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This just in… Rep. Davis apologizes to atheist

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Illinois

* 7:39 am - Atheist activist (and Green Party state Rep. candidate) Rob Sherman claims on his website that Rep. Monique Davis has apologized for her public tirade against him…

Rep. Davis said that she had been upset, earlier in the day, to learn that a twenty-second and twenty-third Chicago Public School student this school year had been shot to death that morning. She said that it was wrong for her to take out her anger, frustrations and emotions on me, and that she apologized to me.

I told her that her explanation was reasonable and that I forgave her. I also suggested that if she really was concerned about public school students dying needlessly, she should look into helping me to get passed legislation to get lap and shoulder seat belts on school busses that is pending in the House and in the Senate.

She thanked me for forgiving her and said that she would look into those two pieces of legislation.

Among other things, Rep. Davis said to the atheist: “You believe in destroying! You believe in destroying what this state was built upon.”

She also said about atheists and Sherman, “They want to fight prayer in school. I don’t see you fighting guns in school…. You will go to court to fight kids having an opportunity to be quiet for a minute, but damned if you’ll go to school to fight for an opportunity to keep guns out of their hands.”

Anyway, it’s good to see she apologized. Davis can certainly be a hothead, and she does get carried away, and what she said was out of line, but she isn’t nearly as bad as some of you claimed in comments yesterday.

posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Apr 10, 08 @ 7:42 am

Comments

What she said, she said. The hypocrasy: we allow some elected officials to get a pass when they make comments that are way out of line while others are kicked to the curb. Subsitute “Athiest” for “Jew” and tell me if a simple apology should put this to bed. She has to much respect for her office and not enough understanding of it.

Comment by Diamond Dog Thursday, Apr 10, 08 @ 7:52 am
Davis is a good and popular legislator who actually uses her office to provide services to her constituents. Most of the voters in her district probably agree with her comments about Sherman who is an obnoxious loudmouth and a blowhard. Believe what you want Rob but spare the rest of us from your over the top rhetoric, your countless frivolous lawsuits, and your big mouth.

Comment by Bill Thursday, Apr 10, 08 @ 8:06 am
“You believe in destroying!”?! That’s outrageous and mean, how can you judge someone? I mean..I’m spiritual but not religious, and I don’t believe in God. Still.. I don’t believe in destroying.

Comment by wana Thursday, Apr 10, 08 @ 8:22 am
Too bad.
Hopefully Sherman is bending reality — again.
He is a mope who drags his children into his twisted world.
I don’t think 1A is a mandate for govt and/or society to give this guy a forum.

Comment by Reddbyrd Thursday, Apr 10, 08 @ 8:24 am
Kudos to Davis for apologizing, kudos to Sherman for forgiving her; and kudos to both for finally agreeing to work together on an issue of common concern–student safety.

Comment by Squideshi Thursday, Apr 10, 08 @ 8:35 am
Well, if she is a good legislator who uses her office to provide services to her constituents, maybe she could give in-service training to her fellow legislators in just how to do this. Including my utterly useless legislators Don Harmon and Deborah Graham who don’t even answer their mail. I’ll spring for the box lunch for these two.

Comment by Cassandra Thursday, Apr 10, 08 @ 8:39 am
Given the horrible finacial hole a lot of schools are in, including the need for repairs and buidlings; lack of air conditioners etc is seatbelts on Bus’s really the most urgent need for students?

Comment by Ghost Thursday, Apr 10, 08 @ 8:42 am
Appologies are great, when they are meant. Appologies for no reason have no meaning. To appologize to Rob Sherman is useless. Rep. Davis did speak the truth and the truth shall set you free.What Mr. Sherman protects, most of us scrape off the bottom of our shoes. He is not worth the discussion.

Comment by The Conservative Thursday, Apr 10, 08 @ 8:52 am
I’ve been seeing his site for years. He wants belts on Greyhounds, but if he’s talking about school buses he’s way behind the curve on that. Unless of course there are no longer seat belts on the school buses.

I hope I wasn’t too hard on her yesterday but I’m certainly glad that she sees that she made an error and apologize.

Comment by Levois Thursday, Apr 10, 08 @ 8:55 am
There is currently no mandate for seat belts on school buses.
The “1A” does require the state to provide equal access to public forums to all points of view (or no access) - you can’t discriminate based on point of view.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion and no one is obliged to spare Bill or anyone else from hearing it.
Rep. Davis spoke her opinions - not “The Truth”.

Comment by The Corrector Thursday, Apr 10, 08 @ 9:04 am
The Green Party has always had strong positions on religious freedom and secular equality–much more so than either the Democratic or Republican parties–and Sherman seems to demonstrate those positions well.

