Thoughtful, fair piece. Death often stirs remembrance, grief and, in the case of public figures, at least, some degree of legitimate accountability needs to be part of that reckoning of a life. RIP
For me, Adams most completely destroyed his legacy when he helped spread the pseudoscientific narrative that ivermectin was a cure for every ill and had been suppressed by "Big Pharma." So he took it to cure his prostate cancer, and of course, it didn't work. Once he realized his mistake, he asked Trump to use his (illegitimate) power to jump him to the front of the line for a drug -- produced by "Big Pharma" -- that might have saved his life had he been in the protocol sooner.
How many people died because they listened to Adams amplify such MAHA nonsense rather than seeking real medical care? And how many of them could ask the President to help them when they realized their mistake?
I am with the Canadian who posted that in a way she blames all Americans for Trump. I blame all Trump supporters from January 6 2020 up until today for Trump whether they have passed on or are still with us. Your words hit the mark, were objective yet sensitive. We Americans who have not lost our minds are living daily in a hell made possible by Trump supporters. It is nearly impossible to forgive his enablers for the immense number of people who have suffered the loss of health care, the loss of jobs, the loss of food security and the yet untold loss of the end of research, the end of climate change mitigation, the end of financial and banking protections, the end of relationships with European allies, the end of personal freedom. The end of respect. These people have taken a lot and I cannot be happy about them in life or death.
I was a faithful,Dilbert reader until I wasn’t. After plots began repeating, I noticed the shift in tone and just got bored. Later I learned how complicit he was and it made me sad, but it did not surprise me. “Disappointed” is not strong enough, but saddened may be better. Essentially he dies a long time ago. Thanks for articulating it so well. I doubt too many others will.
I'm having a lot of trouble with your comments about Scott Adams. Would you also say that anyone (or maybe anyone with a platform) who supported Joe Biden is responsible for the death of Iryna Zarutska? People can legitimately support different policies - all of which have some plusses and minuses since we live in a real world - without being maligned.
A few times you suggest something along these lines: "Her death is part of his legacy, too.
Not because he pulled the trigger. But because he was part of the ecosystem that made pulling the trigger acceptable."
If that is a valid claim, then you are suggesting the validity of my example of Iryna Zarutska as part of the legacy of everyone who supported the Biden administration and that fact should be mentioned in their obituaries. That seems to me to be a black/white good/bad way of looking at the world that discourages Americans from talking to each other and encourages hating each other. And - Iryna cannot be said to have made poor decisions (other than maybe not paying enough attention) that contributed to her death. To suggest zero nuance in what happened to Ms. Good works great for stirring up protest and less well for working together to solve problems.
I don't have anything to argue with you here. Biden's failures will be part of his legacy after he dies, yes. As will mine, quite frankly. What is your point?
And if someone spent years defending Biden waging unconstitutional war, shooting citizens without due process, and operating outside legal authority - then those defenses would be part of their legacy too.
But that's not what happened. Biden operated within constitutional constraints. Trump doesn't. Adams defended the latter - not just 'different policies' but a regime operating outside the law.
The woman in Minneapolis wasn't killed by a policy failure. She was killed by a regime operating without constitutional authority. That's categorically different.
Sorry for the string of replies. But you set me off here.
Yes, certainly part of his legacy. But is it part of the legacy (worth mentioning rather than in a huge, cosmic appraisal) of everyone who voted for him and urged others to do so?
Somewhere along the line he shed any love he had for humanity, living in rabbit holes and rabid enmity and despoiled his legacy in the process unlike the beloved Charles Shultz who was lovely to the end.
I felt something similar when Rush Limbaugh passed away. More relief than grief.
Scott Adams was perhaps a light version of a fascinating Russian contemporary figure,
Vladyslav Yuriyovych Surkov.
