def strip_instructions(text):
        """
        Remove instructional HTML comment tags inserted by RTV.

        We used to use # to annotate comments, but it conflicted with the
        header tag for markdown, which some people use to format their posts.
        """
        # Pattern can span multiple lines, allows dot to match newline chars
        flags = re.MULTILINE | re.DOTALL
        pattern = '<!--{token}(.*?){token}-->'.format(token=TOKEN)
        text = re.sub(pattern, '', text, flags=flags)
        return re.sub(r'\A[\s\n]*\n', '', text, flags=flags).rstrip()
Remove instructional HTML comment tags inserted by RTV.

        We used to use # to annotate comments, but it conflicted with the
        header tag for markdown, which some people use to format their posts.