Last week the relative calm of the absolute hellscape that is socio-political discourse in the United States was shattered by and event which I will open this post by fully condemning — the murder of right wing political commentator and activist Charlie Kirk. I shouldn’t have to open up the post having to explain that I condemn this act as for some reason if you don’t explicitly say such people seem to think by default you feel the opposite, especially if, like me, you are in no way, shape, or form idolizing a man who was very vocal about the horrible opinions he had, and who’s core beliefs were antithetical to the values I hold with regards to race and gender equality, sexuality, and the principles by which the Nation should operate by.
I’m also not going to ignore the incredible irony in the fact that a man who effectively supported gun violence, viewing it as, to paraphrase, necessary for a free society, having been killed by this same violence he otherwise supported is incredibly ironic. Indeed, this should act as a wake up call that none are immune to this problem, and that maybe something should be done, in some way, to alleviate this issue.
No, that’s not what the right thought, however. Instead, they went on blaming the left (because of course they did) and going wild with seemingly whatever they could come up with to paint the then unknown shooter as some kind of trans left wing nutjob who took him out for.. whatever reason.
It then came to light the shooter was, himself, a right wing extremist of an ilk similar to Kirk. At the time of writing this piece, all evidence points towards the alleged shooter having done what he did because, somehow, Charlie Kirk wasn’t right wing enough. Perhaps we can describe this as “right on right” violence in the statistics, as this seems to be a common trend, what with the two previous incidents involving the idiot-in-chief, a.k.a president Carrot — a strange trend, but not one that is unexpected when you look at the way the extreme right has been moving over the past decade.
OF course, many claim otherwise, and we’re still in the early days of this so, we’ll see what the truth is in the end.. maybe.. hopefully…
In any case, ignoring who did it and why, the reaction online was divisive, to say the least with Some deifying the man while others have shared some of the worst stuff my cynical self has seen in a long time. Yes, some of what is being said and being shared is heartless. Indeed, my initial reaction when I heard the news he had been shot — to share a gif of Ivan Drago from Rocky IV saying “if he dies he dies” was certainly cold and damn near heartless, it still held that my empathy only went so far for someone like him — not for any reason of him being a christian or right wing, but for the kinds of things he said.
Indeed, I want to stress here that if your objection to anyone speaking ill of Charlie Kirk is because he was Christian, or Conservative, and when corrected that this isn’t the case you double down and insist it is, then you are insisting that the kinds of hatred he spewed are elements of being conservative, or of being Christian. Given the kinds of comments the man said about a great many things, Last I checked though being a white supremacist was a bad look. I would be wary of choosing that hill to die on, but that’s just me.
In fact, I find the abject hatred being directed at those who simply quote what the man himself said as proof of those who followed and supported him knowing good and well the evil he spoke is evil they too believe, but don’t want others to realize.
That’s far too late of a thing — we know. We all know what you really think. How you really feel, about anyone who isn’t exactly like you, and while Charlie Kirk was far from the worst person in the current Evangelical right-win sphere in actions, his words supported and he himself acted as a celebrity endorsing views that I do truly find evil.
To that end, while I will stress yet again that his murder should not have happened, and that it is on a human level a tragedy, Charlie Kirk as a person was a monster and I can not and will not mourn his passing, nor will I be either guilt tripped or threatened into feeling sorry for a man who cared nothing for the mistreatment and deaths of so many others. Him being dead himself doesn’t change the judgement many of us are passing on him as a person when he was alive.
This is the part where I would share some of what the man said, but I won’t as I don’t want that filth on my website — last thing I need is search engine systems thinking I somehow support his racism and bigotry.
Instead I’ll leave it to you to choose what you do or don’t want to seen and believe regarding him.
Onward, to something more pleasant.