"Any and every death deserves either full inspection and comment with thought, or no comment at all. "
Sorry, no, it doesn't.
Yassar arafat died this week. I didn't need a 'full inspection' to determine my feelings on it. I was glad he died. Simple.
He had that right and he was a talented artist, sad to see him go so young but thats what happens when you live harder than your body can take.
RIP
Not much respect is given to rap artists here like Dirty Old Bastard. He lived up to his name.
In contrast, numerous times I've seen effusive posts about Jimmy Hendrix who lead a good life but also took a lot of drugs and died from them. So it's not just being black. White artists get strongly criticized here when they open their loud mouths to help elect John Kerry.
Double-secret-probation-good-riddance, (c)rapper scum.
Wooo, this time of night you're more likely to bring out the cranky people. That being said, there are folks here who perform the "flock of seagulls" manuever on just about any thread - they'll fly in and poop all over it, regardless of the subject.
It's not just rap music: I've seen it happen to tribute threads for dead childhood friends, calls to prayer, tributes to female soldiers, religion threads, pro-life threads, you name it, they've messed it up. They will swoop in before regular freepers even get a chance to post.
They will ESPECIALLY do it if you are new!
Anyhow, I know a lot of folks who listen to ODB and they really liked his style. I haven't talked to them yet about it but I'm pretty sure they'll be upset by his passing. But most of them don't post here, especially in the dead of night. I'm sorry if someone said something stupid... it's a big internet, and most Freepers wouldn't say something racist - it's against board policy.
This idea of respecting somebody just because they died has always baffled me. Can we speak badly about them up until the exact moment they die and then we must stop? What about the act of dying is so heroic that it wipes out a lifetime of other than honorable actions?
Wherever O.D.B. may be now, I am pretty sure what people are saying about him on the Free Republic is the farthest thing from his mind.
May he find more peace in the next life than he did in the last.
You are absolutely right. The list of people who would have their death celebrated on this board should be very, very small, and this guy, whatever he might have been, surely shouldn't qualify. God bless him and his family.
I'm with you, especially when it is a life we know little about. I don't have it in me to be happy with any death, even the worst among us. Whatever dignity, respect and good will they lacked does not seem to me to be an excuse to meet their passing in kind.
This is the internet. People tend to type what they would never say in open conversation. And while I regularly see comments on Free Republic that make me queasy, it's nothing like what you'd see on Democratic Underground. FR is The Disney Channel compared to DU.
Unfair? Maybe. I don't care. Lowlifes, idiots and thugs are given a pass far too often these days. Celebrated, even. Screw that.
And how many kids did this "man" spawn and neglect? Thirteen, was it? So he's not just dead - he's a dead a$$hole.
I guess when we live in a society that praises thuggery and outlandish behavior from the likes of MTV, everyone who buys into that garbage develops a thin skin and go off half-cocked when unpolitically correct folks like myself smack them in the face with reality.
Don't know him; never even heard of him.
I grieve for his family and loved ones.
As to him personally, nothing any of us can say will ever hurt him anymore.
He has gone on (I pray) to a better place.
I wish I had that middle problem....
I don't listen to rap, never did, never will. I don't consider them any different than anyone else and it never does me joy to see someone... except Arafat and terrorists... die.
Personally, I think it's wrong to talk badly about the newly dead. My usual response is God have mercy on his soul, and be with his loved ones.
Don't know anything really about him, but I always feel sad about those who burn themselves out young.
First of all, welcome to Free Republic. It is wrong to speak ill of the dead, but many people here are disgusted with that type of lifestyle, and it tends to spill out.
For real fun, try defending Martha Stewart around here. You want mean? The knives come out ;-D
I wouldn't put the death of ODB on the same level as the death of Arafat. They are world's apart in my Rogues Gallery. In fact, ODB barely merits a mention.
Of course, they say these things happen in threes. Hmmmmm. Who's next?
~ JF'nK.