Best to keep things in perspective:
Does death really play favorites?
“Why does it always seems to be “the good ones” who are plucked off without warning or reason? Or, put another way, why does it seem so rare to we read about the death of one of the darker, uglier creatures of the planet?
After all, rarely does the headline read “noted misogynist, homophobe, right-wing hate radio personality and neighborhood defenestrator of baby livestock found dead in his Hummer after eating one too many deep fried jumbo prawns at the Red Lobster buffet” — you know, the kind of stories that really test the limits of your compassion, because while you know you should offer sympathy, you can’t help but feel a bit like cheering.
There are, I suppose, a few ways to look at it. Maybe there really is an imbalance, and in many cases a few too many good ones are taken prematurely and the more toxic ones are left behind because, in a lopsided way, they serve as the more powerful and necessary teachers.
Like Bush, like Rove, like Kim Jong Il or Robert Mugabe, they take us to the darkest places of our psyches so we can, by sheer contrast, understand how vital it is to find the light.
You think? “
