# I'll say it: I am NOT hoping for a full recovery from any (Politician or media person) anti vax or masker that gets covid **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 17, 2021, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-say-it-i-am-not-hoping-for-a-full-recovery-from-any-politician-or-media-person-anti-vax-or-masker-that-gets-covid/949040 "2021-08-17T22:17:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2021, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-say-it-i-am-not-hoping-for-a-full-recovery-from-any-politician-or-media-person-anti-vax-or-masker-that-gets-covid/949040/81 "2021-08-20T16:05:42Z")
> [@tuesdayweld](#): > > This is a front row seat to large scale Darwinism and after a year and a half of having to deal with their stupidity and indecency, I don’t mind asking ‘please pass the popcorn, will you?’. All the better to thin that herd, IMOFO. Can’t say I’m thrilled by seeing eugenics make a comeback. > [@Cervaise](#): > > But _if_ this guy dies terrified and gasping… it will be a good thing. Holy crap. Burke is a bad guy, for sure (although absolutely there have been worse in the Church hierarchy), but that’s just horrifying. It’s a _good thing_ for someone to die terrified and gasping? Have you ever actually seen that? I have. It’s never a “good thing.” Never. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2021, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-say-it-i-am-not-hoping-for-a-full-recovery-from-any-politician-or-media-person-anti-vax-or-masker-that-gets-covid/949040/82 "2021-08-20T18:41:02Z")
I have seen it as well. And we’ll agree to disagree. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2021, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-say-it-i-am-not-hoping-for-a-full-recovery-from-any-politician-or-media-person-anti-vax-or-masker-that-gets-covid/949040/83 "2021-08-20T18:45:19Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > And we’ll agree to disagree. We’ll have to. I don’t hate _anybody_ that much. ---
**Author:** ![Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimmy_Chitwood)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2021, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-say-it-i-am-not-hoping-for-a-full-recovery-from-any-politician-or-media-person-anti-vax-or-masker-that-gets-covid/949040/84 "2021-08-20T18:56:05Z")
There is the additional step of _announcing_ that you plan not to feel sad in advance, which one might reasonably interpret as having a kind of meaning of its own. It’s not like there are people going around demanding that everyone sign a pledge that they’ll feel sad when assholes die; the conversation exists in a context where somebody has made the announcement (and, in this case, also announced that they were announcing it, for a little bit of a triple performance). You can believe all sorts of things about people, but typically when you make a point of making sure everyone knows about those feelings, you intend something other than just, like, a status report. ---
**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2021, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-say-it-i-am-not-hoping-for-a-full-recovery-from-any-politician-or-media-person-anti-vax-or-masker-that-gets-covid/949040/85 "2021-08-20T18:56:20Z")
I’m afraid I experience rage hate… I am looking to get help for it. Deep down I don’t want anyone to be hurt… but I get SO angry at people that I think of things I would be horrified to ACTUALLY see. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2021, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-say-it-i-am-not-hoping-for-a-full-recovery-from-any-politician-or-media-person-anti-vax-or-masker-that-gets-covid/949040/86 "2021-08-20T19:10:37Z")
> [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](#): > > but typically when you make a point of making sure everyone knows about those feelings, you intend something other than just, like, a status report. In this case, the situation has driven some strong and unusual feelings in folks. We don’t normally feel that a person dying while gasping for air is a good thing, or even a thing we can be ambivalent about. It’s a bad thing, and normal people in normal times wouldn’t dream of taking satisfaction in such a thing, even if the person was the victim of their own behavior (i.e. lifelong smoker). So, when faced with these feelings, it’s also normal to just keep your mouth shut because it looks bad. It’s frustrating, to have strong feelings and not share them, but the Pit is a place to vent your frustrations with the world, so here we are, frustrations vented! ---
