‘Mr. Anti-Vax’ dies after COVID-19 battle

[ArmenianJohn]

Florida radio host who called himself ‘Mr. Anti-Vax’ dies after COVID-19 battle | WFLA
"Bernier was a vocal critic of vaccines on his radio show, which aired weekdays from 3 to 6 p.m.
“If you’ve listened to his show, you’ve heard him talk about how anti-vaccine he is on the air,” McKinney told the newspaper before Bernier’s death."

This is like "a thing" now, virulent anti-vaxxers including high-profile conservative media figures are getting Covid and dying from it, rather painfully and quickly.

And Florida continues to get worse while their governor remains defiant against measures to prevent Covid infections, hospitalizations, and deaths.

 

[.Mikha'el.]

It's his own fault, but I do feel very sympathetic towards his friends and family who will deeply miss him.

 

[Pommer]

Florida radio host who called himself ‘Mr. Anti-Vax’ dies after COVID-19 battle | WFLA
"Bernier was a vocal critic of vaccines on his radio show, which aired weekdays from 3 to 6 p.m.
“If you’ve listened to his show, you’ve heard him talk about how anti-vaccine he is on the air,” McKinney told the newspaper before Bernier’s death."

This is like "a thing" now, virulent anti-vaxxers including high-profile conservative media figures are getting Covid and dying from it, rather painfully and quickly.

And Florida continues to get worse while their governor remains defiant against measures to prevent Covid infections, hospitalizations, and deaths.

He died for what he believed in.
That’s (on the whole) commendable.
RIP

 

[Hans Blaster]

Aren't there like 4 local talk radio guys that have fallen for their own nonsense and died as a result?

Plus yesterday there was one of the guys behind "Q" and an early adopter of the "hoax" narrative about covid (and later vax).

 

[anna ~ grace]

I agree that there’s a tendency to gloat in some of these articles. Even if it’s unspoken. I don’t think that the Covid vaccine is the Mark of the Beast, but the way in which these men are ridiculed for dying after refusing something that made them uncomfortable reminds me a bit of the gloating and mocking over early Christians who gave up their lives for refusing to do something as simple as offer some incense to an emperor or false god. From a pagan point of view, they were fools who could have saved their lives had they just gone along with it, but the earliest Christians hailed them as martyrs and Saints, and asked for their prayers. No, it’s not the same thing. But it reminds me of that.

 

[.Mikha'el.]

He died for what he believed in.
That’s (on the whole) commendable.
RIP

Are you trying to make him some kind of martyr for the anti-vaxxer cause?

 

[Lain Iwakura]

Are you trying to make him some kind of martyr for the anti-vaxxer cause?

I don't think anyone is doing so.

De mortuis nil nisi bonum. "Of the dead, say nothing but good."

 

[.Mikha'el.]

I don't think anyone is doing so.

De mortuis nil nisi bonum. "Of the dead, say nothing but good."

By definition, a martyr is a person who dies because of his beliefs.

 

[Lain Iwakura]

By definition, a martyr is a person who dies because of his beliefs.

Then we are all martyrs, because we all die because of our beliefs. We believe that car behind us will brake, the car at the intersection will not run the red lights, that the food prepared for us is not contaminated, that our surgeon can handle our surgery, or that the doctor's treatment will succeed, that the ladder will not fall, and that the man on the side of the street will not murder us. Regardless of causative agent of our death, we face our deaths in our beliefs - the way we live our lives.

But a martyr is something more than that - a martyr is a victim and a conqueror of malice.

 

[That Guy 11200]

He died for what he believed in.
That’s (on the whole) commendable.
RIP

He believed in actively telling large numbers of people not to have a vaccine for a virus that kills people. How many people have followed his advice and died?

There's nothing commendable about spreading disease.

 

[variant]

Aren't there like 4 local talk radio guys that have fallen for their own nonsense and died as a result?

Plus yesterday there was one of the guys behind "Q" and an early adopter of the "hoax" narrative about covid (and later vax).

My theory.

You suck in a lot of air yelling at a microphone for hrs on end.

If you are dumb enough to make sure your staff is unvaccinated you may be doing it in a COVID laced cube.

 

[variant]

By definition, a martyr is a person who dies because of his beliefs.

Martyr is usually reserved for when someone else kills you because of your beliefs.

 

[variant]

staff edit

I have very little sympathy here.

The guy was making money by spreading lies that are getting many people killed. He died because he believed those lies. Which is very sad overall, tragic even, but I can't really feel all that bad for him.

 

[TLK Valentine]

He believed in actively telling large numbers of people not to have a vaccine for a virus that kills people. How many people have followed his advice and died?

There's nothing commendable about spreading disease.

I tend to agree -- the guy who jumps on a grenade is commendable... but not so much if he pulled the pin himself.

 

[variant]

Can we please stop playing these games? Vaccinated or not they are REAL PEOPLE that died. There are now family members crying hurting because a loved one is gone forever.

We all already understand that this is about real people.

Some of us take that seriously before people are dead.

