Worst Kirk. Worst of all possible Kirks. The Nation goes hard: “It’s a choice to write an obituary that begins ‘Joseph Goebbels was a gifted marketer and loving father to six children.’”
Charlie Kirk’s Legacy Deserves No Mourning:
The white Christian nationalist provocateur wasn’t a promoter of civil discourse. He preached hate, bigotry, and division.
Charles James Kirk, 31, died on Wednesday from a gunshot to the neck at a Utah Valley University campus event just as he was trying to deflect a question about mass shootings by suggesting they were largely a function of gang violence. He died with a net worth of $12 million, which he made by espousing horrific and bigoted views in the name of advancing Christian nationalism. The foundation of his empire was the group he cofounded and led, Turning Point USA, which is a key youth-recruitment arm of the MAGA movement. Kirk was able to launch Turning Point at the age of 18 because he received money from Tea Party member Bill Montgomery, right-wing donor Foster Feiss, and his own father, also a prolific right-wing donor. He was an unrepentant racist, transphobe, homophobe, and misogynist who often wrapped his bigotry in Bible verses because there was no other way to pretend that it was morally correct. He had children, as do many vile people.
It is rude of me to say all of this, because we live in a culture where manners are often valued more than truth. That is why a slew of pundits and politicians have raced to portray Kirk’s activities, which harmed many vulnerable people, in a positive light – and to give him the benefit of the doubt that he did not grant to anyone who wasn’t white, Christian, straight, and male. California Governor Gavin Newsom framed Kirk’s project as a healthy democratic exercise: “The best way to honor Charlie’s memory is to continue his work: engage with each other, across ideology, through spirited discourse. In a democracy, ideas are tested through words and good-faith debate.” This downwardly defines both “discourse” and “good-faith.”
There is no requirement to take part in this whitewashing campaign, and refusing to join in doesn’t make anyone a bad person. It’s a choice to write an obituary that begins “Joseph Goebbels was a gifted marketer and loving father to six children.”
Ashley Rindsberg and Fox News are furious at Wikipedia editors for “attacking” Charlie Kirk by… listing the viewpoints he prominently and publicly advocated
Charlie Kirk in His Own Words:
Civil rights: "We made a huge mistake when we passed the Civil Rights Act in the mid-1960s."The death penalty: "[The death penalty] should be public, should be quick, should be televised… I think at a certain age, it’s an initiation… At what age should you start to see public executions?"Empathy: "I can’t stand the word empathy, actually. I think empathy is a made up new age term that does a lot of damage."Guns: "It’s worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment."Martin Luther King Jr.: "MLK was awful. He’s not a good person. He said one good thing he actually didn’t believe."Transgender people: “You’re an abomination to God.”
Bluesky Really Doesn’t Want People To Say ‘Rest In Piss’ About Charlie Kirk:
Over the course of the last night, Bluesky took aim at many but not all posts wishing Kirk a restorative piss bath. […]
The reason provided to me and others by an automated Bluesky email was that typing the phrase “rest in piss” is tantamount to “glorifying violence, including the promotion of harmful acts that cause widespread harm and suffering, as well as showing admiration or glorification of the offenders responsible for such acts.”
I appealed my suspension, arguing a simple counterpoint: No it isn’t.
Previously, previously, previously, previously.
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