Now Charlie Kirk
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https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/09/10/us/charlie-kirk-shot-utah
As the governor of Utah said, "we are a broken nation."
At least he mentioned Melissa Hortman in his emotional comments, unlike most GOP "leaders."
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What can one say?
"I can't stand empathy. I think it's a made up new-age term that's done a lot of damage." --Charlie Kirk
What can one say?
RIP
It's sad and tragic. Both that he chose to promote vile ideas and that he was assassinated.
One thing seems quite certain. The gunman was a sniper with a lot practice under their belt. Which makes one wonder.
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“It's worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment”
Charles Kirk
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“It's worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment”
Charles Kirk
@Steve-Miller said in Now Charlie Kirk:
“It's worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment”Charles Kirk
Yes. I won't go so far to say "you reap what you sow," because I'm not willing to blame the victim (however vile the victim might be). But the rhetoric he espoused contributed to the toxic climate we find ourselves in.
@Bernard said in Now Charlie Kirk:
It's sad and tragic. Both that he chose to promote vile ideas and that he was assassinated.
I agree.
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https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/charlie-kirk-legacy
One can hold two thoughts simultaneously.
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Political violence is a problem, not an answer.
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Charlie Kirk was a totally rotten, bigoted, fomenter of gross hatred ... making millions $$ at it. He was a perfect example of what is terribly wrong with our society.
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https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/charlie-kirk-legacy
One can hold two thoughts simultaneously.
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Political violence is a problem, not an answer.
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Charlie Kirk was a totally rotten, bigoted, fomenter of gross hatred ... making millions $$ at it. He was a perfect example of what is terribly wrong with our society.
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Saw this today:
Journalist and college professor Stacey Patton goes viral by penning a stunningly powerful statement about how she was on Charlie Kirk’s “digital hit list” and recounting the horror that he inflicted on her.
We cannot allow this tragic assassination to whitewash Kirk’s legacy…
“I am on Charlie Kirk’s hit list,” Patton wrote to her 215,000 followers on Facebook. “His so-called ‘Professor Watchlist,’ run under the umbrella of Turning Point USA, is nothing more than a digital hit list for academics who dare to speak truth to power. I landed there in 2024 after writing commentary that inflamed the MAGA faithful. And once my name went up, the harassment machine roared to life.”
“For weeks my inbox and voicemail were deluged. Mostly white men spat venom through the phone: ‘bitch,’ ‘cnt,’ ‘n***r.’ They threatened all manner of violence,” she continued.
“They overwhelmed the university’s PR lines and the president’s office with calls demanding that I be fired,” Patton wrote. “The flood was so relentless that the head of campus security reached out to offer me an escort, because they feared one of these keyboard soldiers might step out of his basement and come do me harm.”
“And I am not unique,” she added.
“Kirk’s Watchlist has terrorized legions of professors across this country. Women, Black faculty, queer scholars, basically anyone who challenged white supremacy, gun culture, or Christian nationalism suddenly found themselves targets of coordinated abuse,” Patton wrote.
“Some received death threats. Some had their jobs threatened. Some left academia entirely. Kirk sent the loud message to us: speak the truth and we will unleash the mob!” she continued.
“That is the culture of violence Charlie Kirk built. He normalized violence. He curated it, monetized it, and sicced it on anyone who dared to puncture his movement’s lies,” she wrote.
“And now, in the wake of his shooting, there’s all this national outpouring of mourning, moments of silence, yellow prayer hands, and tributes painting him as a civil debater,” Patton continued. “But the truth is that Kirk and his foot soldiers spent years terrorizing educators, trying to silence us with harassment and fear!”
“And now the same violence he unleashed on others has come full circle.”
“But what i find especially jarring is the dissonance in public mourning for a smug white man whose life work was actively hostile to certain groups,” she continued. “Kirk spent years demonizing LGBTQ people, mocking gun survivors, spewing racism about Black folks, and pushing policies that literally shorten lives.”
“It is so revolting to watch a bipartisan wave of grief sweep over this hateful racist as if he was a neutral community servant,” she concluded.
This is pure unvarnished truth from Patton. Charlie Kirk did not deserve what happened to him, but nor did his victims deserve the hell that he unleashed on them. If Americans are going to build a more peaceful future for ourselves we must condemn political violence while also condemning the hateful, bigoted rhetoric that made Kirk a multimillionaire. -
Wow.
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“It's worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment”
Charles Kirk
@Steve-Miller said in Now Charlie Kirk:
“It's worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment”
Charles Kirk
OK, at least there is intellectual consistency/integrity in that position.
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No, Ezra Klein, Charlie Kirk was not practicing politics "the right way"
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Mehdi Hasan doesn't think Charlie Kirk was practicing politics "the right way"
https://bsky.app/profile/mehdirhasan.bsky.social/post/3lylrglnjtk2r
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Watching the latest news as person arrested, one wonders how many more decades it will take America to fix certain things.
JFK was shot 60 years ago, politically are things better?
Regarding gun crime, are things better 60 years on?Not that many other countries are particularly better. A British MP was stabbed to death in recent years, at his regular constituency meeting... culprit easily caught of course.
In the UK any gun (and knife also) brandished in public will get a fast and pretty decisive response from fully armed police (glocks and shotguns).
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Watching the latest news as person arrested, one wonders how many more decades it will take America to fix certain things.
JFK was shot 60 years ago, politically are things better?
Regarding gun crime, are things better 60 years on?Not that many other countries are particularly better. A British MP was stabbed to death in recent years, at his regular constituency meeting... culprit easily caught of course.
In the UK any gun (and knife also) brandished in public will get a fast and pretty decisive response from fully armed police (glocks and shotguns).
@AndyD said in Now Charlie Kirk:
JFK was shot 60 years ago, politically are things better?
A good question. I was pondering it a few days ago. I grew up in the 60s. JFK, Robert Kennedy, Martin Luther King--all assassinated.
One thing that's different now is wealth inequality and the corporate takeover of our lives, and the politics they foster. Also different: Trump and his swamp have emboldened the less savory to come out into the open. The republican party has worked for decades to put power in christian nationalism. Add technological "advances" into the mix with instant, incessant chatter and the pot is easy to stir.
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What?!? Maybe Kirk was too far left for this group?
https://www.newsweek.com/groyper-charlie-kirk-shooting-nick-fuentes-2129114
"As authorities investigate the motive, online speculation has turned toward extremist factions that once targeted Kirk—specifically, Fuentes' "Groyper Army," which has long accused him of being insufficiently radical."
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Today I learned a new word. Groyper.
Ugh.
