Kirk
Following
the assassination of Charlie Kirk, the co-founder of Turning Point USA,
Democrats issued formulaic regrets. Former Vice President and Democrat presidential
candidate Kamala Harris said “Political violence has no place in America,”
inaugurating an often repeated meme. Democrats know how to read with few
variations from the same script. Harris added, “I am deeply disturbed by the
shooting in Utah. Doug [her husband] and I send our prayers to Charlie Kirk and
his family.”
Democrats
lately have had some problems praying. Someone in the U.S. Congress indelicately
suggested that the august body observe a moment of silence following Kirk’s
assassination, during which individual legislators might offer a prayer
following the recent slaughter of a prominent and much respected Republican and
committed evangelical Christian. After a prayer spoken aloud was requested, the
assembly immediately bubbled with indignation. Kirk was slaughtered. Shot in
the neck by an assassin, he quickly bled out and later died.
California
Gov. Gavin Newsom said, “The attack on Charlie Kirk is disgusting, vile, and
reprehensible. In the United States of America, we must reject political
violence in EVERY [emphasis his] form” perhaps a reminder that Democrats should
not forget the memorable January 6, 2021 assault on the U.S. Capitol by
overzealous Trump supporters.
Illinois
Gov. JB Pritzker said, “The attack on Charlie Kirk is horrifying. Political
violence has no place in this country and should never become the norm. I’m
sending my sympathies to his family and friends at this time.”
Zohran
Mamdani, a socialist/communist political wunderkind and New York Democrats
primary choice for mayor of the Big Apple, offered, “I’m horrified by the
shooting of Charlie Kirk at a college event in Utah. Political violence has no
place in our country.”
Former
Democrat U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi posted that “the horrific shooting
today at Utah Valley University is reprehensible. Political violence has
absolutely no place in our nation.” The Associated Press (AP) reminds us that
“Pelosi’s husband was seriously injured in 2022 by a man wielding a hammer, who
authorities said was a believer in conspiracy theories.”
Republican
Vice President JD Vance, a convert to Catholicism, dangerously presumed to
offer a prayer: “Dear God, protect Charlie in his darkest hour.”
Here
in Connecticut, many incumbent Democrat politicians offered similar politically
safe condolences.
U.S.
Senator Chris Murphy, spying a tragedy rather than a political assassination,
offered little more than a political ad “condemning the horror of gun violence
in this country,” a sentiment he has often expressed, adding “… there can be no
tolerance for political violence in America. I’m pulling for Mr. Kirk and thinking
of his family and the survivors.”
U.S.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal seconded Murphy’s motion: “Political violence of any
kind has no place in our country—none. My thoughts are with Charlie Kirk’s
loved ones & the students of Utah Valley.”
Sen.
Ryan Fazio, a Republican running for governor offered prayers for Kirk:
“Praying for Charlie Kirk. This is a dreadful moment. Political violence is
anathema to America and can never be condoned. Charlie has dedicated himself to
debate and discourse which is the correct and genuinely American antidote to
political violence. We cannot let our country turn to this. The shooting of an
advocate—or any American—exercising their rights cannot be excused, ignored or
forgotten. This must stop. God bless Charlie and his family.”
In
U.S. politics at present, Kirk was the closest we are likely to get to
Socrates, after whom the Socratic Method is named. It should not be forgotten
that Socrates was put to death by politicians who believed that his inquiries
were corrupting the youths of Greece.
Kirk
leapt into our leftist academic mare’s nest and practiced what Socrates
preached, engaging students in lively public debates. While the right of center
intellectual controversialist ably defended his libertarian principles, his
encounters with students were, as we say in the news business, fair and
balanced, and he was scrupulously observant of Bill Buckley’s observation that
“the trouble with bad manners is that they sometimes lead to murder.” Before
many of his pedagogical encounters, he invited those who disagreed with him to
“come to the front row” where a microphone awaited them.
Kirk
himself, an evangelical Christian, did not have stiff knees, unlike many of his
Democrat detractors. He co-founded Turning Point USA when he was only 18 years
old, and before you could say Thomas Hooker -- the author of The Fundamental
Orders, regarded by many scholars as the first written constitution in the
United States -- was a Christian fundamentalist, Kirk’s Turning
Point
was sending up flowers in the belly of the nation’s largely neo-progressive
academic beast.
In
Connecticut alone, Turning Point USA has four chapters in Central Connecticut
State University, Sacred Heart University, University of St. Joseph, and
University of Connecticut, according to a posting in Channel 3, WFSB.
The
nation’s attention has now been diverted into a perfectly natural “Who done it,
and why” fixation, and Kirk has effectively been removed as an immediate threat
to neo-progressive academic propaganda.
One
of Kirk’s last interviews was with Brigham Tomco of Deseret News, who appears to have brought fresh
eyes to well-worn political prejudices.
“The
interview,” Tomco wrote, “revealed that his career as a viral sensation on
social media had not severed his ties to the spiritual foundations he aimed to
promote among the next generation of Republican voters.
“Behind
the no-apologies approach to political debates, I found a healthy dose of
introspection. Beneath the bold beliefs on hot-button issues, a humble
commitment to daily religious practice…
“Prominent
personalities decried the increase of political violence and condemned the use
of demonizing rhetoric of political opponents.
“But
Kirk’s death, and much of the reaction to it, represented a fundamental
misunderstanding.
“His
mission, he said, was not to provoke the other side for internet attention. It
was to persuade young people to give ‘traditional’ views a moment of their
time.
“If
he could, Kirk would have chosen to discuss faith and family for our entire
interaction. ‘I could talk about religion all day long,’ he said…
“Kirk
prioritized daily scripture study, a 10-minute ‘examination of the conscience’
before bed and a phone-free Sabbath from nightfall on Friday to sunset on
Saturday.
“After
penning ‘The MAGA Doctrine,’ ‘The College Scam’ and ‘Right Wing Revolution,’
Kirk told me [Tomco] his next book was going to focus on how his followers could
set aside one day out of every seven to honor God.
Kirk
was clear: These kinds of ‘anchoring tools’ are essential for students and
celebrities alike to stay moored in a rapidly changing world and degrading
political environment.
“’The
struggle is that when you’re involved in this kind of warfare and this kind of
combat, do you have the spiritual technology to be able to withhold that?’ Kirk
said…
“As
someone who believed politics was downstream from culture, Kirk said a
political movement was detrimental if it didn’t create and sustain a community
based on the values that enable ‘human flourishing for all people.’
“The
antithesis to this, Kirk insisted, were calls for ideological radicalism and
violent uprisings, which he feared were becoming more common themes among his
target demographic.”
Prophetic
words those.
Comments