 

[KCfromNC]

Aren't there like 4 local talk radio guys that have fallen for their own nonsense and died as a result?

Getting to be that "conservative talk radio host" is more of a mortality risk than side effects from the vaccine. In many other cases people spreading anti-vaxx rumors are themselves vaccinated, but it looks like this group really believes what they're selling.

 

[dqhall]

Florida radio host who called himself ‘Mr. Anti-Vax’ dies after COVID-19 battle | WFLA
"Bernier was a vocal critic of vaccines on his radio show, which aired weekdays from 3 to 6 p.m.
“If you’ve listened to his show, you’ve heard him talk about how anti-vaccine he is on the air,” McKinney told the newspaper before Bernier’s death."

This is like "a thing" now, virulent anti-vaxxers including high-profile conservative media figures are getting Covid and dying from it, rather painfully and quickly.

And Florida continues to get worse while their governor remains defiant against measures to prevent Covid infections, hospitalizations, and deaths.

A COVID hospitalization bill costs about $40,000. Some people claimed they did not have time for vaccinations, nor money for face masks.

 

[Hans Blaster]

Getting to be that "conservative talk radio host" is more of a mortality risk than side effects from the vaccine. In many other cases people spreading anti-vaxx rumors are themselves vaccinated, but it looks like this group really believes what they're selling.

In any group of this sort (ideological movement, cult, etc.) their success is dependent on a middle layer of true believers to influence the large mass of the low-level participants. The top dogs may, or may not, practice what they preach. (See for example the communist and populist leaders that preach equality of the workers while acquiring wealth and luxury, preachers of chastity and fidelity that acquire harems, etc.) In this case the top promoters of the movement (Fox News, national politicians, etc.) are vaccinated, but don't really like to talk about it.

 

[Halbhh]

I agree that there’s a tendency to gloat in some of these articles.

This article, from the OP? --

Florida radio host who called himself ‘Mr. Anti-Vax’ dies after COVID-19 battle | WFLA

I can't see any gloating in the article. Can you? If you can, please show me, and I'm really asking because I like to learn when I don't yet understand something.

 

[TLK Valentine]

De mortuis nil nisi bonum.

To the living we owe respect, but to the dead we owe only the truth. -- Voltaire.

 

[TLK Valentine]

staff edit

"Sick" is precisely why Marc Bernier is dead. Regardless of what he may have said or done while he was alive, one can always hope that his death will serve as a warning to others to take Covid seriously.

 

[ArmenianJohn]

you would make sense if the post was promoting people's health but that is not the case. This article is talking about someone's death in a form of irony that is just sick. So if people could stop it with posts like this that would be great. Thank you.

The OP and the article it's based on are intended to point out how sick it is that there are still many who don't see the irony in being virulently anti-vax and then as a result contracting and dying from Covid. It's not to mock but to expose the glaringly obvious irony of it so that others can learn a lesson that can save their lives.

If you feel like it is gloating in any way that's because you have that in your own mind, perhaps part of a guilty conscience that doesn't want to face the negative and harsh reality about this phenomenon. But there's no gloating in either the OP or the article it's based on.

 

[NotreDame]

I agree that there’s a tendency to gloat in some of these articles. Even if it’s unspoken. I don’t think that the Covid vaccine is the Mark of the Beast, but the way in which these men are ridiculed for dying after refusing something that made them uncomfortable reminds me a bit of the gloating and mocking over early Christians who gave up their lives for refusing to do something as simple as offer some incense to an emperor or false god. From a pagan point of view, they were fools who could have saved their lives had they just gone along with it, but the earliest Christians hailed them as martyrs and Saints, and asked for their prayers. No, it’s not the same thing. But it reminds me of that.

I’m gonna break some terrain here with my comment that, when you are a public figure, as this radio personality was, have a following of listeners, and make the comments publicly that rhis radio personality did regarding Covid-19 and vaccines, a lack of sympathy is understandable.

I didn’t say gloating was good, justified, or anyone should gloat. I’m saying a lack of sympathy is understandable.

This radio personality told his listeners, “Bernier responded to Fried’s comments on his show: “Should say, ‘Now the US Government is acting like Nazi’s. Get the shot!’” and proudly declared a title for himself of, “Mr. Anti-Vax.” He also states on air, “I’m not taking it … Are you kidding me? Mr Anti-Vax? Jeepers.”

To publicly denounce, to his loyal listeners, a factually demonstrated, and statistically significant, life saving medicine, for a virus that is highly transmissible, a virus responsible for over 642,000 deaths nationally in a year and a half, and given it’s a virus, which is as near to ubiquitous as possible, thereby placing many if not all of us at a palpable and elevated risk of contracting the virus, it is hard to feel sympathy.

The effect of his public views to his listeners was to advocate they risk, not a negligible risk of contracting the virus but an elevated risk, contracting the virus. For some listeners the effect of his views was to advocate possibly some of his listeners risk death, and possibly for some listeners to risk a significant chance of death for those loyal listeners with underlying health conditions.