Letters to Mr. Daly

Tuesday, I encouraged readers to email New York Daily News columnist Michael Daly about this charming column celebrating the grief of families torn apart by the evil of Cho Seung-Hui. Peter was kind enough to forward his excellent email to me, and I thought it would be worth repeating. I would be happy to publish here any other emails that readers send to Mr. Daly.

Dear Mr. Daly,

Your exploitation of these deaths in order to make a point is reprehensible. The normal English locution is 'dancing on someone's grave', but as yet no actual funerals have taken place (as of your posting date @ 9:22AM), so I'm not exactly sure how to characterize it.

The only criticism of the Founders that can be made is that they reversed the order of the first two Amendments. Without people with guns ready and willing to defend your right to publish such schadenfreude-laden trash, you would have neither a job nor a forum to publish it.

You're an adult, right? One of the duties of an adult is to accept responsibility, including that of defending those less strong amongst us. Sometimes that means making a phone call or writing to the Editor, sometimes that means using a firearm to eliminate a Clear and Present danger. It's not pretty, and not necessarily something to be extolled, but as long as we as a species are the way we are, violence will be at times required.

In case you've actually read down this far, I'd like to remind you that the Founders used the term "the People" in Amendments 1, 2, 4, 9, and 10. It means the same in all five places, meaning that your position on 'gun control' is essentially unconstitutional. That's perfectly alright with me, by the way: should we ever be together during an attack, I will use my guns to defend your right to be a jackass just as I would any other citizen. After all, having the Right of 'free speech and expression' is pretty meaningless if you're dead.

Without the Second Amendment, there would be no First. Without an armed populace, a populace willing to use those firearms in defense of all our Rights, your livelihood and your right to exploit the deaths of these students wouldn't exist, certainly not in the way the Founders intended. Before the Holocaust, before the Nuremburg Laws, the German people were disarmed, complete with Mr. Hitler crowing about what a civilized nation he was leading as a result of his "gun control" laws. And we know what happened to 'free speech and expression' in the Europe of 1939-45.

On to the less pleasant part of my letter:

Instead of my usual practice, I'm saving a copy of this letter. If you decide to publish this (which I highly doubt, but one must try to cover all the bases) you must publish all of it. "Editing for space and content" will be regarded as a hostile act meant to defame/slander me and my position, and I will take the appropriate action. I still have relatives in NYC, and I can certainly afford the $35 filing fee to sue you. Someone can be at Court St within a day.

Your right to free speech is sacrosanct, your position as a columnist is a privilege, one that you abused. I applaud your success in getting someone to pay you to express your opinion; I've been doing the same thing for nigh unto fifty years for free. Trampling through the still-wet bloodstains to get to your soapbox was a disgusting abuse of that privilege, of that there can be no doubt.

I anticipate your response (although I'm not holding my breath), and remain,

Sincerely Yours,

Peter XXXXX

By the way, Hairy Hobbit posted his email in the comments section of my original blog post. Here it is:

Michelle Daly

Your quest for Sicherheit über alles is what has led to this. You push and prod and promote safety in the form of disarmament of the people who obey the law. You have made it easy for criminals to walk into a school and kill at will. You are so far beyond logic and rational thought that this is a pointless letter and a waste of time.

Real Americans know that criminals will never obey the law, just ask the people of the countries you look up to, the socialist hell holes of Europe. Criminals will get guns. Criminals don't obey the law. Criminals seek targets like this.

Why haven't you blood-dancers who celebrate over such horrific events as a means to further your power hungry agenda haven't mentioned the most deadly mass murder at a school. The late 20s Michigan event where a school was blown up with explosives. Why is that? Is it because you HATE freedom and self reliance? Is it because you seek totalitarian rule here? Just admit that you are a mentally ill frothing at the mouth control freak who has no sense of personal responsibility and want to be cared for by big brother. Just say you wish for light chains and only the occasional beating. We'll understand that you need help. We'll even pay for your plane ticket to the socialist country of your choice where you can seek government health care, housing, support, and every other just treatment they provide their slaves.

If you can't do that, then please for the families just STFU until their loved ones that the policies you support have helped to kill be put to rest before you do your blood dance and waggle your finger in their faces.

Love the "Michelle," HH.

I would also be quite interested in any replies anyone gets (not that I'm counting on those).

By the way, here's mine (although I'm a little embarrassed to show it, after the other two):

Mr. Daly,

You are to be commended for your ability to write the most offensive, the most vitriolic, venomous piece of hate speech, gleefully celebrating the unspeakable anguish of dozens of families, that I have seen in a very long time. I refer, of course, to your Tuesday column, "Yes, Virginia, guns kill innocents." You must be extremely proud of yourself.

You should also take pride in your skill at distorting the truth. How very clever of you to scold Virginia for passing a law that would thwart more of Mayor Bloomberg's "sting" operations, when that law only outlawed an activity that is already illegal under federal law, but which the BATFE seems strangely reluctant to prosecute when Bloomberg's puppets commit it. You are aware, I assume, that if the gun dealers are actually guilty of a "straw sale," then Bloomberg's minions, by definition, must have committed a straw purchase. There cannot be one without the other.

The "never mind that a Virginia gun license is not half as hard to get as a driving license," line was also a quite . . . creative statement, as well.

Enjoy your blood dance, Mr. Daly.

Kurt Hofmann, Obscure blogger