Urban Dictionary has a definition of “Ghouling”
The act of an individual, mostly persons involved in the media, who exploit a tragedy to further their own gain. In the case of the media, persons often indulge in inappropriate acts to ‘flesh out’ a story.
…which sufficed before Michael Hiltzik at the LA Times said, “Hold my beer!”
Post Hiltzik, we need a new definition. Perhaps: “An exclusively hateful form of trolling exemplified by the publicly expressed desire for, or celebration of, the death of others on a political basis. Thought to originate in the many images and fantasies celebrating the slow, humiliating, and painful demise of Donald Trump. (See Kathy Griffin)”
Or we find a new word. The contest is open in the comments section.
(The following link deliberately broken. Can be easily fixed, if you must.)
Given the headline: Mocking anti-vaxxers’ COVID deaths is ghoulish, yes — but may be necessary
It may be not a little ghoulish to celebrate or exult in the deaths of vaccine opponents. And it may be proper to express sympathy and solicitude to those they leave behind.
But mockery is not necessarily the wrong reaction to those who publicly mocked anti-COVID measures and encouraged others to follow suit, before they perished of the disease the dangers of which they belittled.
Nor is it wrong to deny them our sympathy and solicitude, or to make sure it’s known when their deaths are marked that they had stood fast against measures that might have protected themselves and others from the fate they succumbed to.
One wonders why a healthy 46 year old female should be posthumously mocked because she conducted a rational risk analysis. Do you think saying “I told you so,” after that makes her feel stupid? No. Spitting on her grave is click bait posing as Hiltzik’s edgy righteousness.
Another wonder is the LA Times headline writer’s evident islamaophobia and cultural appropriation.
The earliest stories of the ghouls emerge from Arabic legend. The myth of the ghoul predates Islam, but because the ghoul is mentioned in the Koran the creature is still a source of terror in Arabic culture today.
The headline person had better click bait in the original title. The URL originally pointed to something titled “why-shouldnt-we-dance-on-the-graves-of-anti-vaxxers.” This is almost certainly the author’s working title, which tends to belie his weaseling double negatives and “may be propers”. Whatever, it’s a clumsy attempted cover up of somebody’s macabre delight in the death of people who contract a disease they had little reason to fear.
(Next link is broken deliberately, also.)
In other words, The unvaccinated cherish their freedom to harm others. How can we ever forgive them?
Heather Mallick, Toronto Star
Will we ever forgive the deliberately unvaccinated for having helped spread a disease that killed and disabled so many, devastating the economy, leaving many of us jobless and wretched?
Will we ever look on them gently when their casual choices left us unable to hold a loved one as she died? When a young woman with stage 4 colon cancer had her surgery postponed for the third time because hospitals are packed with unvaccinated COVID-19 patients at death’s door? Death has an open-door policy, never more so than now.
And will your children forgive you?…
Can a little girl tell people that her unvaccinated dad died of COVID-19?
For each unvaccinated American death, Kuper says, about nine people lose a grandparent, parent, sibling, spouse or child. But a child’s suffering is greatest. Children come first with all of us. Don’t they?
I’m sure you can think of several objections to Ms. Mallick’s treacly whining. I’ll give you some.
1- Economic devastation can be laid primarily on the ongoing authoritarian incompetence of politicians and bureaucrats.
2- That little girl can simply say, “My Dad died from the CCP virus.” And, if asked whether her Dad was vaccinated she should be diligently coached to respond, “None of your f*cking business, ghoul!”
3- For each American death from any cause (including vaccination) about nine people lose a grandparent, parent, sibling, spouse or child. (I’m taking her word for the number.)
4- Where’s the question about forgiving the people who kicked off vaccination hesitancy, and are presently holding up momo-clonal antibody distribution – Joe and Kamala? Or about those who stuffed elder care facilities full of active cases – Mario and Gretchen?