Some of the treasures in Joel Daly's book "The Daly News" are the television commentaries he sprinkled throughout the book. Joel delivered nightly commentaries on Channel 7 News for a decade, and it just happened to be the most tumultuous decade of all-time. This is his commentary from March 8, 1972; a time when bombings were becoming commonplace worldwide--including Chicago. This particular commentary led to death threats that were so specific, Joel checked his car for bombs every night before driving home.
Commentary - March 8, 1972
Some powder, a fuse and a spark…such are the basics of a bomb. But of what is the bomber made?
Without courage or compassion, without feeling or concern, the bomber is foremost and first…the worst kind of coward!
With his pliers and wires and cheap little clocks, he’s a shadow of a man with “little boy” thoughts.
Playing hide-and-seek with people’s lives, he’s less likely to be feared than despised.
Some powder, a fuse and a spark…how simple to build a bomb…how difficult to understand the bomber.
He knows not his victims; how many or why. They may be innocent, unsuspecting, but still they may die.
Coward! Coward! Who would kill without cause: shoppers in Belfast; passengers in tourist-class.
Coward! And cursed, that person who would threaten, extort and indiscriminately destroy for money, vainglory, a red glow in the sky.
Sick minds, it’s true, feed on headlines, drool at the damage and laugh at the frightened. But, we cannot ignore nor defer the fact that madmen walk our streets; the worst of assassins, paranoid and plotting.
Some powder, a fuse and a spark. These are the basics of a bomb, but of what is the bomber made?
He is hollow, without soul, an empty shell. The bomber is humanity’s “dud”.
