Gerry Daly's blog
Posted at 3:04pm on Aug. 18, 2006 This Is Embarrassing
By Gerry Daly
In what I am about to blog, either one person is a liar, or several people are liars. From the Orlando Sentinel:
[State Sen. Daniel] Webster said he had no idea why [Rep. Katherine] Harris listed him as one of her supporters. He said he never endorsed her.
"They called back twice and said he'd be here," Harris said. "He said he was going to be here on the stage with me today."
Webster's office said he had never confirmed his attendance.
Read on . . .
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Posted at 6:59pm on Aug. 16, 2006 Someone (named Jeffery Scott Shapiro) Owes District Attorney Mary Lacy An Apology
By Gerry Daly
From today's statement by John Ramsey:
"Words cannot adequately express my gratitude for the efforts of Boulder District Attorney Mary Lacy and the members of her investigative team... "
Family attorney L. Lin Wood said:
"The Ramseys and I have been totally amazed and impressed with the professionalism of law enforcement under the direction of Boulder District Attorney Mary Lacy..."
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Posted at 1:09pm on Jul. 17, 2006 Interesting Minnesota Poll Results
By Gerry Daly
Here and here. Two writeups on the same poll from the Star-Tribune, rolled out over two days, giving the Governor's race one day and the Senate race the next. Topline: Pawlenty has a small, possibly insignificant lead over Hatch, while Klobuchar has a 19 point lead over Kennedy.
Those who are familiar with the history of the Star-Tribune's polling efforts know that their poll consistently overstates Democrat support (as Captian Ed notes. That said, it is very interesting to note to what degree Kennedy is running behind Pawlenty, and to what degree Klobuchar is running ahead of Hatch.
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Posted at 5:42pm on Jul. 13, 2006 Giant
By Gerry Daly
I love this post. Enough to post a paragraph and recommend you give them some hit love.
Then again, maybe there IS some truth to how Shipman reported it. Gorby and the elder Bush DID have a partnership; the Bush administration actually resisted Yeltsin (I guess he wasn't "prudent" enough) in favor of trying to prop up the obviously flailing Gorbachev. But the clear insinuation of the Shipman story is that Bush and Gorbachev controlled events in the move of eastern Europe to freedom, whereas the truth is that events controlled them. Sure, Gorbachev deserves credit for being humane enough to recognize the evils of the gulag, and credit for being perceptive enough to see that SOMETHING needed to be done to reform the system, and brave enough to work with Reagan, Thatcher and Bush for peace. This is not to utterly denigrate Gorbachev. Thanks God he came into power when he did. And thank Gorby for his humaneness. But to the end, he held out the hope for a new form of Communism, not for democracy and not for real freedom. And he sure as heck would NOT have been an agent of, or conduit for, change if it weren't for the man who Shipman just couldn't bring herself to mention at all, one Ronald Wilson Reagan.
I hate to say this, but I am shocked at how quickly so many Republicans, even conservative ones, have started to take Reagan's legacy for granted, or even have tried to raise awareness of his lack of ideologic purity.
Read on . . .
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Posted at 7:13pm on May 25, 2006 It's like they have gotten into my mind...
By Gerry Daly
... and figured out the precise way to annoy me the most.
One thing that has always been a pet peeve of mine: spammers. Close behind are the well-intentioned folks who, through a lack of caring and a lack of understanding, end up acting exactly like spammers.
Case in point: House Majority leader John Boehner and his staff.
Somehow, I have ended up on their mailing list. I did not sign up for it. That is spammer-like behavior #1.
Then, due to the recent kerfuffle over the search of Icebox Jefferson's cool digs, I decided that I really would prefer to be spared from the daily spin. So I looked at the mailings for an "unsubscribe" link, address, or procedure. None. Spammer-like behavior #2 (although having one that is invalid or is ignored would be even more spammer-like).
So I mailed them, asking to be removed. A day later, I was still getting mail, so I repeated my request. No action. Lather, rinse, repeat-- at least three more cycles. Spammer-like behavior #3.
I even made them aware that they were about to get blasted on a blog. They apparently did not care-- or have reply mail going to an account that no one reads. Spammer-like behavior #4.
Now, I try to avoid being an extremist, normally. But part of me thinks that if legislation was brought before Congress authorizing the death penalty for spammers, I might find myself supporting the measure.
I kid, but only because I love. But my love is evaporating in the realization that the Republican leadership right now has no clue. They are ticking off people, left and right (and I mean that in the cliche' way, even though it works politically as well), over matters both big and small. They don't seem to realize it, they don't seem to be able to avoid it, and they don't seem to care. They seem to understand that they are in real trouble this fall, but seem to think that it is something that cannot be avoided and is something that they did nothing to bring about.
To be honest, it breaks my heart. When it isn't annoying me to no end, that is.
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Posted at 5:20pm on May 24, 2006 "And worse than that, by God it ain't right."
