I feel like you have again captured my inner monologue and thoughts and encapsulated most of my feelings about Kirk getting shot today. I would add that the likes of Gavin Newsome and even J.B. Pritzker making comments as if they have no idea what a truly rotten person Charlie Kirk was makes me MORE concerned about how things will play out now. Stay safe Lady and keep doing the excellent work you do IMO.
I am so profoundly grateful for your voice in these turbulent times. I will continue to invite people to listen to what you have to say, and I hope you can find the strength and resolve to keep going. Thank you…
Lots of people are saying they feel sympathy for his family and kids. I feel a little empathy for his kids, but his wife and family knew EXACTLY who they were associating themselves with. To hell with them all. What a fitting end for the man whose rhetoric called for this exact thing to happen. I truly hope the shooter is never caught. Sometimes vigilante justice works out, and for a guy who repeatedly screamed "chink!" at an Asian woman who was getting his goat with her much better argument, his end was better than he deserved. I don't believe in heaven or hell, but if they exist, I sure hope Charlie is rotting in the steamy place. What a piece of absolute garbage. Great post as always, Laura; thank you.
I was just asking my husband if I’m a bad person for kinda hoping that the shooter doesn’t get caught. He said I probably am - a little bit. That’s fair, isn’t it? Because once those feelings and thoughts work their way into one’s psyche, it changes who you are. Hatred and resentment hurts everyone, but especially the one who feels it.
Well Trump and his bunch skipped the tea. Flags already at half mast. X is at warp speed hailing the martyr. I’m recovering from surgery in FL hospital unable to sleep and saw that Bruce Pearl Auburn coach who’s basketball team is largely men of color, posted praise and noted anyone who disagrees move to the front of the line. This appears to many online to be a professional hit and a win for the Trump agenda
I was waiting for your post about this situation. As a journalist, I know you walk a hard road. But it's interesting that what you are saying here partially reflects what Matthew Dowd just got fired for saying over at MSNBC.
I empathize with your stance on Charlie Kirk. If he’s being branded as a bigot, fascist, and homophobe it was just a matter of time until this happened.
I would just encourage everyone on this thread to research the negative topics and single quotes about him, and make your own conclusions about him.
He was a man that encouraged uncomfortable discussions and disagreements. He wanted the people that hated him to come talk to him and find a common ground. Even though he came to a different conclusion than the left, he still loved and encouraged all to come to him. I as a conservative don’t agree with everything he said but he made me challenge my beliefs and strengthened my resolve in how I believed. It never once pushed me to violence. Even in his death, I was angry but was reminded in how he wouldn’t want riots and chaos to ensue on his death no matter how the opposition portrayed him.
I challenge you to ponder if those who opposed him would want the same from such a tragic death of one of their champions? Would they call for violence or compassion?
I empathize with your stance on Charlie Kirk. If he’s being branded as a bigot, fascist, and homophobe it was just a matter of time until this happened.
I would just encourage everyone on this thread to research the negative topics and single quotes about him, and make your own conclusions about him.
He was a man that encouraged uncomfortable discussions and disagreements. He wanted the people that hated him to come talk to him and find a common ground. Even though he came to a different conclusion than the left, he still loved and encouraged all to come to him. I as a conservative don’t agree with everything he said but he made me challenge my beliefs and strengthened my resolve in how I believed. It never once pushed me to violence. Even in his death, I was angry but was reminded in how he wouldn’t want riots and chaos to ensue on his death no matter how the opposition portrayed him.
I challenge you to ponder if those who opposed him would want the same from such a tragic death of one of their champions? Would they call for violence or compassion?
I remember a United States in which school shootings were a call to action, and political shooting events were a reminder to dial down the rhetoric and cool the temperature of the dialogue. Not that we followed through, mind you—we utterly failed every time to alter the long-term trajectory—but the initial impulse was there. There were cranks eager to make political hay then, too, but they were in the minority. Now the cranks are in the halls of power and holding the largest media microphones and whipping society to follow its worst impulses.
I don't think people have changed. It's the system that's different. The mechanics of how media and profits feed off society's reactions have been gleefully rejiggered into new configurations, and it's created positive feedback loops that amplify bad behavior to drive worse behavior. Charlie Kirk was one of the more successful architects in this alteration of the media landscape.
I don't think there's any overall scheme to this redesign of the system. It's all been ad hoc, piecemeal work, gaining some audience share here, tapping an income stream there. It's not designed to blow up, that's just the accidental cumulative result of a lot of seemingly disconnected decisions. Kind of like mortgage securitization engine that Wall Street assembled in the early aughts. It's Silicon Valley's creative destruction gone wild, operating under the libertarian assumption that all the chaos will spontaneously coalesce into a best-case scenario.
Except, there are plotters and schemers placing their JD Vance pawns in position, ready to take advantage of the chaos. Heaven save us from the optimists.
Thank you for expressing what so many of us are feeling. Your words help us better understand where we are and how we got here. Please be well.
