RIP Eric Boehlert

This post (I changed the formatting of a quote) was originally -- first time this ever happened -- blocked for content.  I now received a message that it was "re-evaluated" and okay. 

I listen to the Stephanie Miller Show, a liberal radio show led by basically a comedian, but which has many serious politically minded guests on. The first regular, e.g., is Lee Papa, a local professor also known as "Rude Pundit" for his crude, but largely on the money, political analysis. He looks like a hobo and talks like a sailor, but deep down comes off as a sweet guy.

Fucking hell. Eric Boehlert wasn't a close friend or anything, but we talked a number of times, often about music we loved. And his writing on the Clinton and early Bush years inspired me to join in this rhetorical fight. He was killed riding his bike today. Goddamnit.

— The Rude Pundit (@rudepundit) April 6, 2022

He was one of many (on and off the "Steph gang") who wrote distraught and touching comments about the death of the person who comes after him each Monday on the show. Eric Boehlert was a media critic, particularly upset about how the media furthered anti-liberal frames.  Boehlert came off as a nice guy, who I thought at times was a bit too one note on message. I basically only listened, not reading his stuff.  But, he backed it up. 

Pearls Before Swine had a comic about the too personal nature of social media, where people talk about the death of pets [horrible day for Stephanie Miller -- one of her dogs died, which was why Carol Burnett's daughter [Jodie Hamilton] -- her usual Tuesday guest and sometime fill-in -- was on today & then after the show, she finds out about this]  and so forth.  And, we basically have all this personal stuff about strangers thrown at us.

It is part of why social media, including Twitter, is so addictive. I am not a fan of reality programming, but can see the same thing happening there.  You basically get engaged into something, and it feels personal.  It is in a fashion though it still is not your life.  That allows, though sometimes not so much, a certain distance.  So, that might allow you to enjoy things too, since if it was a family member, it would be too much.

And, though there are other people that I feel more attached to online -- such as people I regularly engage with on Twitter -- Eric Boehlert did seem like a little part of my life in a fashion.  Also, he is important indirectly, since he plays a bigger role in the lives of people like Stephanie Miller, who I have been listening/watching (there being an online feed) for years now.  Plus, you can read all the responses, some (including Rude)  even providing some audio.  

I reckon tomorrow morning on the show will be emotional as well.  Miller after all already has a dog issue (she lost a dog she had for a long time not too long ago; this one was much younger).  And, Eric Boehlert was sudden too, a victim of a bike accident (Miller is a big bike rider), some sort of freak thing (details unclear so far as I can tell now) involving him being hit by a train (NJ line) while riding his bike.  Trains do sometimes go on street level, but that just seems strange.  Probably a freak accident.  

The whole thing is a bit strange. The accident happened Monday night, first reported Tuesday as someone being hit without a name.  Perhaps, there was some problem with identification.  And, then the family had to deal with their grief before telling outsiders.  EB was on the show Monday.  It was his last media appearance.  But, his death only came out Wednesday afternoon.  The article linked has this nice bit:

In front of their Montclair Ave. house, a large stuffed bear sits on a swing, something Breslin said her husband put out on occasion for the neighborhood children, until it became a fixture during the pandemic. "He just loved children and loved to make them happy," she said.

Eric Boehlert is beloved both as a person and for years (I might have saw Lapdogs: How the Press Rolled Over for Bush, this blog starting during the early Bush years) as a strong liberal minded media critic.  I have long been on that beat as a sort of hobby and hobbyhorse, but there are people who go the extra mile and do it professionally (at times, also managing to do other things).  

Such people are much appreciated for promoting truth and the preferred American way.  And, doing it so while being a nice person. I can tell you, being a nice person is not that easy.  #RIP