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, and 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 a child, I recall my parents discussing a certain criminal with a very colorful name - something our very own Eddie C recalls as well. Many years later, I was astonished to learn that Jack Roland Murphy - better known as Murf the Surf - by the age of 30 had accomplished more in life (both good and evil) than many people do in a lifetime. To think that he was able to convince authorities that he could be paroled from a life sentence ... and become a role model ... well, let's have a look at a fascinating life.
Born in Los Angeles in 1938, his family moved often due to his father's job as a lineman. An aspiring violinist, Jack played in various youth orchestras and guest spots in adult ones. He also was a tennis prodigy who did quite well in various youth tournaments. And then of course, came the surfing: with two youth championships.... not for nothing did he obtain that nickname.
As a 17 year-old, the family moves to the Pittsburgh area. No problem, he had the chance to perform the violin with the Pittsburgh Symphony and earn the first tennis scholarship ever awarded by the University of Pittsburgh. But he decided to forego that scholarship and settled into the good life at a Miami Beach hotel. He served alternately as a tennis pro, a swim instructor, playboy, acrobatic diver and then had a marriage along with two sons.
But his marriage broke up, and he settled in the Melbourne Beach area, re-married and began Murf the Surfboards - the East Coast's first such factory. Yet due in part to his drinking and playboy partying (a second marriage went by the wayside) the company went under ... and Jack Murphy returned to Miami Beach, where his life went south (in more ways than one) at age 25.
Reuniting with old friends, he falls into a gang that sets out by boat at night to rob the homes of wealthy part-time residents for their jewels. It starts off small and Murf contents himself by saying,
We take the jewels, they get the insurance money and their picture in the paper, nobody gets hurt - and then, margaritas for everyone!
Yet the ante kept getting raised, to the point that they eventually want the big time and they set out to achieve it: the J.P. Morgan Gem Collection at New York's Museum of Natural History.
He and his friends noticed that (in 1964) the museum's security was quite lax: an inoperative burglar alarm system coupled with an open window in the jewel room to assist in ventilation. They used that window to gain entrance, and make off with $400,000 worth of gems - known as the Jewel Heist of the Century - including the 563-carat Star of India sapphire. They are caught within a few days and Murphy spent two years in prison. A 1975 film called Murph the Surf was made about the heist, starring Robert Conrad and Don Stroud (as Murphy).
He returns to Miami and yet continues the life of a thief - and in one of those cases, murders a woman involved in an armed robbery he participated in. For all of these crimes, he receives two life sentences at age thirty-one in 1968 (escaping the death penalty by a narrow margin). Even when he became a born-again Christian in 1971 (for appearance sake, he said) there seemed little future for Jack Roland Murphy.
Then in 1974, a former pro football player named Bill Glass brought his prison ministry group to the prison where Jack Murphy was. It was only then that Murphy seriously began the process of rehabilitation. Over the next twelve years, he served in the prison chaplaincy program and became a mentor to other inmates. Incredibly, the man who was barely spared the death penalty (and whose original parole date was set for November 2225) so impressed prison officials that he was paroled in 1986 - albeit with 'lifetime probation'.
Upon being paroled, he dedicated himself to prison ministry and has since spoken in over 1,200 prisons around the world. He says that he hates going into prisons but that "I do it because people visited me and it meant a lot. I'm not doing anything different - it's just my turn". He has an aptly-titled memoir Jewels for the Journey and directed a 1997 TV documentary "San Quentin Homecoming Reunion". Reflecting his good works: the 'lifetime probation' requirement was lifted by the State of Florida in 2000 - only fourteen years after his parole.
Jack Murphy is now 73 years old, helps support his ministry in part by selling his paintings of his adopted state of Florida and - in a blast from the past - was inducted into the East Coast Surfing Hall of Fame in 1997.
Now, I don't know if his ministry extends beyond prison mentoring; no idea whether he has ventured into less savory Christian Right hectoring of non-believers territory or not. Regardless: this is one of those incredible human interest stories that I find compelling; a prime example of JFK's favorite line from Luke 12:48 - "For of those to whom much is given, much is required". And his story should be required reading for any lock-'em-up type running for office.
Now, on to Top Comments:
-------------------------------
From rfall:
In today's Midday Open Thread - the news about Ann Coulter attending "Homocon" and getting kicked from a WorldNetDaily conference led Rei to ask whether we are seeing the end times?
From Jan F:
During today's Morning Feature - this comment by by Williston Barrett about how "the average German works about 400 fewer hours per year--that's 10 40-hour weeks--yet earns almost as much as an American and with far more benefits" caught my eye. In response to my inquiry, his response is as follows:
"Relatively speaking, we have become the land of inequality and lack of opportunity, with a far more rigid class structure and much higher levels of poverty".
