This time next week I (along with all of Casa Brillig) will be in Atlanta, Georgia, likely holding a glass of wine and hanging with some of my dearest friends. It is time for the 12th Annual Netroots Nation (yes, the first two were called Yearly Kos, work with me here :-)) and Mr. Brillig and I have an unbroken streak going. Grab yourself a beverage of choice and meet me below the story break. Don’t forget to stop at the Reg Desk first and grab your ID and lanyard!
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!
I went to that first Yearly Kos in Las Vegas way back in 2006 because I wanted to put faces to all those userid’s I’d met and come to love here at dKos. It was simultaneously the most fun and most terrifying plans I ever made… what if I didn’t meet anyone who would talk to me? What if I was, in fact, the politically stupid one? Would I get troll-rated at the bar if I stated a ridiculous opinion?
Clearly, none of that happened, and I keep going back- from Vegas → Chicago → Austin → Pittsburgh → Vegas (never again!) → Minneapolis → Providence (yay East Coast!) → San Jose → Detroit → Phoenix → Saint Louis and now to Atlanta. I discovered that we liberals are a damned fun and insanely smart bunch of people. The group of Kossacks from that first YK opened their arms and Pub Quiz tables to new attendees each year, even those that ::gasp:: weren’t members of dKos. Not everyone makes it each year, and those who are there raise a glass to those who may make it the following year, and to those whose presence will forever be in our memories (thinking of you, Cedwyn).
We attend panels and trainings (this year has the biggest selection yet), hear keynote speeches, mingle at karaoke and parties and at the hotel bar- longtime attendees STILL remember that in Chicago, we literally drank the hotel bar dry (as Markos himself discovered!). We spontaneously form groups to fill out Pub Quiz teams, say “I gotta find food” and end up eating with 4 other people you didn’t know, share spare batteries and chargers, and we boost each other’s tweets, facebook posts and diaries. Above all…
We talk. OMG, do we talk. We talk about the session we just attended, and what the electoral climate is wherever we live. We talk about the current news and whatever happened last week- although with this administration we may need to amend that to ‘earlier today’. We find commonalities in our individual differences, and learn that we don’t all have to think in lockstep to belong under the big-tent Democratic party. We have our opinions and beliefs challenged, and grow from that experience. We discover that while some people are walking founts of political knowledge and are kinda scary that way, we ALL have contributions to make and to never, EVER discount someone’s thoughts.
I wrote this back after NN11, and it is just as true today as it was six years ago:
I also came home energized, rejuvenated, and fired up to make a difference this year. The couple of days spent with my Netroots Nation family fuels my activist soul and reminds me with whom I'm walking this progressive path.
Pictures and words cannot fully express what it's like to attend NN. For me it's like coming home after too long away. We may only see each other once a year, but it's like family reunion - we eat and drink either too much or too little, share stories, and reconnect. And each year, we add another member or two to the family. If you've never been, I hope you'll let us add you to the family next year!
It’s been a bruising year so far. I am so tired from all the #Winning and #Resisting, and yet the work must continue. I need to gather with my tribe. It is my fervent hope that each and every one of you have a place to gather where you feel supported and at home. Maybe you also attend Netroots Nation (if you’re going this year please pipe up!), or local DailyKos meetups. Is there an Indivisible, local Democratic Committee, or other real-space group you spend time with? A Facebook group you belong to that feels like family (I have several of those and yes, virtual people can be family too!)? And of course our original community gathering place, Daily Kos! I hope you all feel like our nightly space here at Top Comments is a space to unwind, share your thoughts, and get ready for the next day’s adventure. It’s what we aim to provide.
Join me in the comments after perusing tonight’s Tops, brought to you by my dear friend and fellow Netroots Nation attendee, BeninSC.
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.
From Black Olive:
Everyone Needs to be Their Own Patient Advocate! This comment from Otteray Scribe should be required reading of anyone who has ever or will ever need the US medical industry. (Ed. note: You WON’T regret it!)
From 2thanks:
In a very good edition of the Good News Roundup with a great poll, these two comments stand out:
This comment, by Skookum, and this comment, by Crocodile Mom!
From Odysseus AND ZenTrainer:
Very nice and positive comment by a guy who lost his primary race in VA, but is still working to support others! He also lays out a nice game plan for Dems. Please read this comment, by KBoddye! What a special human being!
2017-08-01, courtesy of jotter!