I feel like you have again captured my inner monologue and thoughts and encapsulated most of my feelings about Kirk getting shot today. I would add that the likes of Gavin Newsome and even J.B. Pritzker making comments as if they have no idea what a truly rotten person Charlie Kirk was makes me MORE concerned about how things will play out now. Stay safe Lady and keep doing the excellent work you do IMO.
Powerful, relevant, beautiful writing about the horrendous point the leopard party has brought us to.
I am so profoundly grateful for your voice in these turbulent times. I will continue to invite people to listen to what you have to say, and I hope you can find the strength and resolve to keep going. Thank you…
I couldn't bring myself to read this yesterday. Saved it for today. Glad I did, it's perfect. Thank you.
Lots of people are saying they feel sympathy for his family and kids. I feel a little empathy for his kids, but his wife and family knew EXACTLY who they were associating themselves with. To hell with them all. What a fitting end for the man whose rhetoric called for this exact thing to happen. I truly hope the shooter is never caught. Sometimes vigilante justice works out, and for a guy who repeatedly screamed "chink!" at an Asian woman who was getting his goat with her much better argument, his end was better than he deserved. I don't believe in heaven or hell, but if they exist, I sure hope Charlie is rotting in the steamy place. What a piece of absolute garbage. Great post as always, Laura; thank you.
I was just asking my husband if I’m a bad person for kinda hoping that the shooter doesn’t get caught. He said I probably am - a little bit. That’s fair, isn’t it? Because once those feelings and thoughts work their way into one’s psyche, it changes who you are. Hatred and resentment hurts everyone, but especially the one who feels it.
Beautifully written, thanks for this and for your good heart.
Thank you as always for your writing. I'm most concerned about the innocent people who are about to get beaten or killed in retaliation.
Well Trump and his bunch skipped the tea. Flags already at half mast. X is at warp speed hailing the martyr. I’m recovering from surgery in FL hospital unable to sleep and saw that Bruce Pearl Auburn coach who’s basketball team is largely men of color, posted praise and noted anyone who disagrees move to the front of the line. This appears to many online to be a professional hit and a win for the Trump agenda
I was waiting for your post about this situation. As a journalist, I know you walk a hard road. But it's interesting that what you are saying here partially reflects what Matthew Dowd just got fired for saying over at MSNBC.
I think this type of violence has always existed. It just went to sleep for a little bit.
I empathize with your stance on Charlie Kirk. If he’s being branded as a bigot, fascist, and homophobe it was just a matter of time until this happened.
I would just encourage everyone on this thread to research the negative topics and single quotes about him, and make your own conclusions about him.
He was a man that encouraged uncomfortable discussions and disagreements. He wanted the people that hated him to come talk to him and find a common ground. Even though he came to a different conclusion than the left, he still loved and encouraged all to come to him. I as a conservative don’t agree with everything he said but he made me challenge my beliefs and strengthened my resolve in how I believed. It never once pushed me to violence. Even in his death, I was angry but was reminded in how he wouldn’t want riots and chaos to ensue on his death no matter how the opposition portrayed him.
I challenge you to ponder if those who opposed him would want the same from such a tragic death of one of their champions? Would they call for violence or compassion?
I empathize with your stance on Charlie Kirk. If he’s being branded as a bigot, fascist, and homophobe it was just a matter of time until this happened.
I would just encourage everyone on this thread to research the negative topics and single quotes about him, and make your own conclusions about him.
He was a man that encouraged uncomfortable discussions and disagreements. He wanted the people that hated him to come talk to him and find a common ground. Even though he came to a different conclusion than the left, he still loved and encouraged all to come to him. I as a conservative don’t agree with everything he said but he made me challenge my beliefs and strengthened my resolve in how I believed. It never once pushed me to violence. Even in his death, I was angry but was reminded in how he wouldn’t want riots and chaos to ensue on his death no matter how the opposition portrayed him.
I challenge you to ponder if those who opposed him would want the same from such a tragic death of one of their champions? Would they call for violence or compassion?
I remember a United States in which school shootings were a call to action, and political shooting events were a reminder to dial down the rhetoric and cool the temperature of the dialogue. Not that we followed through, mind you—we utterly failed every time to alter the long-term trajectory—but the initial impulse was there. There were cranks eager to make political hay then, too, but they were in the minority. Now the cranks are in the halls of power and holding the largest media microphones and whipping society to follow its worst impulses.
I don't think people have changed. It's the system that's different. The mechanics of how media and profits feed off society's reactions have been gleefully rejiggered into new configurations, and it's created positive feedback loops that amplify bad behavior to drive worse behavior. Charlie Kirk was one of the more successful architects in this alteration of the media landscape.
I don't think there's any overall scheme to this redesign of the system. It's all been ad hoc, piecemeal work, gaining some audience share here, tapping an income stream there. It's not designed to blow up, that's just the accidental cumulative result of a lot of seemingly disconnected decisions. Kind of like mortgage securitization engine that Wall Street assembled in the early aughts. It's Silicon Valley's creative destruction gone wild, operating under the libertarian assumption that all the chaos will spontaneously coalesce into a best-case scenario.
Except, there are plotters and schemers placing their JD Vance pawns in position, ready to take advantage of the chaos. Heaven save us from the optimists.
Thank you, Laura.