Speaking Ill of the Dead

I've noticed that a few (though fortunately not too many) bloggers have refrained from commenting on the death of Jesse Helms, on the grounds that they "don't want to speak ill of the dead." I find this reluctance to be genuinely puzzling. Obviously, just on the basis of Miss Manners 101, if you know someone personally who has recently lost a loved one, you're not going to go up to them and start railing about what a complete and utter wanker the deceased was. I mean, hardly anyone is big enough of an asshole to do that, are they?