Comment by Squideshi Thursday, Apr 10, 08 @ 9:08 am
It is very discouraging to see so many defending Rep. Davis when what she said was so offensive to the political process (irrespective of whether you agree or disagree with her views on anti-theism).

Comment by Canseco Thursday, Apr 10, 08 @ 9:14 am
Sherman’s “…if she really was concerned about public school students dying needlessly, she should look into helping me to get passed legislation to get lap and shoulder seat belts on school busses…” betrays a significant disconnect from reality. Can I assume he’s that far off on his other views also?

Comment by countryboy Thursday, Apr 10, 08 @ 9:38 am
Sherman’s positions on safety belts in school buses is backed up by research. While it’s true that school buses get into less accidents than the average vehicle, when they do get into accidents, students are far more likely to be seriously harmed. The way that this issue usually lines up is that all of the public health and safety organizations support belts, while the teachers’ unions oppose them (because they don’t want the money diverted from benefits/compensation to teachers.) Teachers may be experts on education, but they’re not transportation safety engineers.

Comment by Squideshi Thursday, Apr 10, 08 @ 9:44 am
Corrector,
If it is ok for Sherman to spew his nonsense then why should Monique have to apologize for spewing hers?

Comment by Bill Thursday, Apr 10, 08 @ 10:09 am
Squid,
Sticking up for that whacko Sherman just reinforces the common notion that Greens are godless communists.

Comment by Bill Thursday, Apr 10, 08 @ 10:15 am
Squid
In a pure research context, yes, a soft body moving x mph is ultimately safer when properly belted than when unbelted. In the real world, that thesis needs to discount severely the safety contributions of the consistent color, compartmentalization, and height, and factor as well the detractions of compliance, student behavior, vehicle capacity, and ultimately the cost of the redesign that would be required.

Per passenger mile, school buses win all comparisons - there’s a reason why the big yellow ugly has been granted the power to control traffic, and the big, bad teacher unions know it. And they know this, too - the cost of moving an excellent record to a perfect record will break anybody’s bank.

Comment by countryboy Thursday, Apr 10, 08 @ 10:20 am
Bill - Monique does not have to apologize for her opinions. She should apologize for her rudeness and for ordering someone to leave the room. Depending on your view of civil discourse, she should probably apologize for her ad hominem attacks, too, but I recognize that some folks think ad hominem attacks are part of the “sport”. I don’t. In any event, her opinions are her opinions and she’s as entitled to them as anyone.

Comment by The Corrector Thursday, Apr 10, 08 @ 10:27 am
[…] 10, 2008 · No Comments State Rep. Monique Davis (D-Chicago) has apologized to atheist Rob Sherman for her embarrasingtirade during a House committee hearing that landed her on Keith Olbermann’s “Worst Person In The World” list, Rich Miller of Capitol Fax reports. […]

Pingback by Thank God - Or Not « Division Street Thursday, Apr 10, 08 @ 10:32 am
Bill-Shouldn’t legislators be expected to rise above such an “obnoxious loudmouth and a blowhard” (as you phrased it)?

And her actions were embarassing to the committee as well to herself.

Comment by Butch Thursday, Apr 10, 08 @ 11:23 am
“Sticking up for that whacko Sherman just reinforces the common notion that Greens are godless communists.”

I’ll take that as tongue in cheek. I’m sure that some Greens are “godless” but communist? Go here and scroll down to “Common Misunderstandings of the Green Party” for the facts on that.

Comment by Squideshi Thursday, Apr 10, 08 @ 12:14 pm
Oh, and as far as “godless” goes, I’ll have you know that at least one of the Green congressional candidates in Illinois is Roman Catholic; but I’ll leave it up to you to figure out which one (Hint: It’s neither the former Navy nuclear submarine officer or the Iraq war veteran.)

Comment by Squideshi Thursday, Apr 10, 08 @ 12:39 pm
Kudos to Rep. Davis for apologizing. Whether Sherman is a blowhard or not isn’t the point - Rep. Davis’ behavior and comments were inappropriate. It’s always nice to see people take responsibility and man up when they’re wrong or have made a mistake.

Comment by Bill S. Preston, Esq. Thursday, Apr 10, 08 @ 1:06 pm
I stumbled upon the Green Party Advocate….

Comment by Trapped In The Metro East Thursday, Apr 10, 08 @ 1:30 pm
This is a model for behavior from both Sherman and Davis - an apology - forgiveness - understanding - I needed to hear this. Rich - I would love to see this be the topic of your next column - I only hope this starts to be a pattern, and modeled in Carpentersville and Elgin -

Comment by Taking the High Road Thursday, Apr 10, 08 @ 4:18 pm
The last time I wrote a column for the Sun-Times, there were pickets out front. Not my fault. They screwed up the photo placement. lol

Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Apr 10, 08 @ 4:19 pm