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<\/p>\nWe live in a bizarre world in which many, perhaps most, Americans deify people who are against basic American values. (Because what really drives conservatives is not the Constitution, but the OT.)<\/p>\n
So many news posts and Facebook posts about this today. Trump wants to give Charlie Kirk, a community college drop-out, a medal of freedom. Congress prayed for him. Trump lowered the American flag to half-mast. The right reflexively accuses the left of the assassination, without any evidence whatsoever.<\/p>\n
(It’s been noticed that the single shot that killed Charlie Kirk must have come from a very skilled shooter. A single shot, to the neck, from 200 yards. It’s easy to speculate about any number of conspiracy theories about who was behind it, and why.)<\/p>\n
I’ll begin with this one for its concise compilation of links.<\/p>\n
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LGBTQNation, Daniel Villarreal, 11 Sept 2025<\/strong>: No, I won\u2019t be shedding any tears for Charlie Kirk<\/a>, subtitled “He spent his life fomenting hatred against me, my friends, and neighbors. And now we’re supposed to fly flags at half-mast for him?”<\/p>\n Charlie Kirk believed that gay people should<\/a> be stoned to death, that the 1964 Civil Rights Act was a \u201chuge mistake,\u201d<\/a> that we should legally be allowed to whip foreigners<\/a> in the U.S., that Muslims only move here to destroy the country<\/a>, that American Jews encourage<\/a> anti-whiteness, that men should<\/a> physically attack transgender people, that all women should submit<\/a> to their husbands, and that Black professionals \u201csteal\u201d their jobs<\/a> from more qualified white people.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n This is the guy the American right admires. This is where we are.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \\\\<\/p>\n Slate, Aymann Ismail, 11 Sept 2025<\/strong>: Charlie Kirk Helped Create an American Culture That Would Laugh at His Death<\/a>, subtitled “It\u2019s hard to take the outrage about this kind of dark humor seriously.”<\/p>\n There\u2019s no denying that before he was a right-wing firebrand, Charlie Kirk was a husband and a father, and a man it\u2019s clear that many people loved. And an awful thing happened on Wednesday: That man was gunned down in public, on camera. The image of him slumped in his chair will live in our political memory for a generation.<\/p>\n People on both sides of the spectrum agree<\/a> his violent death is part of an unacceptable trend of political violence in America. Earlier this year, Democratic lawmakers were assassinated<\/a>; last year, the now-sitting president survived two snipers\u2019 attempts<\/a> on his life.<\/p>\n But the circumstances of Kirk\u2019s killing\u2014an end no one deserves\u2014can\u2019t erase the role he himself played in pushing American political culture toward embracing violence. The Overton window shifted partly by his own hand.<\/p>\n He celebrated when violence came for his enemies. When Paul Pelosi was nearly killed in his own home, the grace this purported holy Christian man could muster amounted to a homophobic snicker<\/a>, and a request for \u201csome amazing patriot\u201d to \u201cbe a midterm hero\u201d and \u201cbail this guy out.\u201d Kirk\u00a0<\/strong>built his following by rewarding cruelty and\u00a0training his audience<\/a>\u00a0to see violence as entertainment. He claimed to have helped in\u00a0transporting 80+<\/a>\u00a0buses \u201cfull of patriots\u201d to \u201cfight for this president\u201d the morning of Jan. 6 and recently called for\u00a0\u201cfull military occupation\u201d<\/a>\u00a0of American cities. He\u00a0mocked<\/a>\u00a0protests over George Floyd\u2019s murder and spread\u00a0COVID conspiracies<\/a>. After Zohran Mamdani\u2019s New York City mayoral primary win, Kirk posted<\/a>: \u201c24 years ago a group of Muslims killed 2,753 people on 9\/11. Now a Muslim Socialist is on pace to run New York City.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n And, the essential tribalism.<\/p>\n Kirk pushed the idea that people\u2019s identities or political beliefs make them inherently dangerous. He called Muslims like me \u201cincompatible with America.\u201d Just this summer, he released a podcast episode<\/a> literally titled \u201cIslam: Incompatible With the West.\u201d Days before he was shot, a post circulated quoting him: \u201cIslam is the sword the left is using to slit the throat of America.\u201d I want to be the kind of person who could rise above that and mourn him, but I can\u2019t. I\u2019ve spent my entire life living with the consequences of that kind of rhetoric. And it has real-world consequences: The Council on American\u2013Islamic Relations reported 8,061 complaints of anti-Muslim discrimination in 2023, the highest in its history<\/a>, up 56 percent from the year before. Federal data<\/a> shows hate crimes hovering near record highs in 2024. Mosques across the country, facing the threat of arson, shootings, and vandalism, budget for armed guards. It\u2019s been a grim reality since 9\/11, and that spiked again<\/a> after Oct. 7, 2023, when anti-Muslim incidents surged nationwide. When my own kids were born, I worried about choosing names<\/a> for them that would be the least likely to elicit taunts at school. Kirk contributed to that reality. His cause was making sure my community lived in a permanent state of suspicion.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n And, the essential hypocrisy.<\/p>\n Conservatives who once laughed at Paul Pelosi\u2019s fractured skull or made sport of George Floyd\u2019s last breaths suddenly discovered the sanctity of life. Fox News hosts scolded Democrats for their \u201cinhumanity.\u201d Some conservatives urged people to report offensive posts<\/a> to law enforcement. MAGA influencers claimed the jokes were proof of liberal depravity. Is any of this in good faith? Or just the next round of arena politics, where the only goal is to rack up points by accusing the other side of playing the same game? You can\u2019t condemn violence in one context and celebrate it in another, and act surprised when the rest of us find difficulty in joining you in mourning your martyr.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" We live in a bizarre world in which many, perhaps most, Americans deify people who are against basic American values. (Because what really drives conservatives is not the Constitution, but the OT.) So many news posts and Facebook posts about … Continue reading \n