Crazy years, continued

Seems to be something about my birthday that attracts momentous news - not that (hopefully!) Charlie Kirk's assassination is going to be quite a big as this, but it was late night on my birthday 24 years ago that I watched live as the World Trade Centre and thousands of its occupants were destroyed in a world changing event.

Truth be told, I never followed Kirk very closely, but the thing about his death is that, of course, before anything is known about the mental health or motivations of the shooter, his followers are leaping on it to further confirm the problem that I have been saying for years is at the heart of American political polarisation - that the Right has chosen to label the Left as literally evil, and believe it in a fully fledged religious reality sense.   Hence, Musk's toilet (as I chose to call X) is brimming with comments like this on the Right:

(I have no idea who Goddek is - and he may not even be particularly religious, as he says he's a libertarian - it's just an example of the thousands immediately labelling the Left as evil.)

Of course, all political violence of this kind is wrong and immoral.   And there are going to be those online on the Left who inappropriately make light of the killing.   You know, a bit like how Charlie first made light of Nancy Pelosi's husband being smashed in the head with a hammer by a nutter claiming he was after Nancy:

“Why has he not been bailed out?” Kirk said Monday on his podcast of the man who allegedly beat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi‘s husband Paul with a hammer last Friday. “By the way, if some amazing patriot out there in San Francisco or the Bay Area wants to really be a midterm hero, someone should go and bail this guy out, I bet his bail’s like thirty or forty thousand bucks.” With a smirk, he added: “Bail him out and then go ask him some questions.”

(He was playing up to the completely unfounded rumour that the attacker was a gay lover of Pelosi.)

Here, by contrast, is Nancy Pelosi:

"The horrific shooting today at Utah Valley University is reprehensible. Political violence has absolutely no place in our nation," wrote former house speaker Nancy Pelosi.  

Kirk was also adamantly pro-gun rights and thought that gun deaths were just something you had to put up with because he valued an armed citizenry.   

Perplexity also helped me find that he defended the blowing up of a Venezuelan boat in international waters because it was suspected of carrying drugs.  No proof, just support Trump all the way in extra judicial killings in international waters.

In short, Kirk supported policies that endorsed, engaged in joking excuse of, or helped enable, violence in his country when it suited his political views.   

Which is not to say that shooting him was the answer.   But his followers should have a serious look at themselves when wondering how a violent society is established.  (It won't happen, I know.)

On a final note:   it's a "lucky" thing that it happened in conservative Utah.  Can you imagine how Trump would have reacted if it was Chicago?   The place would be under National Guard occupation  for a year or more, irregardless of legalities.  
 

Update:   This is right.   But will the Murdoch's do anything to tell his network to cool it?  Probably not, if there's money to be made.