**Author:** ![Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimmy_Chitwood)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2021, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-say-it-i-am-not-hoping-for-a-full-recovery-from-any-politician-or-media-person-anti-vax-or-masker-that-gets-covid/949040/87 "2021-08-20T19:28:10Z")
The sentiment I was responding to was “It doesn’t seem to me to be wishing the harm, but rather not feeling sad when the harm happens.” What you’re describing is not an absence of feeling sad. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2021, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-say-it-i-am-not-hoping-for-a-full-recovery-from-any-politician-or-media-person-anti-vax-or-masker-that-gets-covid/949040/88 "2021-08-20T20:31:19Z")
Here’s something to consider: as a religious leader, as someone presumably with influence, he encouraged many of his followers to behave recklessly. Let’s say he had used his daily sermon to encourage his followers to go out and drive drunk on an interstate highway every day. Would ordinary people feel sorry for him if he ended up getting killed by a drunk driver? Sure, on _some_ level, his death is sad - a sad story of a wasted life, maybe. But considering the individual, that’s about as high as I can elevate my sympathy. It’s not so much sad that this asshole is dead, it’s sad that he was needlessly, without any provocation, such an asshole to other people in life and that, however long he was on this earth, he couldn’t seem to turn off the shithead switch. So yeah, sad that he wasted his life, but I absolutely believe the world is a better place without him, now that he’s no longer around to spread his vile messages and encourage others to be reckless and, in turn, end up harming people with no connection to him. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2021, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-say-it-i-am-not-hoping-for-a-full-recovery-from-any-politician-or-media-person-anti-vax-or-masker-that-gets-covid/949040/89 "2021-08-20T20:56:41Z")
Yes please! ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2021, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-say-it-i-am-not-hoping-for-a-full-recovery-from-any-politician-or-media-person-anti-vax-or-masker-that-gets-covid/949040/90 "2021-08-20T20:59:58Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > Sure, on _some_ level, his death is sad - a sad story of a wasted life, maybe. But considering the individual, that’s about as high as I can elevate my sympathy. It’s not so much sad that this asshole is dead, it’s sad that he was needlessly, without any provocation, such an asshole to other people in life and that, however long he was on this earth, he couldn’t seem to turn off the shithead switch. So yeah, sad that he wasted his life, but I absolutely believe the world is a better place without him, now that he’s no longer around to spread his vile messages and encourage others to be reckless and, in turn, end up harming people with no connection to him. OK. But saying it’s a “good thing” for someone to die terrified and gasping is, well, something a psychopath would say. Anyone who could derive happiness from that scares me. And as to the world being a better place without him, well, sort of, I guess. The world would definitely be a better place if he wasn’t the reactionary asshole he is. Doesn’t mean I’ll celebrate his death, when he dies. Or his pain, while he lives. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2021, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-say-it-i-am-not-hoping-for-a-full-recovery-from-any-politician-or-media-person-anti-vax-or-masker-that-gets-covid/949040/91 "2021-08-20T21:58:24Z")
See it for what it is - righteous anger. It might not be the best way to express that anger, but it’s certainly not the worst. People have every right to feel mad as hell over a callous disregard for their health, and the blatant disrespect for them that people on the right continues to express on an almost daily basis. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2021, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-say-it-i-am-not-hoping-for-a-full-recovery-from-any-politician-or-media-person-anti-vax-or-masker-that-gets-covid/949040/92 "2021-08-20T22:16:23Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > People have every right to feel mad as hell over a callous disregard for their health Just a quick correction. It’s OUR health, not just theirs. That’s why people are angry. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2021, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-say-it-i-am-not-hoping-for-a-full-recovery-from-any-politician-or-media-person-anti-vax-or-masker-that-gets-covid/949040/93 "2021-08-21T11:26:30Z")
