this post was submitted on 04 Sep 2023
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However you feel about Smash Mouth's music, his death is a tragedy of self immolation.
Alcoholism is serious, folks. Do your best to talk to your drinking friends about it sooner than later.
Also, don't judge alcoholics, they often have very real pain they are drowning in. From what I understand Harwell lost a child to leukemia many years ago and has been in a downward spiral with alcohol since.
I don't judge him for his alcoholism, I judge him for being responsible for over 200 cases of covid.
...and also for seemingly throwing up nazi salutes at a show.
I know this isn’t a proper excuse for any of his behavior, but he did have serious neurological issues that affected his mental state. This is exactly why he retired, he got abusive with his crowd and realized the next day he needed to stop performing due to the lack of control and awareness he had.
Does he deserve compassion? That’s really up to personal preference. I recognize his alcoholism and resulting health issues, up to his death, as a tragic loss.
I'd be willing to chalk a slurred "I'll fucking kill your whole family I swear to god." to his being an alcoholic, but I can't set aside his actually killing people by holding a show and saying "fuck that covid shit" in the middle of a plague.
Nazism is also a line that should never be crossed with any justification.