Neither person's offense was "series" though. There was no genuine wish behind the actions.
Catch up on the thread. Michael Savage also told him to go choke on a sausage. Would you still have been outraged if he had just said, "Drop dead" or would you have taken it to be a rude response to a rude comment?
Is AIDS a poltically protected disease or are there other horrible illnesses that would have provoked this response?
I won't defend his comment by bringing up heartless statements made by people on the left (in relation to Ronald Reagan, Charlton Heaston, and others) over time. I'll just point out that a double standard does exist.
I will offer this parallel. There was a Benneton ad that was mocked up to show Ronald Reagan with AIDS scars. Magazines still take their ads and we would be considered "petty" today to push for a boycott of their products/sponsorship this late in the game.