Safety in Numbers

A quote from "Davey," a little boy character in Anne of the Island, one of the series of Anne of Green Gables novels by L.M. Montgomery:

I was at Mrs. Isaac Wrights funeral at White Sands last week. The husband of the corpse felt real sorry. Mrs. Lynde says Mrs. Wrights grandfather stole a sheep but Marilla says we mustent speak ill of the dead. Why mustent we, Anne? I want to know. It's pretty safe, ain't it?

When Rob Smith of the blog Gut Rumbles died about a couple weeks back, I didn't write anything about Rob, even though I read him pretty regularly, because I didn't have anything nice to say of him--or, more accurately, I couldn't figure out a way to say ONLY nice things about him. I don't speak ill of the dead. It's not out of respect for the dead, though. I figure they're past caring what I or anyone else on earth has to say. No, it's out of respect for the survivors.

I guess others are more of the "pretty safe" school.

You know what else is pretty safe?--Cultivating an online army of yes-men and cheerleaders that you can send to swarm and taunt anyone who disagrees with you. That's pretty safe. It isn't patriotic, brave, upstanding, moral, or even particularly American, but it sure is safe.

And you know what they always say: Safety first.

Hey, but you know what else is pretty safe?

It's a pretty safe bet that I don't want to hear from anyone trying to argue me into agreeing with Malkin on this one. It isn't going to happen. I don't want to hear your false equivalencies ("why aren't you condemning the leftists who said mean things about Ken Lay?" for example), I don't want to hear your twisted First Amendment arguments (did I say she didn't have a right to say it? Show me where I asked the government to take away her internet access?), and I sure as hell don't want to hear your tired-ass "people need to take responsibility for their own lives and deaths" argument, because I'm not saying Malkin killed anyone.

I am saying she's a hateful, despicable, hyperpartisan bully who wasn't brought up with even the most basic trappings of civility, least of all that trapping that says you don't speak ill of the dead because to do so is to play what is strictly a coward's game, and it's needlessly cruel to those left behind besides. To clarify for the dense, I refer to this sentence of Malkin's:

If I had said anything, his ilk would have jumped all over me for not having the compassion to keep quiet about her various scandals and corruptocrat ways and let her loved ones mourn in peace.

Let's rewrite that in Decent Human Being:

If I had said anything, his ilk would have jumped all over me for not having the compassion to keep quiet about her and let her loved ones mourn in peace.

See how easy that was?

Anyone who's uncomfortable with any of the above is hereby invited to read something else. It's a great big internet out there. I am sure you can find something more to your tastes.

Have a nice weekend!