Coal baron Robert Murray has died

> U.S. coal baron Robert Murray, an ally of President Donald Trump and a leading industry voice who called global warming a hoax

> A colorful and outspoken leader of the Ohio company he founded, Murray Energy, Murray blamed environmental regulation for the demise of the coal industry and opposed more stringent coal dust regulations for years.

> While Murray applied for black lung benefits, bankruptcy enabled his company to avoid obligations to employees diagnosed with black lung, shifting its $74.4 million liability to the federal government’s Black Lung Disability Trust Fund, according to Labor Department estimates provided to Congress.

A bit of (polite) disdain is warranted imho. EDIT: Of course don't gloat over the dead in a public forum. If that's your thing, save that for private conversation.

TL;DR: this isn't a generic inflammatory remark.

For those interested, here's the musical number, "Eat Shit Bob!" that coined the phrase: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXKO6lwYT9U

A bit more about Bob Murray from Wikipedia

> In August 2007, six miners were trapped at the Crandall Canyon Mine in Utah, which was co-owned and operated by Murray Energy subsidiary UtahAmerican Energy. Three rescue workers died attempting to reach the miners, and a series of boreholes found that the miners were unlikely to have survived. The miners were declared dead and their bodies were never recovered. Prior to the collapse, the Crandall Canyon Mine had received 64 violations and $12,000 in fines.

> On July 24, 2008, the U.S. government's Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) announced its highest penalty for coal mine safety violations, $1.85 million, for the collapse. The government fined Genwal Resources $1.34 million "for violations that directly contributed to the deaths of six miners last year," plus nearly $300,000 for other violations. The government also levied a $220,000 fine against a mining consultant, Agapito Associates, "for faulty analysis of the mine's design."

> Robert Murray was heavily criticized for his actions during the rescue attempt. The MSHA cited his volatile behavior, especially at daily briefings for family members. MSHA reported that he "frequently became very irate and would start yelling," even making young children cry. He told family members that "the media is telling you lies" and "the union is your enemy."

> In the wake of 2006's Sago Mine disaster, lawmakers in West Virginia and Ohio proposed legislation requiring mine workers to wear emergency tracking devices. Murray lobbied against the laws, calling them "extremely misguided."

> On August 14, 2012, Murray hosted Mitt Romney at Murray Energy's Century coal mine in Beallsville, Ohio. Several miners contacted a nearby morning talk radio host, David Blomquist, to complain that they were forced to attend the rally without pay.

> In October 2012, the non-profit group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission against Murray and his company alleging violations of federal campaign law in which employees of Murray Energy were required to give one percent of their salary to the company's political action committee.

> Murray has filed over a dozen defamation lawsuits against journalists and newspapers, none of which reached judgment in his favor.[39] As an example of the repeated lawsuits against journalists, Robert Murray and Murray Energy filed a lawsuit on August 27, 2012, against environment reporter Ken Ward Jr. and The Charleston Gazette.

> In November 2019, John Oliver discussed the implications of the lawsuit on his show after Murray dropped the suit.[40] Oliver noted that Murray was able to incur little risk to himself by filing his lawsuit in West Virginia, a jurisdiction that neither Oliver nor Murray lived in and that did not have any anti-SLAPP legislation.[51][40] HBO was forced to cover $200,000 in legal fees, which smaller media outlets would not be able to absorb, discouraging negative coverage of Murray.[52] Murray's reputation for litigiousness may have deterred other media outlets from covering him, including sexual harassment charges against him.

> In 2019, two lawsuits were filed against Murray for sexual harassment and misconduct against his employees.[56] In one of the corroborated claims, Murray asked a female assistant to search for the kidney stone he passed.[52] Murray denied the allegations.

> Following the presidential election in November 2016, Murray pressed for Donald Trump to withdraw the United States from all international agreements on climate change and stated: "so-called global warming is a total hoax."[59] These claims were made in spite of near-universal agreement in the scientific community that climate change is a real, progressing, and primarily human-caused phenomenon.

Don't want to be remembered as a jerk and have your death celebrated? Don't be a jerk.

His death doesn't absolve him of the despicable things he did while he was alive. It just means he can't continue doing despicable things. Which is a good thing.