A look at the big story coming out of the Emerald Isle ... and one not so well-known (yet still historic, as well), 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.
While yours truly has 3/4 Irish ancestry, I am always careful not to describe myself as Irish. After all, the oldest of my ancestors was Nicholas Healy (from
Castlecomer in County Kilkenny), who arrived in New York in ........ 1833 (years before the Great Famine struck). The others came later, yet still far back enough to describe myself as not being anything other than American.
And yet ...... during my one visit to Ireland in 2002, I did feel like I belonged there. Normally as soon as I spoke to anyone there, a conversation arose (upon hearing my accent) with one exception. That was watching a World Cup match in a Killarney pub, with Ireland facing Spain (who were not quite yet the world power they would become a few years later). I felt as if I was watching the soul of a nation, and after their team lost in a shoot-out, their breath sank ... yet recovered with calls of "Well done, lads!" While it is no longer on-line, the Jefferson Airplane/Hot Tuna guitarist Jorma Kaukonen wrote that while being American, "the Finnish soil calls to me" and that in the town where he was visiting, "the old men look like me". That was definitely the feeling I had walking down the streets of Killarney (though definitely less-so in Dublin and Cork).
And so watching the events unfold this week does stir something inside, as there are changes taking place that were scarcely believable just a few short years ago. In a nation where homosexual acts were not decriminalized until 1993 and divorce legalized in only 1995, and civil unions were introduced in 2010 .... well, the velocity of change is breathtaking. The now historic referendum for marriage equality passed in 42 out of 43 voting districts - the only one to vote No was Roscommon-South Leitrim (and one of my ancestors came from County Roscommon).
You've perhaps seen some of these photos from the referendum. One was due to the requirement that all ballots be cast in-person, not via mail. And so there was the publicized movement Home to Vote - as planes, trains, automobiles (and ferries) carried Irish ex-pats .... well, home to vote.
On the morning of the day to vote, the lines began to stretch:
And on the day ballots were counted ..... well, this happened:
I'd like to turn this over to you, dear readers, to express what this first national referendum to approve same-sex marriage means to you. It does not directly benefit myself ..... though as a human being, I have gained immensely. Still, those who now have the same rights as I ........ what does it mean to you?
First, though, this was not the only wind-of-change to blow through the Emerald Isle this week. Earlier this week, Prince Charles visited Galway ... and met Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams at the start of his four-day visit to Ireland. Before the Good Friday agreements ... this handshake would have been unthinkable. Change can, indeed, come to pass ... it just may, however, take some time.
And lastly: as detailed in the diary by Onomastic, today was the day for the public park memorial service for our old friend Cedwyn - with numerous photos - who was a truly special person. And while I can usually recall vividly how I have met various members of our community at Netroots Nation gatherings (or similar events) ... to this day, I cannot recall how she and I met. Yet we became friends, nonetheless. She had a way of doing that, didn't she?
Let's close with an old (basically) one-note boogie song ... that goes to all of the gay-rights supporters everywhere (and not just for marriage equality). In a way to say, "Keep on Keepin' On" ... well, the old Creedence Clearwater Revival song Keep On Chooglin' says it best.
Now, on to Top Comments:
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From Steven D:
In my own diary about the New Jersey high school art exhibit on police brutality - bobdevo expresses satire that perfectly illustrates the problem with police brutality of minority communities.
From
Steven Payne:
In my own diary about the post-Apocalyptic world of the American Family Association's Bryan Fischer - this comment by Gentle Giant is truly wonderful.
From
Chitown Kev:
In the diary by StarbucksGirl51 about the trouble that Mike Huckabee finds himself in with his defense of Josh Duggar - theKgirls points out the sheer hypocrisy of the Religious Right.
And from
Ed Tracey, your faithful correspondent this evening ........
In the front-page story about the increasing desperation (including the use of expletives) of Gov. Chris Christie - Agathena opens a thread, wondering if he should become a stand-up comic ... and others weigh-in on whether he'd resort to violence (worried perhaps if some marshmallow salesmen might want to start scrapping with him).
TOP PHOTOS
May 22, 2015
Next - enjoy jotter's wonderful PictureQuilt™ below. Just click on the picture and it will magically take you to the comment that features that photo.
(NOTE: Any missing images in the Quilt were removed because (a) they were from an unapproved source that somehow snuck through in the comments, or (b) it was an image from the DailyKos Image Library which didn't have permissions set to allow others to use it.)
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And lastly: yesterday's Top Mojo - mega-mojo to the intrepid mik ...... who rescued this feature from oblivion:
1) Bernie doesn't sound that much different from by RFK Lives +196
2) Frankly, it's hard to wrap one's mind by Raggedy Ann +184
3) I believe the tax Bernie is talking about by kenwards +159
4) I had to turn media off, or I would vomit by juliandomain +114
4) Whats a little molestation between friends?! by brooklynbadboy +114
6) At least Huckabee is consistent. by Rock Golf +107
7) Applying "their" logic to the situation, by jan4insight +103
8) A needed reminder by Silencio +98
8) The Entire Cheney Administration by xxdr zombiexx +98
10) When I buy a pair of shoes... by tardis10 +94
11) Whatever happened to decent, well-adjusted by xxdr zombiexx +85
12) And then there was the Patriotism hammer. by Words In Action +83
13) I don't see a lot of sympathy for his victims. by Dem Beans +81
14) You are right... by Flint +75
14) Ye shalt lie in the hole thou Duggar for thyself. by jwinIL14 +75
14) I'm beyond tired of this crap. by Onomastic +75
17) Hard for most people, excruciating for Blitzer. by Eileen B +74
18) I have never watched the show either by high uintas +73
19) For visibility up top - here's the video: by JVolvo +72
19) That's because his victims were only females. by owilde69 +72
21) Waldman's article states: by Hillbilly Dem +71
21) I suspect this is part of the reason by ThePhlebob +71
23) What astounds me is the recklessness by Araguato +70
23) And Krugman is historically by cville townie +70
25) Krugman is a pro-trade expert who just claimed by AmericanParty +69
25) Thanks Gran Ono, this entire thing by a2nite +69
25) What can possibly be wrong with this family? by Shockwave +69
25) The media has done such a bad job and by TomP +69
29) Montel Williams by LieparDestin +67
29) There is some new by Kristina40 +67
29) Patriotism is not a bad thing, unless it's being by Angie in WA State +67