- Charlie Kirk was a loathsome human. Trump is a loathsome human. J.D. Vance is a loathsome human. So’s Bolsonaro, and so was Jeffrey Epstein, and, alas, so is Louis CK (as funny as he is, and as much as I wish he weren’t). So is Roman Polanski. So is James Deen. So are a lot of people. A lot more of whom have a penis than have a vagina. Which seems interesting.
- I generally believe that political violence is bad. And, I believe that, in some circumstances, revolutions are necessary and good – and, that they necessarily feature violence. That’s a statement in isolation; I’m not either calling for or supportive of a revolution here. Yet. But: I am glad that we had a (violent) revolution here in the 1770s. I’m glad there were revolutions in Latin America, and Africa, and Eastern Europe. They needed to be violent, and the violence wasn’t, in and of itself, bad.
- Much of what Charlie Kirk did while he was alive increased violence against vulnerable people. He was a destructive, malevolent force, and while HE didn’t act violently, he definitely incited violence. It’s hard – and disingenuous – to remember Charlie Kirk without remembering the dozens, or hundreds, of people who died directly or indirectly as a result of his words and actions.
- I am not particularly conflicted about saying that a) I think no one should kill anyone, and b) as among all the people in the world, Charlie Kirk is one of the top
10 or 15100 about whose (hypothetical) death I’m least sad. Which is very different from saying I’m glad he’s dead. - The current authoritarian regime’s cynical use of his murder to justify an attack on its foes? That shit scares me.
- What I want? A peaceful, harmonious, democratic republic here in the U.S. in which speech is free, and no one has to fear for their safety simply by virtue of living their truth, whatever that truth is – whether it’s political, or sexual, or gender- or otherwise.
- What I don’t want? A cynical government demonizing and dehumanizing its foes.
Shit’s getting real here, folks.