By Gerry Daly
Like most (if not all) of the RedState editors, I am appalled by the stance taken by Speaker Hastert regarding the lawful search of Rep. Jefferson's icebox.
It was a small gesture, but in response I decided to request that my name be removed from some of the email lists of various Republican politicians. I wanted to send a message that this whole mindset needed to be changed.
I am stunned by one of the responses I received.
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Posted at 8:56pm on Apr. 13, 2006 Guys, Please Stop.
By Gerry Daly
Hugh Hewitt and Jeff Goldstein are not seeing eye-to-eye.
I wish they would take a step back and think about something Jeff said earlier.
There are people who want to kill us, and the threat is big enough to scare entire institutions. If we should be fighting them over their impact on the 1st amendment or if we should be worrying about giving them sympathizers, is really a moot and distracting question.
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Posted at 11:48pm on Mar. 24, 2006 So, other than that, how was your day?
By Gerry Daly
In which I make the shortest diary entry of my life.
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Posted at 2:35am on Feb. 25, 2006 The Lyrics of Defiance
By Gerry Daly
I must be feeling extra verbose today.
Moe just RedHotted a link to a video by Deeyah. The following is just some supplemental info-- the lyrics to the song. Sometimes, it takes a listening two or ten before the lyrics of a song really register. Sometimes, the process can be helped along by reading the words.
Or maybe that's just me. But here they are-- and it really is a song of defiance.
(Verse 1):
Does the truth only come from the top of a holy man's spire?
From three paces back, covered head to toe?
Are the rules just for the masses and written just for show?
(Pre chorus):
Where the beat goes -- nobody knows
Where the street goes -- nobody knows
(Chorus):
Do you stand up, lay down or follow?
What will it be?
Will it all be the same again tomorrow?
What will it be?
You can claim it but the words are hollow
Do you stand up, lay down or swallow?
What will it be?
(Verse 2):
Thug life, street life - both sides of the world
Not a bit of glamour - no one listens to the words
Survival of the fittest - or maybe how you're born
The kids bear the burden when there's no shelter from the storm
(Pre chorus):
Where the children go -- nobody knows
Where the money goes -- nobody KNOWS
(Chorus):
Do you stand up, lay down or follow?
What will it be?
Will it all be the same again tomorrow?
What will it be?
You can claim it but the words are hollow
Do you stand up, lay down or swallow?
(Young MayLay Rap)
We dont take it lightly when you threatinin women,
how you have so much hate and faith in religion.
Fake in the system, need to take a break wit the dissin,
before you end up in the lake where they fishin.
Hearin bout the Muslim Madona, Asian J Lo, lookin for drama
(ok) if you say so. If you that religious and not wit trendy clothes,
then what you doin even watchin videos.
(Chorus):
Do you stand up, lay down or follow?
What will it be?
Will it all be the same again tomorrow?
What will it be?
You can claim it but the words are hollow
Do you stand up, lay down or swallow?
Do you stand up, lay down or follow?
What will it be?
Will it all be the same again tomorrow?
What will it be?
You can claim it but the words are hollow
Do you stand up, lay down or swallow?
WHAT WILL IT BE?
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Posted at 1:48am on Feb. 25, 2006 Esteem and Participation Awards
By Gerry Daly
Betsy Newmark found a story where, in one Pop Warner program, the President decided to go with medals for all participants instead of the trophies which had been the norm (and probably the rule).
''I'm not sure where the mentality came from, or how it got to this point, but the stuff given out to kids -- the 'thanks for participating' trophies' -- it seems we're more worried about not hurting feelings," Vulcano said.
''It's a tough call and I don't know what the right answer is. But I certainly know it's not a good idea to keep rewarding people, day after day, when they don't earn it. They lose their workmanship. I don't know if we're doing kids justice in the way we're handling it."
Betsy adds,
Well, duh. Haven't these people handing out the trophies ever been around kids who get the "participation" ribbons and trophies? Kids know the difference and they're not impressed. It's good to see the adults catching up.
Amen, Betsy, and your reasoning is much more compelling to me than Mr. Vulcano's-- not that he is wrong, mind you, but there are times kids did earn it, even if they did not 'succeed'.
It is very easy to decide to give participation trophies-- I know because I have sat on some youth sports boards and been in on the decision making process. It is not always that you are wanting to make everyone feel good (and no one feel left out) regardless of effort. Let me give one example.
One of the sports I have been involved with is youth folkstyle wrestling. The saying is that it is the toughest sport, bar none, and I believe that. The kids work their tails off in practice, because if they do not, they are going to get absolutely punished on the mat in matches. And sometimes, with work they are going to get absolutely punished in matches-- but certainly less often and to a lesser extent.
When we talked about participation trophies, we did it not because we were worried about the esteem of kids who had not earned it, we felt (and were correct) that everyone who made it through the season had earned it-- literally with blood, sweat, and tears. They earned some hardware.
