Ideology and “not speaking ill of the dead”
October 12th, 2009
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A recurring theme in the world of obituaries is the usage of an evenhanded tone in content. For example, you’ll scant see a major media outlet disparage a recently deceased individual, because it’s appropriate, if at least customary, for the dead to be honored, not mocked — not even a little.
Still, it’s easy to see how political ideology could seep into an obituary of, well, anyone involved in politics, any celebrity with a political opinion, or, in the case of Kurt Vonnegut, a figure who represented a galvanized faction of agitated Americans during a time of great social turmoil.