Surkov was describing (books, theatre plays) the absurdity of Russian stage-managed and scripted official and society life. Russian opposition, elite intellectuals, were attending and clapping enthusiastically at those theater performances. Reportedly Surkov's writing is very keen and humorous, describing and eviscerating the absurdities of Russian society. Top-notch great Russian literary tradition, say Gogol's league.
At the same time, Surkov was THE guy who designed and engineered all this Putin-led system of "the State, what the populace is led to believe in, is just a professional stage performance". For years he was the chief Kremlin ideologue and animator, "Grey Cardinal". He holds the highest rank in the Russian civil service system.
I cannot fit the notion of someone like Scott Adams into my head - he could be two very different people, this would be understandable. Surkov is in the same category - human characters I would think are impossible to exist, as they are, to me, internally contradictory.
But the fact that such people DO exist, maybe says that my own understanding of the world is drastically divorced from reality.
I agree, he could have used his platform for good, he could have extended his legacy and used his comics to skewer what is so obviously wrong, on every level. Instead, he chose to burn his legacy to the ground by supporting and helping to spread evil, the world won't forget that, sadly for him, that's the part of his legacy that will be remembered longest.
Another used-to-be-libertarian who turned Trumpnik when it was trendy and thought that his Lord and Savior would redeem him toward the end of his life, only to have him betray him like all the rest.
Scott Adams promoted quack cures like Ivermectin that may have contributed to his death. We don't know...some cancers are gonna kill you no matter what, but it is immoral to use celebrity influence to promote folk remedies for serious illnesses.
As ever, I ask the "too soon" pearl-clutchers ... exactly how long is appropriate to wait for an honest account of the deceased's questionable thoughts and deeds?
Thoughtful, fair piece. Death often stirs remembrance, grief and, in the case of public figures, at least, some degree of legitimate accountability needs to be part of that reckoning of a life. RIP
I appreciate your perspective; gently worded yet impactful. Our actions (or inactions) today are indeed forming our personal legacies.
I'm with you all the way Mike..thanks for saying it all out loud!
For me, Adams most completely destroyed his legacy when he helped spread the pseudoscientific narrative that ivermectin was a cure for every ill and had been suppressed by "Big Pharma." So he took it to cure his prostate cancer, and of course, it didn't work. Once he realized his mistake, he asked Trump to use his (illegitimate) power to jump him to the front of the line for a drug -- produced by "Big Pharma" -- that might have saved his life had he been in the protocol sooner.
How many people died because they listened to Adams amplify such MAHA nonsense rather than seeking real medical care? And how many of them could ask the President to help them when they realized their mistake?
I am with the Canadian who posted that in a way she blames all Americans for Trump. I blame all Trump supporters from January 6 2020 up until today for Trump whether they have passed on or are still with us. Your words hit the mark, were objective yet sensitive. We Americans who have not lost our minds are living daily in a hell made possible by Trump supporters. It is nearly impossible to forgive his enablers for the immense number of people who have suffered the loss of health care, the loss of jobs, the loss of food security and the yet untold loss of the end of research, the end of climate change mitigation, the end of financial and banking protections, the end of relationships with European allies, the end of personal freedom. The end of respect. These people have taken a lot and I cannot be happy about them in life or death.
Thanks for this post, Mike. It is so very timely in so many ways. Your words shine truth...
I was a faithful,Dilbert reader until I wasn’t. After plots began repeating, I noticed the shift in tone and just got bored. Later I learned how complicit he was and it made me sad, but it did not surprise me. “Disappointed” is not strong enough, but saddened may be better. Essentially he dies a long time ago. Thanks for articulating it so well. I doubt too many others will.
I'm having a lot of trouble with your comments about Scott Adams. Would you also say that anyone (or maybe anyone with a platform) who supported Joe Biden is responsible for the death of Iryna Zarutska? People can legitimately support different policies - all of which have some plusses and minuses since we live in a real world - without being maligned.
What did I say about Scott Adams that makes you uncomfortable?
A few times you suggest something along these lines: "Her death is part of his legacy, too.
