Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times Business Columnist, is now doubled down on his belief that people should laugh at those who have died of the coronavirus. Hiltzik said in a Saturday CNN appearance that while it is culturally appropriate to remember the good things they did while alive, it is not “entirely appropriate” when it comes to COVID-19 victims.
He said that many of them had promoted dangerous, reckless policies and taken innocent people with them. “Everyone of these deaths is a lesson and unfortunately we haven’t been learning from their lessons.”
Hiltzik published a column last Wednesday titled “Mocking anti-vaxxers deaths was ghoulish yes — but necessary”. It addressed Kelly Ernby’s death last week. Kelly Hornby was a deputy district attorney in Orange County. He had opposed vaccine mandates and died from complications.
The columnist emphasized how mockery is not always the right reaction to these deaths, and how pleas for “civility” are frauds. This was repeated by Hiltzik in his CNN interview, where he argued that the hypocritical expectation of civility is for the hypocritical.
He said, “This argument is intended to distract people from the truth of it being said.” “And even if it is being said in the strongest possible way.”
He argued that showing civility to an unvaccinated individual who has died was “erasing any harm” done to their families and communities.
He said, “And I don’t think that harm should be erased.” “I believe we should be underscoring them – mockery, well that’s maybe one way. It might not be the only way. It’s not necessarily the right way, but it’s my opinion.”
Hiltzik stated that Ernby’s passing is an example of how he disagrees that Hornby should be remembered because she “crusaded against” the COVID-19 vaccine.
Columnist Ernby’s actions were cited as the reason for Orange County’s current “crisis” in hospitals, longer wait times for ambulances, and construction of emergency rooms.
Hiltzik’s Twitter feed, where he promoted column, boasts a long history full of eyebrow-raising tweets, and statements of a comparable nature. A September 2020 article suggested that Trump’s efforts to speed up the approval and distribution before the November election could “kill” him.
