"Maybe they'll die before the next election..."

I don't know anything about LA Times blogger Andrew Malcolm, but I can't come up with any reading of this that isn't very unpleasant.

In other numerical revelations, just 4% of Americans say that Wall Street or credit card companies are honest or trustworthy. A majority of young people still approve of Obama's job performance, but a majority of seniors over 64 now don't (54%). Maybe they'll die before the next election.

Ha. Ha.

The absolute best case construction that you can put on it is that he's being flippant without recognizing how unpleasant it sounds. Maybe this was just an accident, but I'm long past the point of giving anyone in the mainstream press much in the way of benefit of the doubt...