Not because he pulled the trigger. But because he was part of the ecosystem that made pulling the trigger acceptable."
If that is a valid claim, then you are suggesting the validity of my example of Iryna Zarutska as part of the legacy of everyone who supported the Biden administration and that fact should be mentioned in their obituaries. That seems to me to be a black/white good/bad way of looking at the world that discourages Americans from talking to each other and encourages hating each other. And - Iryna cannot be said to have made poor decisions (other than maybe not paying enough attention) that contributed to her death. To suggest zero nuance in what happened to Ms. Good works great for stirring up protest and less well for working together to solve problems.
I don't have anything to argue with you here. Biden's failures will be part of his legacy after he dies, yes. As will mine, quite frankly. What is your point?
And if someone spent years defending Biden waging unconstitutional war, shooting citizens without due process, and operating outside legal authority - then those defenses would be part of their legacy too.
But that's not what happened. Biden operated within constitutional constraints. Trump doesn't. Adams defended the latter - not just 'different policies' but a regime operating outside the law.
The woman in Minneapolis wasn't killed by a policy failure. She was killed by a regime operating without constitutional authority. That's categorically different.
Sorry for the string of replies. But you set me off here.
Yes, certainly part of his legacy. But is it part of the legacy (worth mentioning rather than in a huge, cosmic appraisal) of everyone who voted for him and urged others to do so?
Sure. Yeah. Okay. Why do you think I'm a partisan? I'm confused, here.
I guess we're not understanding each other.
Jonathan simms
Jesus Christ. Zarutska’s killer was charged with murder!
It doesn’t appear Good’s murderer will be.
Zarutska’s killer was a mentally disturbed man. Good’s killer was working for the government.
How can you equate the two?
You can’t.
Somewhere along the line he shed any love he had for humanity, living in rabbit holes and rabid enmity and despoiled his legacy in the process unlike the beloved Charles Shultz who was lovely to the end.
I felt something similar when Rush Limbaugh passed away. More relief than grief.
Scott Adams was perhaps a light version of a fascinating Russian contemporary figure,
Vladyslav Yuriyovych Surkov.
Surkov was describing (books, theatre plays) the absurdity of Russian stage-managed and scripted official and society life. Russian opposition, elite intellectuals, were attending and clapping enthusiastically at those theater performances. Reportedly Surkov's writing is very keen and humorous, describing and eviscerating the absurdities of Russian society. Top-notch great Russian literary tradition, say Gogol's league.
At the same time, Surkov was THE guy who designed and engineered all this Putin-led system of "the State, what the populace is led to believe in, is just a professional stage performance". For years he was the chief Kremlin ideologue and animator, "Grey Cardinal". He holds the highest rank in the Russian civil service system.
I cannot fit the notion of someone like Scott Adams into my head - he could be two very different people, this would be understandable. Surkov is in the same category - human characters I would think are impossible to exist, as they are, to me, internally contradictory.
But the fact that such people DO exist, maybe says that my own understanding of the world is drastically divorced from reality.
I agree, he could have used his platform for good, he could have extended his legacy and used his comics to skewer what is so obviously wrong, on every level. Instead, he chose to burn his legacy to the ground by supporting and helping to spread evil, the world won't forget that, sadly for him, that's the part of his legacy that will be remembered longest.
Two screens, one movie. You understood nothing about the wisdom he taught. Nothing.
Please keep preserving and documenting!
Another used-to-be-libertarian who turned Trumpnik when it was trendy and thought that his Lord and Savior would redeem him toward the end of his life, only to have him betray him like all the rest.
Scott Adams promoted quack cures like Ivermectin that may have contributed to his death. We don't know...some cancers are gonna kill you no matter what, but it is immoral to use celebrity influence to promote folk remedies for serious illnesses.
As ever, I ask the "too soon" pearl-clutchers ... exactly how long is appropriate to wait for an honest account of the deceased's questionable thoughts and deeds?