10 thoughts on “Steve Gilliard

  1. Even when our best and brightest die, must we still pass the cup? Isn’t it unseemly?

    It bothers me, it bothers me that other will criticize me for saying so. Look, I don’t think it’s wrong to ask, I just wish with all my heart that it was not necessary. Jesus.

    I liked the idea of the Firedoglake apartment and was glad they invested in it. But lordy, Christy Hardin Smith saying “We need an apartment to have the time of our lives, can you pay for it?”

    Again, nothing inherently wrong here, it just strikes me the wrong way, it rankles. We’re smart people, there HAS to be a better way than this.

    But nothing ever comes up despite all my thinking on it. This has just got to change somehow.

  2. paradox — Steve’s family is not well-to-do, and they depended on him, and I dare say they face funeral and medical bills that they can’t afford. If you feel moved to give some money, give it. If not, don’t. Life is like this. And no, it’s not going to change. No more need be said.

  3. All right, ma’am, I won’t say any more. I only do that for a very, very few people in this world, you know.

    I don’t want to give money for Steve in death. I want to read about retreat tactics in Baghdad and then do it. I did it many times, you know.

    I’m keeping my mouth shut. It’s hard.

  4. The sad thing is there are so many great bloggers out there that are barely making it. It’s appalling that someone as great as Digby has to run a fundraiser every year. Arthur Silber is another one who’s just getting by. All the more so when you consider the highly paid twits who dominate big media.

  5. paradox — it’s OK. I understand how you feel. I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t think Steve’s family really could use some help.

  6. All,

    Just surfing all the Google links and came here. RE the money–putting the link back up was our (ie me and the other folks who have been running Gilly’s blog in his absence) and NOT the request of the family. Note that I got tons of private requests as to where to send money; given that, we put the link back up once we made sure his folks could get to said money.

    FWIW, I spoke to his Mom today.

    She just got back from buying the clothes that Gilly will be buried in.

    THAT is where the money is going–funerals cost a fucking fortune, for the actual ceremony/hardware and for the costs of getting the family up from all over the place to NYC.

    If you don’t want to give, fine…but many people wanted to very much, so we are helping them do so.

  7. It bothers me more that I cannot give than to be asked.It makes me feel guilty that I got so very much from Steve and other bloggers yet I have nothing to give in return.

    Very soon I will be staying in a homeless shelter and I didn’t mind the idea of that as much as it just hurts knowing there is nothing I can do for Steve and his family after they gave so much.It is yet another reminder of how sad things are indeed.

    Things are hard for me , but I know things are harder for Steve’s family than for me right now and it hurts that I can’t help.I am so sorry.

    I hope very much that people with the means will consider sending whatever they can afford to help Steve’s family so that his children never have to face a future like mine… and I respectfully suggest that anyone who is annoyed with being asked for help go and spend a night without the comfort and safety of a home and the love of their family for a reminder about compassion.I shutter to think about Steve’s children or any child for that matter suffering, going hungry,hurting…perhaps if more people had actually EVER felt what it is like ,compassion could replace being annoyed.I hope I never get that far removed from what is real.

    People in need are not ants at a picnic.They are not something to be brushed off your arm like you are above them.They are human beings.I am deeply hurt to see such a degrading attitude towards one of our own, much less to any human being.Imagine if NO ONE had that attitude: there would be no one in need to annoy others.

  8. It bothers me, it bothers me that other will criticize me for saying so.

    You know, people help out when someone dies. They bring casseroles. They run errands. They offer to drive people to the funeral. It’s something people do.

    You do it because you know there are people hurting who have to make major (and very expensive) arrangements while they’re trying to manage the worst of their grief, and you do it because someone you cared about isn’t there to care for their loved ones any more. Helping out is a way to be there for the person who’s gone – you do what they’d’ve done if they were still here.

    This is the internets. We’re all over the world. We can’t drop by with a casserole, even if twenty thousand casseroles would fit in Mrs. Gilliard’s freezer.

    What we can do is try and make sure that our friend’s family has as little additional trouble to deal with as possible when they’re trying to absorb and deal with his loss.

    It’s a free country. You feel how you feel, and you get to say what that is (although it’s a bit precious to say what you did and in the same breath complain that others are going to be insensitive to your feelings).

    I’m not going to criticize you for saying so. I am going to say that I hope there are people with more empathy than you show here around when I go.

  9. Maha sez: “Did I mention I was thinking of holding a fundraiser pretty soon?”

    You have now….(Crafty Hillbilly, whut…)

    Maybe you should watch come of them TeVee Preachers and get some ideas?

    Stage a call-in show…Maybe the “You Ain’t Got A Prayer Line”?

    Or we could have VooDoo Dolls of some “important” figures in the Media/Politics and insert a (long, sharp) pin in whoever the caller-donor selects…Say, one for every $1 pledged?

    Use your Native Ozarkian Wits…

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