and I hope to be home in time for hosting.
On to tonight’s comments, then! (Thank you, brillig!)
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.
sharman highlighted this comment by memofromturner as "comment of the year".
TOP MOJO
Top Mojo for yesterday, March 30th 2017, 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 yesterday, March 30 2017. Click any picture to be taken to the full comment or picture. Thank you jotter!