But, just as Betsy said, kids know the difference between a champion's trophy (or 2nd or 3rd) and a participation trophy. They don't give the latter a second thought, while they strive for the former. Honestly, you see kids who get one of the participation medals or trophies, and it is clear that giving them a pat on the back would have been just as meaningful. Best of intentions, but it just doesn't work.
In fact, it is even worse than just not working. Kids not only know that it does not mean anything positive, really, but they do catch on to the implied "and we do not think you are mature enough, strong enough, worthy enough to handle the disappointments in life." The action, designed to be ego-protecting, can instead nibble away at the edges of the ego.
(What we did to solve the matter and make everyone happy was to give the kids an award at a year-end banquet/party for making it through the year. The award was not a trophy or medal or other item normally associated with winning an event, but rather a sports bag with the team logo. No one left out, everyone had earned it, and the kids liked them instead of getting a champion's prize minus the knowledge that it was real for just taking place.)
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Posted at 5:26pm on Feb. 18, 2006 Long Live Polls, Be They Dead or Alive
By Gerry Daly
Weekend promotion to the front page by Erick.
There are a lot of people who do not like polls, and do not trust them. Apparently, Steven Den Beste is one of them, as his recent RedHot post reveals. Rather than innundate RedHot with a lengthy response that might bore to tears those who find such discussions pedantic, I decided to comment on his points in the form of a diary entry. For simplicity, I will address things in the order he brought them up-- sometimes with quick agreement, sometimes with a rambling tangent, and sometimes with a rebuttal.
Update [2006-2-18 19:1:26 by Dales]: I have tacked on an addendum at the end, below the fold.
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Posted at 12:02pm on Jan. 31, 2006 The Sixth Year Itch
By Gerry Daly
"The Horserace Blogger," the always interesting and insightful Jay Cost, writes today on the "Sixth Year Slump" -- the tendency of two-term Presidents to have their party suffer losses in Congressional races in the mid-term elections of their second term.
Mr. Cost writes,
This is a more thorough description of the pattern we see in congressional elections than "sixth year slump", but of course it does not explain it. We still do not know why this pattern exists. Pundits, for their part, rarely try to explain this (or any) electoral pattern. They merely take it as a given. But, without a good theory that explains the pattern, we really should not follow their lead. It might be the sign of some deep cause inherent to American politics. But it might also be coincidental to the run-of-the-mill electoral process we see every year.
Political scientists have, in the last two decades, transitioned from the second perspective to the first and then back to the second - where a firm consensus on the matter has developed. Many were once inclined to accept the idea that something unique about congressional midterm elections hurt the party of the President. Now, however, most political scientists are inclined to reject this. They now believe that the aforementioned variation can be understood without recourse to some unique theory. In other words, the sixth year slump is not real.
Is it a real phenomena? Mr. Cost suggests it is, but only in as far as it is part of a larger, more overriding tendency:
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Posted at 1:24pm on Jan. 25, 2006 Nervousness
By Gerry Daly
The conventional wisdom is that Samuel Alito is going to be confirmed by the full Senate in relatively short order, without facing a Democratic filibuster. The conventional wisdom has been buttressed by statements by a few Democrats, including Dianne Feinstein, that a filibuster is unlikely. Also aiding the perception is the fact that Democrat Ben Nelson of Nebraska has come out in support of confirmation, and the fact that the Republicans (including Olympia Snowe, who has yet to declare if she is supportive of confirmation or not) in the Gang of 14 have been open in their view that the extreme circumstances described in their agreement with the Democrats in the gang do not exist.
The conventional wisdom may turn out to be correct, but I still have my worries.
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Posted at 12:49pm on Oct. 30, 2005 Taking It In Detroit
By Gerry Daly
The Detroit News takes a look at shenanigans in Detroit:
A Detroit News investigation raises serious questions about the handling of absentee ballots under Detroit City Clerk Jackie Currie as the city prepares to choose a mayor, City Council and school board Nov. 8...
Among findings by News reporters were ballots cast by people registered to vote at abandoned and long-demolished buildings; a master voter list with 380,000 incorrect names and addresses -- including people who have died or moved out of the city; and a practice of hand-delivering ballots from senior citizens and disabled voters that were filled out in private meetings with Currie's paid election workers.
Read on below the fold...
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Posted at 1:26pm on Oct. 4, 2005 Anger, Explained
By Gerry Daly
Yesterday, The Anchoress wrote,
I'm still trying to figure out why the right is going nuts. I've come to the conclusion that people who are, admittedly, much smarter than I am tend to overthink these things, sometimes.
This comment caused me to pause and reflect. While there is no evidence at all that she had me even partly in mind with her comment (quite the contrary-- the "admittedly, much smarter" phrase is certainly exclusionary, and I do not think that saying I am angry qualifies as "going nuts"), the sentiment is a wise and prudent one. Why was I having the reaction I was having? Exactly why am I angry over this nomination?
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