OPINION:
Charlie Kirk has been called many things, including an influencer, especially of young people. A better label might be “converter.”
The power to speak truth in a way that changes a political mindset is better than being an influencer. Mr. Kirk possessed that power, which led to his murder by a 22-year-old man who wanted to rob him of it.
Written on one of the shells recovered at the scene was “Hey fascist! Catch!”
Among the many videos of Mr. Kirk debating students who disagreed with his conservative philosophy and Christian faith was a young man who asked about some of what he called Mr. Kirk’s “fascist statements.” Mr. Kirk challenged him to name one. The student appeared flustered, looked around for help and couldn’t answer. It appeared he had simply repeated what he had read on the internet or heard from others.
The internet and its social media pages are a sewer. The left is always blaming conservatives for any acts of political violence, but just Googling Mr. Kirk’s name reveals comments, presumably from liberals, that are disgusting at best and vile in the extreme.
Here are just a few. An elected English councilor, Fiona Wild, posted on Facebook that Mr. Kirk had “brought this upon himself so good riddance to a not very nice man! America need to get rid of the other tit now!” (angry face emoji). Ms. Wild resigned her position after heavy criticism. Many other postings echo her statement.
The University of Mississippi and Middle State University in Tennessee fired employees for posting negative comments on social media about Mr. Kirk’s death. That’s a start, because some of our once-great universities have allowed professors to teach and promote hatred of various political philosophies and religions.
Anyone celebrating Mr. Kirk’s murder on social media or promoting any violence against anyone should be banned on all platforms for life. This isn’t about free speech. It’s about incitement.
Social media have kept too many Americans from knowing one another. We are identified by labels that say nothing about our humanity and intrinsic value. We speak of some of our fellow citizens as being on the “other side.” China, Russia, Iran and North Korea are on the other side. Their dictators oppose what we stand for. Do we need enemies among us? If so, we will become out of one, many, the opposite of our unifying national motto.
When I was more active on the college lecture circuit in the 1980s and 1990s, I participated in civil debates. Afterward, I would occasionally have dinner with my political opposite, one of whom was liberal Sen. George McGovern, South Dakota Democrat, a World War II veteran, as was my father. McGovern and I became friends because we got to know each other beyond politics.
It was the same with Bob Beckel, who ran Walter Mondale’s 1984 campaign. (He used to say, “I managed Mondale to the greatest loss in political history; now I’m on TV as an expert. It’s a great country!”) Bob became my best friend, and we grew to love each other. We even changed each other’s minds on a few issues because we took time to listen to what the other had to say.
This is supposed to be a special year leading up to the 250th anniversary of our nation’s birth. Instead, it is rapidly becoming something else. We had better reexamine the values and virtues that initially contributed to this unique nation, or, like other nations before us, America will implode and cease to exist.
That was part of Charlie Kirk’s message to the young. A young man who didn’t want them to hear it killed him, but his ideas will find other voices because many of those ideas are true, and truth has a power of its own.
• Readers may email Cal Thomas at tcaeditors@tribpub.com. Look for Cal Thomas’ latest book, “A Watchman in the Night: What I’ve Seen Over 50 Years Reporting on America” (Humanix Books).
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