From lineatus:
In this GBCW diary - in which the diartist was subsequently persuaded to change it to a TTFN diary - ratmach shows how to talk someone off the ledge ... "the best reason to stay that I've seen in any of these diaries".
From Angie in WA State:
In his own diary about the failures of Prohibition (of all kinds), xxdr zombiexx "made the punnyist comment I've read in quite a while" - Alcohol's Impact on America: The Wrath of Grapes.
From AnnetteK:
In her diary today, asking who would attend the Beck/Palin Rally, she liked two responses from the same individual, fcvaguy:
One was a rant warning the attendees what to expect in Washington, D.C.
The other was a modern version of the old "don't let the bedbugs bite" adage.
And from Ed Tracey, your faithful correspondent this evening ....
In this diary about Chuck Hagel endorsing Joe Sestak for the Senate seat from Pennsylvania, Greasy Grant wrote:
"(The) first time Chuck Hagel ran for Senate, he beat Ben Nelson 56%-42%. Who could have anticipated that one day I'd look at those numbers and feel good about them?"
And lastly ... Top Mojo - (cskendrick/sardonyx-style) excluding search-identifiable tip jars, first diary comments, Cheers and Jeers and (alas) ... da pooties:
1) A public servant serving the public. Imagine that by nailbender — 194
2) I Gotta Post This Again by JekyllnHyde — 180
3) All we need is... by KingOneEye — 127
4) I can't find anything hilarious about it, sorry by jaywillie — 117
5) We could use by nemoplanetia — 103
6) Whoever believes in real progressive principles by nailbender — 100
7) FDR was eloquent on this point by ivorybill — 98
8) Aye, Aye Captn! by JekyllnHyde — 93
9) *hugs* by Cedwyn — 88
10) He's a true believer...a pure Libertarian... by APA Guy — 88
11) From your "twin" Kossack; by 4CasandChlo — 87
12) Thanks. I just need a win, you know? by Something the Dog Said — 80
13) Consumers Do Not Revolt by Mr X — 77
14) I completely disagree with you. by TomP — 72
15) well, maybe ... by Joe Buck — 72
16) Aide and Abetted By This Man by JekyllnHyde — 68
17) No worries there. I married my best friend and by Something the Dog Said — 67
18) OMG, these people are so F-ing racist!! by moonpal — 67
19) When no-one stood up to defend the President by Teddi67 — 66
20) That guy by whoknu — 66
21) Unenlightened Constitutional Wish by JekyllnHyde — 64
22) ((( hug ))) venting is good for the soul, by Lisa Lockwood — 64
23) Just got back from China & Hong Kong by Sarge in Seattle — 64
24) One thing you have to say about him... by CharlieHipHop — 63
25) I'm glad they are worried by bear83 — 62
26) "Muslim" is the new n-word by jaywillie — 60
27) You're mistaking being whiney with being by AmandaM — 58
28) Wow.... by cooper888 — 58
29) This chart tells the story by Shockwave — 57
30) Thanks for taking our messages to the President by Greg in TN — 57
===============
Top Mojo with No Exclusions:
1) Tips? Flames? by Something the Dog Said — 668
2) Tip Jar by Alan Grayson — 590
3) Tip Jar by Sarge in Seattle — 477
4) Tip Jar by dem61292 — 308
5) Tip Jar by Daisy Cutter — 291
6) Tip Jar by cskendrick — 291
7) Tip Jar by bobswern — 255
8) Tip Jar by Clarknt67 — 237
9) Tip Jar by Back To Basics — 223
10) A public servant serving the public. Imagine that by nailbender — 194
11) Tip Jar by TBTM Julie — 194
12) I Gotta Post This Again by JekyllnHyde — 180
13) Tip Jar by deaniac83 — 130
14) All we need is... by KingOneEye — 127
15) Tip Jar by teacherken — 122
16) I can't find anything hilarious about it, sorry by jaywillie — 117
17) Cannabis belongs alongside solar and wind by xxdr zombiexx — 117
18) Tip Jar I'm a __ believer by LaFeminista — 111
19) We could use by nemoplanetia — 103
20) Tip Jar by Avenging Angel — 101
21) Whoever believes in real progressive principles by nailbender — 100
22) FDR was eloquent on this point by ivorybill — 98
23) Aye, Aye Captn! by JekyllnHyde — 93
24) Tip Jar by AAbshier — 90
25) Tip Jar by Amber6541 — 89
26) He's a true believer...a pure Libertarian... by APA Guy — 88
27) *hugs* by Cedwyn — 88
28) From your "twin" Kossack; by 4CasandChlo — 87
29) Tip Jar by Th0rn — 81
30) Thanks. I just need a win, you know? by Something the Dog Said — 80