I would put it this way: I don’t wish illness or death on any person. I don’t relish suffering. However, I’d be lying if I said I wished them a “speedy recovery” or whatever. I can’t really bring myself to care about people whose willful ignorance not only caused their own misfortune but are actively working to bring others down with them. My only “wish” is that they and their followers would learn something. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2021, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-say-it-i-am-not-hoping-for-a-full-recovery-from-any-politician-or-media-person-anti-vax-or-masker-that-gets-covid/949040/94 "2021-08-21T16:08:23Z")
The only reason I’d wish them a speedy recovery is because the medical system is collapsing from stress, burnout, and grief, and I’d really rather it didn’t. I want it fast so they get out of the hospitals, and I want recovery because the doctors and nurses don’t need the grief losing a patient causes. They’ve had enough. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2021, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-say-it-i-am-not-hoping-for-a-full-recovery-from-any-politician-or-media-person-anti-vax-or-masker-that-gets-covid/949040/95 "2021-08-21T22:34:00Z")
This is moot if the bastards aren’t allowed into the hospitals in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2021, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-say-it-i-am-not-hoping-for-a-full-recovery-from-any-politician-or-media-person-anti-vax-or-masker-that-gets-covid/949040/96 "2021-08-21T23:45:55Z")
When I get angry at these self-destructive idiots, I don’t wish them an agonizing death. I’m a believer in proportionality - even in my fantasies. I hope they get to know what it’s like to be deathly ill, bundled into the backseat of a car, while their terrified spouse drives them from hospital to hospital around the South for days, desperately searching for one that will take them in admidst the ruins of a completely overwhelmed health care system. I don’t wish death on them, but I want them to fully experience the human cost of their selfishness. Please note, in real life I would not wish for this because I most decidedly do not want to see our health care system collapse. But it’s my fantasy, dammit, and it’s not like I can make it happen by thinking about it. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2021, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-say-it-i-am-not-hoping-for-a-full-recovery-from-any-politician-or-media-person-anti-vax-or-masker-that-gets-covid/949040/97 "2021-08-21T23:49:52Z")
> [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > I hope they get to know what it’s like to be deathly ill, bundled into the backseat of a car, while their terrified spouse drives them from hospital to hospital around the South for days, desperately searching for one that will take them in admidst the ruins of a completely overwhelmed health care system. - Like many before them, they’ll deny it to their last breath. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2021, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-say-it-i-am-not-hoping-for-a-full-recovery-from-any-politician-or-media-person-anti-vax-or-masker-that-gets-covid/949040/98 "2021-08-22T03:43:24Z")
They will blame Biden. ---
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2021, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-say-it-i-am-not-hoping-for-a-full-recovery-from-any-politician-or-media-person-anti-vax-or-masker-that-gets-covid/949040/99 "2021-08-22T03:58:33Z")
I question this idea that wishing ill on COVID deniers would turn away people who might otherwise be convinced by fact and reason to get vaxxed/mask up. It takes very little time on social media to find people wishing death on Anthony Fauci, healthcare workers, political leaders, employers, etc… If those who could still be won over haven’t run screaming from _those_ arguments, what makes anyone think they’d run screaming from some of the less benignant comments in this thread? I’m all for going high when they go low. I’m just not convinced it’s an effective approach in this instance. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2021, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-say-it-i-am-not-hoping-for-a-full-recovery-from-any-politician-or-media-person-anti-vax-or-masker-that-gets-covid/949040/100 "2021-08-22T09:47:51Z")
> **[Tennessee radio host who criticised vaccine efforts dies of Covid-19](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/aug/21/tennessee-radio-host-phil-valentine-vaccine-vaccination-dies-covid-19)** > > Phil Valentine, 61, who sang ‘Vaxman’ Beatles parody, announced his diagnosis in July as he advised listeners to get vaccinated “I’ve never wished a man dead, but I have read some obituaries with great pleasure.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-say-it-i-am-not-hoping-for-a-full-recovery-from-any-politician-or-media-person-anti-vax-or-masker-that-gets-covid/949040.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-say-it-i-am-not-hoping-for-a-full-recovery-from-any-politician-or-media-person-anti-vax-or-masker-that-gets-covid/949040.md?page=6)